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379:. Apart from this project, and the publication of the sheets of the one-inch ordnance map of England and Wales, the operations of the British survey were at a standstill after the death of Mudge until 1838, when the survey of Scotland was resumed, and Colby moved back from Dublin to London. In that year he went back into the field for the last time, on
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six inches to the mile. Colby exceeded by large sums the budgets sanctioned by parliament, and forwent his own salary. The survey included a series of tidal observations. Colby during its progress introduced electrotyping, contour lines on the six-inch maps, and the training of picked men of the sappers and miners as surveyors.
334:
In 1824 Colby and the
Ordnance Survey were given the task of surveying Ireland. He also decided to have the work carried on under direct official supervision, and raised three companies of sappers and miners to be trained in survey duties. Later many Irish surveyors were used. It began with Colby and
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In 1840, the government agreed to survey the remaining six counties in
England (Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Durham, and Northumberland) and the whole of Scotland, on the six-inch scale, while the publication of the one-inch map continued for the rest of England. The assistants
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recommended more rapid, but less accurate methods. This approach was abandoned in 1832. In May 1833 the publication of the first Irish county—Londonderry—in fifty sheets, took place. Other counties followed, and the completion of the map in 1847 saw 1,939 sheets, surveyed and plotted on a scale of
242:
The survey required detailed measurements to be made at each location, often over days or weeks as weather permitted. When working on remote hills, Colby and his men built structures from local stone or turf to provide shelter. Some of these structures can still be seen on
Scottish hills, where
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His commissions were as follows: second lieutenant royal engineers, 2 July 1801; first lieutenant, 6 August 1802; captain (second), 1 July 1807; brevet major, 19 July 1821; regimental lieutenant-colonel, 29 July 1825; regimental colonel, 10 January 1837; major-general, 9 November
343:, in 1825. He devised a dual arrangement of brass and iron, called by him a "compensation bar", which as the "Colby bar" was used base-measurements in all parts of the world. A base-line, eight miles long, was measured under his superintendence, on the southern side of
66:. He began planning this enormous enterprise in 1824 and directed it until 1846, in which year the final maps made by the survey were almost ready for issue. He was the inventor of the "Colby Bar" (a compensation bar), an apparatus used in base-measurements.
121:, Colby met with an accident through the bursting of a pistol loaded with small shot with which he was practising, his left hand having to be amputated at the wrist and part of the gun being permanently lodged in the skull. In 1804 he was observing the
184:. In 1815 Colby worked from Tower map office, but in 1816–17 he was again in the field, carrying the triangulation round the eastern coast towards Orkney and Shetland, and in the latter year, in conjunction with Gardner, measured the base-line of
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employed on the Irish survey were gradually transferred to
England and Scotland. The work was proceeding slowly when, in November 1846, just as the sheets of the last Irish county were preparing for issue, Colby attained the rank of
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of
Londonderry. They had a family of four sons and three daughters. After his marriage Colby moved from London to Dublin, residing at first in Merrion Square, and afterwards at Knockmaroon Lodge, at the gates of
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suggested a geological map of the west of
England, which was handed over by the government to Colby. The arrangement continued in force until 1845, when the geological survey was transferred to the
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appointed Colby to succeed him at the head of the
Ordnance Survey. On 13 April 1820 Colby became a Fellow of the Royal Society. Later in the same year Lord Melville nominated him to a seat on the
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676:
Trigonometrical Survey of
England—An Account of the Trigonometrical Survey extending over the period 1800–1809. By Lieut.-colonel Mudge, Royal Artillery, and Capt. Colby, Royal Engineers.
497:
62:, Colby overcame the loss of one hand in a shooting accident to begin in 1802 a lifelong connection with the Ordnance Survey. His most important work was the
156:. In July 1809, Mudge was appointed lieutenant governor of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and Colby became the chief executive officer of the Survey.
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to make pendulum and other observations there in connection with the prolongation of the arc of the meridian. Biot and Colby fell out, however.
113:, director of the Ordnance Survey, who arranged in 1802 to have him attached to the Survey. His first task was sector observations made at
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There was a pause the mountain work of the survey; but in 1821 Colby was employed in making observations in Orkney and
Shetland, and on
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259:, which he retained until it was dissolved in 1828. He also became an associate and then an honorary member of the
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He was the eldest child of Major Thomas Colby, Royal
Marines (died 1813) and his wife, Cornelia Hadden, sister of
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for the Institut de France, in connecting the observations of Greenwich and Paris. The results were published in
652:"MHG10246 - Ben Kliibreck, campsite & survey station, Meall Nan Con - Highland Historic Environment Record"
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arsenal. In 1819 Colby was again engaged in Scotland, the season's work beginning, early in May, on
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439:, within easy distance of the survey office, which was established in the old Mountjoy barracks.
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395:, and in accordance with the rule of the service was retired from the post he had so long held.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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Initially trained staff were in short supply, and progress was slow. A committee headed by
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on 1 September 1784. Colby was brought up by his father's sisters at Rhosygilwen, near
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149:. Later he was selecting trigonometrical stations on the mountains in South Wales.
