Carochez (Caroché, Carrochez ou Carochet) Noël Simon
Notice
Date de naissance
c. 1745
Date de mort
1813/14
Lieu de mort
Paris
Couverture temporelle
2/2 18th century/ 1/4 19th century
Biographie
Carochez was apprenticed in the Founders' Corporation 14 October 1759 to P. Vallée and turned over to Berin de la Croix on 13 April 1761.1He first comes to notice shortly after finishing his apprenticeship in 1767 when he manufactured four examples of the mégamètre, an instrument devised by the Lieutenant de Vaisseau de Charnières for measuring the angular distance between the Moon and a star, one of which was taken for trial by Chappe d'Auteroche on his expedition to California to observe the 1769 transit of Venus.2 The same year he effected the post-mortem inventory of the goods of Claude Siméon Passemant. In the following years Carochez seems to have built up a solid reputation and a prestigious clientèle. In 1777 he supplied a double plate electro-static machine to the Comte de Brilhac,3 and in the signature formula on two instruments he describes himself as 'Opticien de Monsieur' (ie Louis XVI's brother the future Louis XVIII).4 A double piston air pump by him appears in the 1793 Inventory of the goods of the Académie Royale des Sciences.5 With members of the latter institution he had developed strong ties and was the preferred craftsman of Alexis-Marie Rochon (1741-1817) most of whose optical instruments he made, collaborating in the development of several of them.6 In 1777, when the Emperor of Austria visited the royal cabinet of physics at the châteu de la Muette, Passy, which was directed by Rochon, Louis XVI presented him with an example of Rochon's prismatic telescope made by Carochez. In 1778 he made a 32ft focus heliometer in rock crystal,7 and experimental, practical, optical research, often in association with Rochon, now became his speciality. A major joint project was using platinum for telescope mirrors. In mid-1785 Carochez produced a successful 6ft focus Gregorian telescope with an 8inch platinum mirror and research and production in this area continued for the rest of his life.8 A part of this research was his journey in the company of Cassini to England in 1787 to see the workshops of Ramsden and Dollond and to visit Herschel.9
In January 1788 Carochez was appointed Ingénieur du Roi in the new corporation of instrument-makers set up to free them from irksome gild restrictions when engaged on work of national importance.10 Alongside his work on platinum, during the late 1780s and early 1790s Carochez was also deeply involved in the development of achromatic lenses undertaking large lenses of 12, 16 and 24 feet focus. In 1792 he was awarded the maximum 'national recompence' possible together with an honourable mention in the first class of these.11 On the removal of the optical instruments from the cabinet of La Muette to the Observatory he overhauled the 22ft telescope made by Dom Noel (qv ),12 and in the early 1790s he was the optician intended to make the mirrors for a 40ft Herschelian telescope using a platinum mirror.13 In the event the 100,000 livres that the project was expected to cost were not forthcoming from the Convention,14 but Carochez did later build a 22ft focus Herschelian telescope. It was completed in May 1800 a stand for it being constructed by Tremel (qv ) in the following year.15 In 1792 he received free lodgings in the Louvre and there he was visited in the winter of 1798/99 by the Danish astronomer Thomas Bugge (1740-1815).16 To him Carochez explained how his researches into platinum mirrors had depended heavily on support from the crown and demonstrated examples. Of them Bugge noted 'You can only realise clearly the wonderful effectiveness of this telescope, if you place two telescopes, one of each type, next to one another and look through them alternately. The platinum mirrors were clear and white, without yellow, red or brown shadows or shades. The polish was excellent'.17 In 1792-3, Carochez had made a foot cube and other items including a knife edge suspension in platinum following the directions of Borda and Lavoissier for the Commission on Weights and Measures.18 In 1795, on its constitution, Carochez was named member of the Bureau des Longitudes which post he retained until his death in 1813/14. He was the first instrument-maker ever to be so elected to a formal scientific body in France.
