DEVIATION OF THE VERTICAL. DISCUSSION

Abstract

The following is a report of the discussion on the paper by Mr. A. R. Robbins on “Deviation of the Vertical” which was read at a meeting of the Land Surveying Division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors held on Tuesday, 12th December, 1950, and which was published in the January issue of this Review (xi, 79, 28–36).     

THE HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT OF THE ADMIRALTY (Concluded from No. 88, page 57.) (III) THE ROYAL NAVAL SURVEYING SERVICE

Abstract

The Royal Naval Surveying Service is an integral part of the Royal Navy, maintained under the directian of the Hydragrapher of the Navy. This service carries aut hydragraphic surveys ta enable charts ta be campiled and sa that hydragraphic books and publications may be kept up to date.     

THE SEVEN-LENS AIR-SURVEY CAMERA

Abstract

By kind permission of the Editor of the Royal Engineers Journal, this paper has been adapted from the article by the Author in the issue of June 1937 (Vol. li, pp. 217–223). We are also indebted to the Editor for placing generously at our disposal the blocks used to illustrate the paper.     

Mapping Everest

Abstract

From its inception in the middle of the 19th century, the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) took a keen interest in the exploration and mapping of the Everest region. This formed an integral part of the many Everest expeditions, some of which had individual surveyors or survey parties attached to them. Many mountaineers took part in this work, particularly those with a scientific background. But it was not until 1961 that a comprehensive map was produced of the Everest region.     

SOUTHERN RHODESIAN MILITARY SURVEYORS IN THE WORLD WAR, 1939–1945

Abstract

For some two months prior to the formation of the two companies, an intensive course of survey training and “refreshing” had been undergone by all ranks in the field sections, culminating in a combined Royal Artillery/Royal Engineer survey exercise from 1st to 10th October, carried out under operational conditions in all respects (even down to a 30-hour non-stop period of “photo-topo” compilation for the map on which the “final shoot” took place).     

THE TRANSVAAL-SOUTHERN RHODESIA GEODETIC CONNEXION

Abstract

In the original geodetic series in Southern Rhodesia—completed by Mr Alexander Simms in 1901—the geographical coordinates of all stations were referred to the point SALISBURYas origin. The coordinates of SALISBURY were fixed by interchange of telegraphic signals with the Royal Observatory at the Cape for longitude, combined with astronomical determinations of time, latitude, and azimuth (see Vol. III, “Geodetic Survey of South Africa”).     

A PROJECTION METHOD OF MAPPING FROM AIR PHOTOGRAPHS

Abstract

An instrument was previously described in the Transactions of the Royal Society of S. Africa for the setting of pairs of photographs, taken from air stations, in correspondence; that is, in the same relative positions that the camera occupied in space at the moments of exposure. The principle of the instrument may be recalled.     

NOTE ON THOMPSON'S ANALYSIS OF THE IMPROVEMENT RESULTING FROM THE USE OF A RESEAU IN AIR TRIANGULATION AT THE ORDNANCE SURVEY

Abstract

1. In a paper on “Some Recent Developments in Photogrammetry” which he read recently at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and which has now been published in the Institution's Journal, Lieut.-Col. E. H. Thompson, R.E., expounded the advantages of using a reseau ruled on the glass pressure plate of the camera in order to obtain a calibrated grid on each photograph.     

Map Reproduction

Abstract

This general review of the whole field of map reproduction and its historical perspective is provided by the member of the Staff of the Director of Royal Engineer Equipment, Ministry of Defence, responsible for the design of map reproduction equipment for military purposes.     

COMMONWEALTH SURVEY OFFICERS CONFERENCE, 1951

Abstract

The Conference of Commonwealth Survey Officers which was held in London between Monday, 9th July, and Friday, 20th July, 1951, was the fifth of its kind, the last one having been held in 1947. Meetings took place in the Lecture Hall of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which body also put a comfortable lounge at the disposal of delegates and provided other amenities which added considerably to their comfort and were much appreciated.     

Cartographic Activity in Great Britain 1961-64

Abstract

The following extract from “Report No. 2 on Cartographic Activity in Great Britain” is published with the kind permission of the Royal Society. The report has been prepared by the Cartography Sub-Committee of the British National Committee for Geography, and is to be presented to the delegates attending the Second General Assembly of the International Cartographic Association, July, 1964. It covers the period 1961 to 1964. Part I only is reproduced here: Part II covers some recent technical developments; and Part III gives details of the map production of the principal mapping organisations and firms in the country. Any enquiries about the Report should be addressed to the Executive Secretary, The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, W.1.     

A Small War,Gallipoli 1915. He Who is Above Sees All: An Early Use of Aerial Photography in Terrain Analysis

Abstract

When Lord Kitchener ordered Sir Ian Hamilton in 1915 to command land operations on Gallipoli he gave him a solitary old One Inch map and denied him any air forces. When Winston Churchill had earlier sent the Royal Navy to break through to the Black Sea, he had ensured that the Royal Naval Division withdrawn from fighting on the Western Front was accompanied by a Naval Air Squadron as its forward reconnaissance element. Ernest Dowson, the Surveyor General of Egypt, appointed to provide local mapping support, soon convinced the Naval pilots of the value of air photography taken systematically to meet his map-making requirements. In September 1915 Dowson wrote a Secret technical report demonstrating for the first time to British Commanders the practicality of mapping from specified aeroplane photographs of the operational area.     

