Thomas Morton (1783-1862) started his own business as a mechanic in 1806 and achieved great success with the developement of a carpet-making machine in 1811, which gained such renown that Alexander I of Russia asked Morton to emigrate to Russia, an offer he refused. Brass And Glass relates that, "in 1817 a local banker, Mr William Anderson, asked Morton if he would repair a reflecting telescope whose speculum needed polishing. Morton's successs was such that 'he immediately set to work to construct one for himself, and in the sequel to manufacture telescopes for sale'" (p. 191). His interest in astronomy became so great that in 1818 he built the Astronomical Observatory at Morton Place, which cost around 1,000, and equipped it with a 9¾ inch diameter Newtonian telescope and a 7 inch diameter Gregorian telescope. In 1835 he was elected an Honourary Member of the Society of Arts for Scotland, which became the Royal Scottish Society of Arts in 1841: the initials "H.M.R.S.S.A" on the backplate of the present telescope indicate that it was made between 1841 and 1862. Brass And Glass lists the three examples in the Frank Collection, four in public collections (the Dumfries Museum, the Royal Museum of Scotland, and two in the Wellcome Collection at the Science Museum), and notes the existence of four others (p. 193). It also illustrates and describes an instrument similar to the present example as item 95, dated "1860" (p. 195), which has, "2 brass wheels at the rear [of the base] for running on a circular track 50" diameter on a stand (now missing)".