William Brydone Jack

William Brydone Jack also designed a small wooden observatory which became operational in 1851.

In 1855, William Brydone Jack, together with Dr. J.B. Toldervy, determined the longitude of Fredericton using the exchange of telegraph signals with Harvard College Observatory.

In 1859, the same year that the University of New Brunswick was created, a special three-term undergraduate course in civil engineering and surveying was initiated.

The first diploma in this special course was awarded to Henry George Clopper Ketchum in June 1862.

Kennedy, professor of physics at UNB from 1945 to 1956, wrote extensively on William Brydone Jack's accomplishments in astronomy and land surveying including his efforts to build the observatory and the determination of longitude by electric telegraph.