THE SCHOOL OF MILITARY SURVEY AND ITS COURSES FOR COMMONWEALTH SURVEYORS

Abstract

On the first of January 1949 the Survey Training Centre of the Royal Engineers became the School of Military Survey. In the previous two years over fifty Colonial Survey Officers or Probationers came to the Training Centre as students on various courses. Many of these have now taken their places in the Colonial Survey Service. More students may come in the future not only from the Colonies but also from the Dominions, for just as the Military Survey courses are open to the military officers of the Dominions so are the Colonial Survey courses open to the survey students from the Dominion Governments. Some information about the School and courses may be of interest to these potential students and to many readers of this Review, and these notes have been written with the intention of providing this information     

GORDON'S FARTHEST SOUTH IN UGANDA IN 1876

Abstract

Colonel C. G. Gordon, C.B., of the Royal Engineers, later known to the world as General Gordon, had already achieved the reputation of a man of action when, in 1874, he accepted service under the Khedive Ismail as Governor-General of the Equatorial Province of the Sudan. Envoys from Gordon visited Mutesa, the King of Buganda, in 1874 (Chaillé Long) and 1875 (E. Linant de Bellefonds), but not until nearly two years after his appointment was Gordon able to lead the final advance which was planned to carry the Egyptian flag to the shores of Lake Victoria. In January, 1876, he reached Mruli on the south side of the mouth of the Kafu river into the Nile, and here he established a fort and garrison while a force was sent forward under an Egyptian (Arab) officer, Nuehr Aga, to occupy posts as far south as the Ripon Falls. Gordon returned at once towards Dufile, where his presence was required, not intending again to visit the southern portion of his province.     

THE ISLANDS OF THE TRISTAN D'ACUNHA GROUP

Abstract

In January, 1934, a report was received from the Royal Research Ship Discovery II that the positions of Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands in the Tristan d'Acunha group were incorrectly shown on British Admiralty chart No. 1769. The report originated from local information, and was to some extent confirmed by patent log distances run by Discovery II, and by sea sights, but no really definite evidence as to the correct position of the two islands was received. In effect, the report merely stated that both Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands were considerably nearer to Tristan Island than as charted.     

PORTABLE STANDARD MAGNETIC COMPASSES

Abstract

The function of a compass is to indicate the direction of the magnetic field in its neighbourhood. Its pointing is therefore magnetic not geographical. The divergence from a true-north indication, different in different parts of the world, is the “variation” of the compass. This quantity is obviously of importance for true directional work when the magnetic compass is used. Its value is known to a high degree of accuracy and is easily available. Such accurate magnetic data are obtained from an elaborate and special form of compass known as a “Magnetometer” and are regularly published by the Astronomer Royal to an accuracy of about half a minute of arc.     

CAPTAIN WILLIAM BLIGH,R.N., HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYOR

Abstract

The name of Bligh will for all time be associated with the incident of the Bounty Mutiny during his first mission of transporting the Bread Fruit to the West Indies. This was, however, but one episode in his eventful career in the Royal Navy. At various times he took part in scientific expeditions and voyages of discovery, commanded fighting ships, etc. Between 1797 and 1803 he fulfilled the duty of hydrographic surveyor and carried out a number of surveys of limited areas in the British Isles and adjacent coasts of Europe. These examinations, of which the River Humber, Dublin Bay, Dungeness and the mouth of the River Schelde are the most detailed, were valuable additions to hydrographic knowledge, coming as they did before organized surveying as we know it today had fully established itself.     

EVOLUTION OF LAND RECORDS

Abstract

The increasing atrophy of the copyhold system and the defeat of the Statute of Inrolments by the artifice of Lease and Release, which were noted at the conclusion of Part I of this Paper (viii, 60, 210), gave birth to Private Conveyancing in this form as the means whereby the large majority of dealings in land were being transacted and recorded in England in the early years of the nineteenth century when we resume our story. Concern at the increasing confusion and insecurity of title led to the appointment in 1828 of a Royal Commission to inquire into the Law of England respecting Real Property. In their principal report in 1830 the Commissioners concentrated on two main issues: (i) the gross defects of the prevailing methods of land transfer and (ii) the pressing need to establish “a General Registry of Deeds and Instruments relating to Land”. It is impossible to summarize their findings under (i), but they may be exemplified by an extract commenting on “the most important evil (that of) insecurity of title”. “It is obvious,” they said, (“that with regard to all future interests, the presumption of title arising from possession is out of the question. As to title deeds; the possession of them is never conclusive, and in many cases it cannot be had.” Regarding (ii) they said: “This has appeared to us to exceed in magnitude and importance all the other subjects within the scope of our Commission; … and we have found it to be so connected with almost every part of the Law of Real Property, that the nature and details of any improvements to be proposed by us, must greatly depend on the question whether all Deeds and Instruments affecting the Title to Land shall be registered, or whether the security of title is still to rest on other expedients.”