William Wales (1734-98) and Joseph Dymond (1746-1796) were two young Yorkshire men sent to the shores of Hudson Bay by the Royal Society of London to observe the transit of Venus on 1769 June 3. They stayed for over a year at Fort Prince of Wales, near modern-day Churchill, Manitoba. They had worked under the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, who recommended them for the transit expedition. In 1765, Wales married Mary Green, sister of Charles Green who was the astronomer on James Cook's expedition to observe the transit at Tahiti. Wales was the astronomer on Cook's second and third voyages. About 1780, Wales became mathematical master at Christ's Hospital in London where he was a popular teacher of navigation for the rest of his life. He wrote a number of papers and books, mainly relating to navigation and was appointed to the Board of Longitude in 1795. Nothing is known of Dymond's career after 1769.
Name proposed and citation prepared by Peter Jedicke and Robert Jedicke, with additional information kindly provided by Peter Broughton.
Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid
Reference: MPC 49101