Alfred Dundas Taylor (1825–1898) was head of the Marine Survey Department of the Admiralty of the United Kingdom.
Life
He was born on 30 August 1825 in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, son of
George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London.
Life
Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on ...
(1788–1873), who worked as
an architect to the Admiralty. He is stated to have first proposed the
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project () is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka. This would provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would b ...
, in about 1860, later proposed in 1955 and not begun until 1995.
[Latif, Asad. Three Sides in Search of a Triangle: Singapore-America-India Relations. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. p52]
Taylor served on the East India Company ship ''Elphinstone'' as a midshipman until June 1843 when he was recommended to be made an officer. The following year he served in the brig ''Taptee'' under Commander Montriou where he surveyed the Concan coast off the coast of
Mumbai, India. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1847 and served the next two years on the ''Feroze'' in the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
. In 1850 he was appointed to command the survey ship ''Pownah'' where for six years he surveyed the
Gulf of Cutch on the
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...
. In 1855 he examined the port of
Karwar
Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India.
Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...
, and then spent four years surveying
Coringa Bay and
Kakinada
Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...
port on the
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...
and
Cochin
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
on the Malabar coast, surveying as far south as
Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
. In 1859 he piloted the expeditionary force against
Wagher rebels involved in the
Indian Rebellion of 1857-1859 at
Bet Dwarka. In 1862, the Indian Navy was abolished and Taylor was pensioned off.
Taylor became interested in improving the
hydrography
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary p ...
of Indian waters. He was able to convince the
Secretary of State of the Government of India to form the Marine Survey Department in 1875, with Taylor as its head. The department was productive during this period, producing many publications to aid in navigation, especially marine charts. Taylor retired on 1 July 1882 under the 55-year rule, succeeded by Commander L. S. Dawson.
[Black 1891, p15-17]
Taylor died on 14 November 1898 in Sussex, England.
Works
At the request of Admiral Washington, Taylor was employed in compiling ''Sailing Directions for the West Coast of Hindostan'', published in 1865.
Taylor's last published book was ''The India Directory for the Guidance of Steamers and Sailing Vessels'' (London: Smith Elder, 1891).
Family
Alfred was married to Bessie Mills and had a child, Alfred Mills Taylor, the only child mentioned in his will.
References
Sources
*Black, Charles Edward Drummond. ''A Memoir on the Indian Surveys, 1875–1890''. E.A. Arnold, 1891.
1825 births
1898 deaths
19th-century English architects
{{UK-architect-stub