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for 1828. Fresnel's new compound lenses were used for the observations across the
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Colby devoted himself to the education of his sons, residing for some time at
271:. He was also one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society, and with
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192:, the only base-line in Scotland. He was also engaged in observations in
506:. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 660.
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133:; in 1806 he was assisting Mudge in the measurement of a base-line on
263:. At this time living in London, he was among the proprietors of the
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692: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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FGS FRGS (1 September 1784 – 9 October 1852), was a
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In 1828 Colby married Elizabeth Hester Boyd, second daughter of
176:. In that and the following year Colby and his chief assistant,
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into Scotland, with a mineralogical survey being carried out by
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The publication of the maps themselves was suspended during the
406:, on 9 October 1852, aged 68. A monument was erected to him in
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in the summer of 1802. In December 1803, when on duty at
211:, and took part in the observations made, with Biot and
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In 1813 it was decided to extend the measurement of the
44:, Colby was one of the leading geographers of his time.
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and passed out for the Royal Engineers while still 16.
294:; and in 1821-3 he was sent by the Royal Society with
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at the end of September. Colby was made LL.D. of the
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Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey
243:they are known as Colby camps or surveyors' camps.
355:, it was restored by going back to Colby's work.
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461:Royal Society biography – Thomas Frederick Colby
447:Colby House, which was the headquarters of the
711:. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
565:. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
312:. Colby gave his notes on them to his friend
16:British general and cartographer (1784–1852)
267:, and was one of the early members of the
251:Early in 1820 General Mudge died, and the
770:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
755:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
580:. Granta Publications. pp. 226–233.
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418:In 1811 appeared the third volume of the
207:Colby later accompanied General Mudge to
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237:Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
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316:, leading to their adoption in British
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168:between Dunnose and the mouth of the
78:. He was born at St. Margaret's-next-
451:until 2014, is named in his honour.
141:and in astronomical observations in
109:Colby attracted the notice of Major
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330:Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland
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32:major-general and director of the
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283:, and others, drew up its rules.
708:Dictionary of National Biography
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562:Dictionary of National Biography
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104:Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
556:"Colby, Thomas Frederick"
377:Department of Woods and Forests
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219:'s sector, which was set up in
745:19th-century British inventors
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261:Institution of Civil Engineers
200:, who had been deputed by the
51:Thomas Colby, 1837 drawing by
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298:to co-operate with Arago and
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760:Fellows of the Royal Society
335:a small party of sappers on
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740:British Army major generals
735:People from Rochester, Kent
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360:Sir James Carmichael Smyth
351:was destroyed in the 1834
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305:Philosophical Transactions
38:Royal Astronomical Society
627:"Creach Bheinn | Canmore"
442:
425:
750:Royal Engineers officers
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94:. He attended school at
703:Colby, Thomas Frederick
576:Hewitt, Rachel (2011).
503:Encyclopædia Britannica
498:Colby, Thomas Frederick
227:, Banff, and ending in
602:"COLBY CAMP | Canmore"
422:, by Mudge and Colby.
420:Trigonometrical Survey
347:, in 1827–8. When the
233:University of Aberdeen
145:, Cheshire and on the
115:Dunnose, Isle of Wight
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20:Thomas Frederick Colby
353:Burning of Parliament
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300:Claude-Louis Mathieu
102:. He went on to the
34:Ordnance Survey (OS)
656:her.highland.gov.uk
449:OS Northern Ireland
76:James Murray Hadden
36:. A Fellow of the
257:Board of Longitude
253:Duke of Wellington
202:Institut de France
198:Jean-Baptiste Biot
58:An officer in the
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587:978-1-84708-452-1
408:St James Cemetery
373:Henry De la Beche
64:Survey of Ireland
53:William Brockedon
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186:Belhelvie Links
174:John MacCulloch
166:meridional line
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160:Scottish survey
154:Napoleonic wars
147:Yorkshire moors
143:Delamere Forest
100:William Crakelt
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60:Royal Engineers
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659:. Retrieved
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634:. Retrieved
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730:1852 deaths
725:1784 births
345:Lough Foyle
318:lighthouses
296:Henry Kater
719:Categories
455:References
367:Later life
328:See also:
182:theodolite
170:River Tees
96:Northfleet
70:Early life
381:Ben Hutig
371:In 1833,
247:In London
229:Caithness
139:St. Asaph
131:Beaumaris
123:pole star
80:Rochester
215:, using
194:Shetland
190:Aberdeen
127:azimuths
119:Liskeard
84:Rhoshill
696::
491::
341:Belfast
221:Dunkirk
209:Dunkirk
188:, near
137:, near
90:, West
30:British
661:21 May
636:21 May
611:21 May
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485:
443:Legacy
426:Family
517:1846.
467:Notes
414:Works
339:near
337:Divis
292:Foula
288:Faira
196:with
92:Wales
663:2024
638:2024
613:2024
582:ISBN
400:Bonn
290:and
235:and
125:for
40:and
26:FRSE
705:".
500:".
383:in
129:at
23:FRS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