In January 1788 Carochez was appointed Ingénieur du Roi in the new corporation of instrument-makers set up to free them from irksome gild restrictions when engaged on work of national importance.10 Alongside his work on platinum, during the late 1780s and early 1790s Carochez was also deeply involved in the development of achromatic lenses undertaking large lenses of 12, 16 and 24 feet focus. In 1792 he was awarded the maximum 'national recompence' possible together with an honourable mention in the first class of these.11 On the removal of the optical instruments from the cabinet of La Muette to the Observatory he overhauled the 22ft telescope made by Dom Noel (qv ),12 and in the early 1790s he was the optician intended to make the mirrors for a 40ft Herschelian telescope using a platinum mirror.13 In the event the 100,000 livres that the project was expected to cost were not forthcoming from the Convention,14 but Carochez did later build a 22ft focus Herschelian telescope. It was completed in May 1800 a stand for it being constructed by Tremel (qv ) in the following year.15 In 1792 he received free lodgings in the Louvre and there he was visited in the winter of 1798/99 by the Danish astronomer Thomas Bugge (1740-1815).16 To him Carochez explained how his researches into platinum mirrors had depended heavily on support from the crown and demonstrated examples. Of them Bugge noted 'You can only realise clearly the wonderful effectiveness of this telescope, if you place two telescopes, one of each type, next to one another and look through them alternately. The platinum mirrors were clear and white, without yellow, red or brown shadows or shades. The polish was excellent'.17 In 1792-3, Carochez had made a foot cube and other items including a knife edge suspension in platinum following the directions of Borda and Lavoissier for the Commission on Weights and Measures.18 In 1795, on its constitution, Carochez was named member of the Bureau des Longitudes which post he retained until his death in 1813/14. He was the first instrument-maker ever to be so elected to a formal scientific body in France.
Notes biographiques
1 Augarde 68.
2 De Charlières, Expériences sur les longitudes…, Paris 1768.
3 Obs. physiques, xv 1780 379.
4 gregorian telescope in 1936 in the collection iof Georges Prin (EIOA 318); 6-draw hand held refrzacting telescope, Tesseract 45 no 6.
5 No 21.
6 Fauque 14-15.
7 Idem.
8 For an important, subtle and detailed account of thuis episode see Chapin.
9 Idem 89. In her recollectioins, Caroline Herschel noted 'Messrs. Cassini, Mechain, Le Gendre and Carochet spent November 26th and 27th with my brother, and saw many objects in teh twenty-foot and other instruments'. Mrs John Herschel, Memoir and Cortrespondence of Caroline Herschel, London, 1876, 77.
10 Daumas.
11 The dossier concerning this award is CNAM archives, P43, carton B. Dossier N° 4.
12 Lalande (Hist 1806), 28 who comments on the difficulty experienced in supporting a heavy mirror in such a way that its form would not change when the position of the tube was adjusted.
13 For this project see Chapin, (n.8).
14 lalande 717.
15 Ibid; 835 & 855.
16 Who however refers to hm as 'Laroche'. For the identification see Chapin [1971].
17 Crosland 170.
18 AN F12 1288.
2 De Charlières, Expériences sur les longitudes…, Paris 1768.
3 Obs. physiques, xv 1780 379.
4 gregorian telescope in 1936 in the collection iof Georges Prin (EIOA 318); 6-draw hand held refrzacting telescope, Tesseract 45 no 6.
5 No 21.
6 Fauque 14-15.
7 Idem.
8 For an important, subtle and detailed account of thuis episode see Chapin.
9 Idem 89. In her recollectioins, Caroline Herschel noted 'Messrs. Cassini, Mechain, Le Gendre and Carochet spent November 26th and 27th with my brother, and saw many objects in teh twenty-foot and other instruments'. Mrs John Herschel, Memoir and Cortrespondence of Caroline Herschel, London, 1876, 77.
10 Daumas.
11 The dossier concerning this award is CNAM archives, P43, carton B. Dossier N° 4.
12 Lalande (Hist 1806), 28 who comments on the difficulty experienced in supporting a heavy mirror in such a way that its form would not change when the position of the tube was adjusted.
13 For this project see Chapin, (n.8).
14 lalande 717.
15 Ibid; 835 & 855.
16 Who however refers to hm as 'Laroche'. For the identification see Chapin [1971].
17 Crosland 170.
18 AN F12 1288.
Adresse ; enseigne ; période ; source
1824. 77, Quai de l'Horloge Paris Almanach du Commerce, Azur 1824
rue St. Jacques, 26 Paris Almanach du commerce
1805: quai de l'Horloge, 26 Paris Almanach du Commerce.
1806-08: quai de l'Horloge, 35 Paris Almanach du Commerce
1780- ?: Place de la Grève, Paris Obs . Physiques, xxv 379.
Late 1760s - ? : Pont Notre Dame, côté de St Denys de Chartres, Paris
1789: Château de la Muette - au Cabinet de sa Majesté, Passy Tablettes 1789
1790-92: Au Collège de France, Place de Cambray, Paris
1792-1813/14 : Pavillon du midi, Louvre Paris Daumas 373.
rue de la Bourbe, 12 Paris Almanach du Commerce
Identifiant
57
ark:/18469/1q3ft