ON behalf of the Society for the History of Astronomy, of which I am a council and founder member, I am collating information on observatories and amateur astronomers of yesteryear.

This survey is being done on a county basis and my special interest is Worcestershire, as I lived in Malvern from 1942 to 1964.

My current research involves the Dyson Perrins family, namely Charles and his father J D, both of whom were, for a great many years, members of the Royal Astronomical Society.

This fact is not well documented, though Charles, who was a fellow of the Society for 63 years, frequently added FRAS to his name in directories etc.

Victorian maps indicate that there was an observatory in the grounds of Davenham; sadly no longer there, and about which no-one seems to know very much.

If any reader knows more about this or any other observatories or "dead astronomers" in the Malvern area, I would be delighted to hear from them. I can be contacted by email ziksby@gmail.com or at the address below.

Roger Jones, 12 Stencills Drive, Walsall, WS4 2HP.