Watchet Barometer Gift of Sir A A Hood

Like Mad Jack Fuller, Sir Alexander Bateman Perriam Fuller Acland Hood was a generous benefactor to his community. His wife, Lady Isabella Harriet was the only surviving child of Mad Jack's nephew Sir Peregrine Palmer Fuller Palmer Acland. As well as family ties, Hood shared Mad Jack's interest in saving lives at sea and scientific instruments. In 1862, Sir A A Hood gifted the town of Watchet, Somerset an Admiral FitzRoy's Storm Barometer made by Negretti & Zambra. Robert FitzRoy, for whom the instrument is named, captained the Beagle of Charles Darwin fame. In 2012, the barometer was restored by the Watchet Conservation Society. It continues in daily use and can be viewed in its original position, set into the wall of a cottage at the west end of The Esplanade (where it meets the corner of Swain and Market Streets).