CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Jackson-Gwilt Medal

award

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ1577905 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Jackson-Gwilt Medal is an award that has been issued by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) since 1897. The original criteria were for the invention, improvement, or development of astronomical instrumentation or techniques; for achievement in observational astronomy; or for achievement in research into the history of astronomy. In 2017, the history of astronomy category was removed for subsequent awards and was transferred to a new award, the Agnes Mary Clerke Medal.

The frequency of the medal has varied over time. Initially, it was irregular, with gaps of between three and five years between awards. From 1968 onwards, it was awarded regularly every three years; from 2004 every two years; and since 2008 it has been awarded every year.

The award is named after Hannah Jackson née Gwilt. She was a niece of Joseph Gwilt (an architect and Fellow of the RAS) and daughter of George Gwilt (another Fellow); Hannah donated the original funds for the medal. It is the second oldest award issued by the RAS, after the Gold Medal.

List of winners

Source is unless otherwise noted.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jackson-Gwilt Medal” is award. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Jackson-Gwilt, Medal and award, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1897, 2017, 1968, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1897. For this dossier, Jackson-Gwilt, Medal and award is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “award” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1577905. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1897, 2017, 1968 and 2004.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jackson-Gwilt Medal”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jackson-Gwilt Medal primary sources, Jackson-Gwilt Medal archive and Jackson-Gwilt research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jackson-Gwilt Medal”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Jackson-Gwilt Medal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.