Hunter Valley Climate Data: Glenthorne Vineyard, East Gresford, (1843 – 1848)

Front Cover of Meteorological Journal From April 1843 to February 1840

DOWNLOAD:
Glenthorne Vineyard East Gresford Combined and Converted (Excel Spreadsheet)


ORIGINAL SCANS:


Site and Measurement Information for Glenthorne Vineyard, East Gresford, April 1, 1843 to December 31, 1848

Exact measurement location: Current Boydell Vineyards, East Gresford

Observer recorded as Alfred Glennie*

Note: Alfred Glennie is also verified as the observer for Lochinvar in the 1860s. 

Weather Data Measurements

Year, Month, Day, Wind Direction (8 cardinal directions in letters, plus calm), Sunrise Temperature (oF), 2pm Temperature (oF), written weather description, monthly and yearly rainfall days.  Temperature records begin on May 1, 1847.

Measurement notes

  1. Wind direction is recorded as in the original records. There does not seem to be a wind vane mentioned. The method of measuring wind is not stated. The wind direction record needs further translation. On many days, there is a wide variation in direction recorded (e. NW to SE etc.).  There is no indication what time of day the wind was observed, but it is most likely early morning. There are no wind speed records.
  2. We think the thermometer was located on the veranda (see Lochinvar remarks. Likely to be fully exposed to the atmosphere but in shade. It is attached hanging freely. There is a second thermometer attached to a post, which was at time fully exposed to the sun. Also there are reports of the thermometer being moved “to the gully” very occasionally.  The temperature recorded there is noted in the weather description. The type of thermometer is not described.
  3. The weather descriptive comments are the most valuable part of the data set.

Order of record (in columns on associated spreadsheet)

Year, Month, Day, Wind Direction, Sunrise Temperature, 2 pm Temperature, Weather Descriptive Comments (also includes rain days per month and per year, in red).

At the end of each year, there is a separate row with total rain days and occasional general comments.

General Comments

The Comments record occasional periods away.

There is no indication of any liaison with the NSW Astronomer. This quality of this data set cannot be verified. The record has many gaps, occasionally for several days at a time, especially for the first three years. These data are only useable in support for descriptions about weather events using more complete information from other locations and sources.

The main advantage of this data set is the years of measurements. The period 1843 to 1848 is only matched in years by a record for Port Stephens, for which we currently only have monthly average data.

Howard Bridgman
February 10, 2021

*They came from Aberdeen: Glennie family history: researched compiled and edited by Anne Glennie [Burleigh Heads, Qld] : Anne Glennie, [2015] Cultural Collections Q929.2 GLEN

SEE ALSO:

https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2018/01/10/hv-climate-data/

https://hunterlivinghistories.com/category/weather-records-climatic-data/


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