Compass made by Alfred Sawtell
Compass made by Sawtell, Nautical Optician, Divett Street, Port Adelaide. A compass is a navigational instrument used to establish direction relative to the magnetic poles of the Earth.
Before the introduction of the compass, navigators plotted a course by sighting landmarks. As scientists understood more about the effects of magnetic variation and deviation, compasses improved and became the most crucial navigational tool at sea.
Alfred E Sawtell established a chronometer, watchmaker and optician business in Divett Street, Port Adelaide in 1853. The business expanded and came to be known as makers of fine nautical instruments and publishers of the famous nautical almanac, Star Twinkles. The almanac was the local seafarer's bible containing nautical