A. Follett Osler

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Abraham Follett Osler (22 March 1808 — 26 April 1903), known as A. Follett Osler, was a pioneer in the measurement of meteorological and chronological data in Birmingham, England.

He was a member of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution (BPI) (Honorary Secretary of the Junior Department in 1841), the Royal Society, and the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI).

He attended Hazelwood School on Hagley Road, Birmingham (1816-1824) owned at that time by Thomas Wright Hill. In 1831, he became the manager of his father's glass manufacturing firm on Broad Street. He made many gifts of money and equipment to the BPI and BMI.

Shortly after giving lectures on chronology in 1842 he provided an accurate display of local time based on astronomical measurements on a public clock in front of the Philosophical Institution in Cannon Street from which the church clocks were set. It was eventually synchronised to Greenwich Mean Time by electrical telegraph when the railway timetable became important. Later a number of clocks around Birmingham were linked by wire. The clock was transferred to the BMI when the BPI closed down in 1852. In 1883, he gave a clock and bells for the tower of the new Art Gallery, which was constructed in 1885. This clock, nicknamed Big Brum then acted as the town's timepiece, replacing an expensive network of clocks wired around the town.

He is buried in Key Hill Cemetery. Osler Street and Osler Street School were named in his honour.

His son, Henry F. Osler (d. 1913), carried on his meteorological work at the BMI and gave money for the purchase of the Observatory by the BMI just before his death.

[edit] See also

Birmingham and Midland Institute – meteorological measurements

[edit] References

The Birmingham and Midland Institute 1854-1954, Rachel E Waterhouse, 1954
The Jewellery Quarter - History and Guide, Marie Elizabeth Haddleton, ISBN 0-9513108-0-1