Biography
He was born on 10 November 1861 in Edinburgh to John and Elizabeth (née Ayton) Innes. He had 11 younger siblings.
A self-taught astronomer, he went to Australia at an early age and made his living as a wine merchant in Sydney, where, using a home made 12-inch reflecting telescope, he discovered several double stars new to astronomy. He also published some papers on perturbations in Mars' and Venus' orbits.
Despite having had no formal training in astronomy, he was invited to the Cape Observatory by the astronomer royal Sir David Gill in 1894 and appointed in 1896. In 1903 he took up the position of Director of the new Meteorological Observatory in Johannesburg. He acquired the observatory's first telescope, a 9-inch refractor, in 1906, and was appointed first Union Astronomer in 1912. A 26-inch refractor and the Franklin Adams camera were added. The University of Leyden awarded him a honoris causa doctorate in 1923. He retired in 1927. He died on 13 March 1933.
Read more about this topic: Robert T. A. Innes
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