during his term of office and in 1917 the residence was again inhabited by the Astronomer. All government astronomers from Scott to Cooke were worried about increasing levels of city light, vibration from traffic and magnetic disturbance which rendered the Flagstaff Hill site increasingly unsuitable. Recommendations had been made by Smalley in 1864 and others in the first quarter of the twentieth century. While Russell had managed to have the astrographic telescope relocated to Pennant Hills, there was general worry over the reaction to the cost of relocation of the whole observatory. In July 1925 Cooke wrote to his minister pointing out the problems at the site and with the equipment. The State Cabinet took him at his word and in October decided to close the observatory rather than face the cost of removal and re-equipment. However, protests from the Board of Visitors, the Royal Society of NSW, the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Association, the University of Sydney and interested members of the public caused the Government to change its mind and allow the observatory to continue - but with a heavily reduced staff and program. Most of the staff were transferred to other departments and Cooke was retired the following year. Only the time ball and completion of the astrographic program survived. This experience inhibited later Government Astronomers in their arguments for a new site. Two World Wars, a great depression and a commitment to a logistically exacting astrographic program helped reduce the vitality of the establishment in the twentieth century. The deployment of major resources to the astrographic program became something of an incubus as the twentieth century progressed. The Government Astronomers could not suspend or abort the program even if they had thought it desirable. At the same time the fulfilment of international obligations under the program was largely instrumental in the survival of the observatory. The completion of the program in 1964 and publication of the final volume in 1971 meant the observatory's days were numbered. Other fundamental reasons also contributed to the notion that the observatory was no longer a viable proposition. The transfer of meteorology to the Commonwealth in 1908 removed the observatory's most high-profile public service, electric telegraphy and radio had reduced and in time eliminated the need for local navigational and time services. Ambient city light was starting to restrict astronomical observation though the place was still suitable for the