 In 1837 , the British Government funded the installation of a magnetic observatory at Greenwich . The Association continued to press for the construction of similar observatories around the world , and in 1838 their suggestions were accepted by the Government and funds were provided . In 1839 the British Government and the Royal Society prepared four expeditions to build magnetic observation stations in Cape Town ; St. Helena ; Hobart , Tasmania and ( eventually ) Toronto . Teams of Royal Artillery officers were sent out to take the measurements . The team assigned to Canada originally planned to build their observatory on Saint Helen 's Island off Montreal , but the local rocks proved to have a high magnetic influence , and the decision was made to move to Toronto instead . The team arrived in 1839 , and set up camp at Fort York in a disused barracks while construction started on new buildings . The observatory was given 10 acres ( 4 @.@ 0 ha ) of land to the west of King 's College ; the Ontario Legislature now occupies the area on which the college was located . 
