This paper investigates the ways in which George Biddell Airy, Astronomer Royal, strove to maintain the highest degree of accuracy of standard time disseminated from the Royal Observatory Greenwich to the wider public between the 1850s and 1880s. Recent studies on the standardisation of time in the Victorian age have indicated that early electrical time signalling was not as accurate or reliable as historians have commonly assumed. They have highlighted a considerable number of technical failures and inaccuracies which occurred in the distribution of time signals. However, in spite of these shortcomings, the Greenwich time service earned public trust, which led to its continuous use as the standard of time by railway companies, seafarers, and clock and watch makers who demanded accuracy in timekeeping.

In this paper, I will argue that this adoption of the newly-established way of public timekeeping was due primarily to Airy’s formulation of three different strategies aimed at developing the overall effectiveness of the service. Firstly, this paper considers technical aspects of time distribution, with particular emphasis on how Airy guaranteed the functionality of time signalling by conducting a series of experiments and creating a technique to measure the accuracy of the time he disseminated. Secondly, the paper focuses on the importance of Airy’s public image as a scientific authority; a key factor in further enhancing the credibility of the Greenwich time service. Thirdly, this paper suggests that Airy’s consistently coherent response to those who cast doubt on the accuracy of the time signal was instrumental in preserving the trustworthiness of his timekeeping venture.