1793 - two years following the death of his father, his was taken into the charge of his Uncle Samuel who "...opened his eyes to the wonders of science". 1800 - gave up his own business and went to work for Charles, third Earl Stanhope, determined to become an artist like his elder brother. 1809 - invented the graphic telescope, a drawing instrument which combined the portability of the camera obscura with the two-way mirror arrangement of William Hyde Wollaston's camera lucida. 1814 - became a full member of the Society of Arts. 1826 - lectured on the graphic telescope at the City Philosophical Society under the direction of Michael Faraday. 1839 - co-founded the Royal Microscopic Society. 1841 - rewarded an Isis gold medal for improvements in the construction of microscopes. 1845 - published a Treatise on Optical Drawing Instruments.

Traded at 22 Charlotte St., 228 Tottenham Ct. Rd., Junction Pl., Paddington (1811), 1 Charles St., Clarendon Sq., (1811-56), 42 Newman St. (1815), 51 Upper Thornhaugh Rd., Tottenham Ct. Rd. (1825), 7 York Pl., Kentish Town (1857-63) & 337 Kentish Town Rd. (164-73), all London, England