Halley at Greenwich On November 14, 1834, Francis Baily, president of the Royal Astronomical Society, read a paper to the Society entitled “Some Account of the Astronomical Observations made by Dr. Edmund Halley, at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich”. He said that Halley was appointed to the post of Astronomer Royal after the death of Flamsteed,. on December 31, 1719, and held it until his own death in January 1742, a period of twenty-two years. The instruments used up to 1719 were Flamsteed's property and were removed after his death; and Baily gave some information on the re-equipment of the Observatory. Except for those of the solar eclipse of November 27, 1722, the transit of Mercury of October 29, 1723, and the lunar eclipse of March 15, 1735-6, none of Halley's observations had been published. His other observations from October 1721 until December 1739 were contained in four small quarto volumes pre served at the Observatory. On one occasion, these had been lent to Henderson, and while in his custody had nearly been destroyed by fire. Through the representations of Baily to Capt. Beaufort, however, the Admiralty caused a transcription of their con tents to be made. The transcription was in one volume of 518 pages and it was presented to the Royal Astronomical Society.