Mathematical instrument maker, notable for inventing the sextant. He came to London in 1740 where he worked for Jonathan Sisson and George Graham. By 1745, he had his own business in the Strand. Bird was commissioned to make a brass quadrant 8 feet across for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where it was mounted on 16 February 1750, and where it is still preserved. Soon after, duplicates were ordered for France, Spain and Russia.
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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
John Bird
Watchmaker and inventor. Probably born in Bodmin, Cornwall (his birth year is approximate). After being apprenticed to his clockmaker father, he worked in the Netherlands. He was the first to desig...
Painter. Born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Known as Frank, his forte was in portraiture and he also painted over forty large canvases of historical and national events. He also produced a large qua...
Founders were workers in brass and brass alloys or tinplate. They made small objects such as candlesticks and weights and measures. From their website (link now dead): "Today ... the Founders' Com...
Mosaic artist, teacher and administrator, working with Southbank Mosaics since 2007.
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