The firm was founded in 1850 by H. Negretti and J. W. Zambra and soon gained a good reputation both at home and abroad owing to the excellence of its products. In the early days the firm's activities were confined to the manufacture of meteorological or, as they were called then, Philosophical Instruments, and several patents were granted to Negretti & Zambra covering many improvements in design and construction. In 1851 they patented a maximum thermometer and the following is an extract from the Report of the Astronomer Royal, May, 1852:

“We have for several years been very much troubled by the failures of the Maximum Self-registering Thermometer.

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