Charles Hearn

Advertisement placed by Hearn in Mackay's Montreal Directory 1863-64.

A view of Notre Dame Street in Montreal, Quebec, ca. 1866. Charles Hearn's business moved several times, but always stayed on Notre Dame St.

Photo credit: McCord Museum

Charles Hearn

Charles Hearn was born in Exeter, England but is recorded as working in Toronto, Canada starting in 1857. He moved to Montreal around 1860-61, where he opened shop as an "optician and mathematical instrument-maker." His surveying instruments had a unique design that combined his own ideas with American and British features. After his death in 1865, his wife Susan Watson Hearn took over running the company. Shortly after this she married another instrument maker called Thomas Harrison, and the company became Hearn & Harrison. Like many instrument makers at this time they did business with the government. After 1900 none of the original family was involved in running the company, which continued to operate until 1936.

Hearn's brass transit. A unique feature of the transit was that its telescope rotated almost 360 degrees.

Compass face showing Charles Hearn's mark. At the top is a level: the position of the air bubble in the liquid was used to determine if the transit was standing straight.

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Knobs such as this one, and those part of the base visible in the background, were used to adjust the transit's tilt to make it as level as possible.

Transit carrying case and strap, exterior

The transit's wooden carrying case with strap, showing signs of wear.

Hearn Transit

This surveying transit was made by Charles Hearn in the 1860s. Transits were used for measuring horizontal and later vertical angles, and from their invention in the 1830s became popular for their durability and versatility. Hearn made the transit mainly out of brass, with silver, glass, and liquid components. It likely entered the possession of James Moffett (1829-1911) during the 1870s, when he became a provincial land surveyor in Quebec.