Denison, Francis “Frank” Napier

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Napier_Denison
  • Wiki Biography Notes:
    • Francis “Frank” Napier Denison (cited as F. Napier Denison, 19 April 1866 – 24 June 1940) was a Canadian meteorologist, inventor, seismologist, and astronomer. In the early 20th century he was known to thousands of Victoria’s inhabitants as “our weatherman”. His most noteworthy invention is perhaps the hydro-aerograph.
    • After graduation from Upper Canada College, he became in 1882 a member of Canada’s Dominion Meteorological Service (now Meteorological Service of Canada) and was appointed in 1884 an assistant observer at the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory. After he completed two years of education in Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, the Dominion Meteorological Service transferred him in 1898 to Victoria as weather observer and forecaster. He worked with E. Baynes Reed at the weather observing station located on Government Street in Victoria Harbour’s Inner Harbour.
    • Reed, the senior scientist, and Denison were the coauthors of Victoria’s first official weather report. The Daily Colonist published the report on 1 November 1898. In the spring of 1899 the two meteorologists began to issue marine warnings. Eventually, the weather forecasts were issued by wireless telegraphy to ships in the Pacific, and the ships returned information about the weather conditions encountered at sea.
    • At the 1911 meeting of the British Association in Portsmouth, Denison presented evidence gathered over 11 years from 1899 to 1910 in Victoria, B.C. His observations of changes in level of a horizontal pendulum demonstrated a correlation between the pendulum’s wanderings and the annual frequency of exceptionally strong earthquakes.
    • Denison Road at Victoria’s Gonzalez Hill Observatory is named in his honour. Denison Island, located at the entrance to Boswell Inlet, is named in honour of F. Napier Denison The island was named in 1903 by the Geographic Board of Canada.
  • Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4714
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195001496/francis-napier-denison