| Administrative History | Robert Rettie was an Aberdonian who attended Marischal College, 1816-17, and possibly started off his career as a tinsmith, as Robert Rettie is mentioned in the first committee report for Aberdeen Mechanics Institution in October 1824. He was a keen inventor for devices and systems to improve industrial safety - from steamer ships, to coal mines, and even sanitary inventions. He is today remembered principally for his safety systems for lighting ships at sea. While Rettie was a self-described Civil Engineer, he was not a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers nor was he included in the Oxford DNB. Rettie solved technical problems of projecting coloured light, and his system of lights was successfully tested in the steam frigate H.M.S Comet, off Spithead, in 1845. However, he had a difficult relationship with the British Parliament in receiving approval. He had a notably contentious relationship with the Admiralty when he accused them of violating his patent rights in 1848 for taking his idea of multi-coloured signal lamps and using an inferior version of his idea. He published his main work, ‘On the Necessity on Employing One Universal System of Marine Night Signals’ in 1847. He also held a patent- no 10975, named ‘Signalling or Telegraphing on Land or Sea’ in 1845. Rettie presented many of his inventions at the Great Exhibition of 1851. |
| Description | Collection of notebooks, sketchbooks, photographs, letters, etc., including: original designs for inventions; explanations of systems of safety at sea; material on the Crystal Palace; prospectus of the London Sanitary Improvement Company; and comments on piracy, 1836 - 1859. |