The sextant which I inherited from my grandfather is inscribed "R.G.C. Soady - or perhaps "Loady", it's a bit hard to decipher the flowing script of the time which - i believe it to be (very roughly)of the mid nineteenth century. The sextant was made by Dollond, a London maker. I'd be delighted if someone out there could tell me more about this instrument's original (I imagine sea-faring) owner. My Grandfather, who lived in Co. Limerick in Ireland was a civil engineer and may have used it for surveying, I never got to ask him about it.