Sextant case, used by General Sir Robert Biddulph (1835-1918), Royal Artillery,

Brown leather case for brass sextant made by Troughton and Simms, London.

Military engineers used sextants to work out the angle between the horizon and either the sun, moon, or a star. The angle could then be used, alongside the time of day it was taken, to determine latitude or longitude.

General Sir Robert Biddulph (1835-1918) was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1853. He served in the Crimean War (1854-1856) and the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). He became Assistant Adjutant-General in 1871 and later served as Governor of Gibraltar.