Frederick Drew FGS,

FRGS The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(11 August 1836 – 28 October 1891), was an English geologist, who is noted for his geographical study of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He worked as a geologist for over a decade in Maharaja Ranbir Singh's government and also served as the Governor of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

. He was elected Fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

Early life

Frederick Drew was born at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers ...

. He was the youngest son of astronomer John Drew and Clara Drew. Drew was educated at Southampton private school run by his father. Later he studied the Royal School of Mines in 1853, passed with distinction. He joined the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS hea ...

in 1855.

Career

Drew was employed for seven years in the south-east of England, and did much for the geology of the weald, especially in tracing out and describing the subdivisions of the Hastings sands. He contributed papers to the 'Journal' of the Geological Society in 1861 and 1864, and he wrote a memoir describing the Romney marsh district. His notes were used by William Topley in his 'Geology of the Weald' (Memoirs of the Geological Survey, 1875).Drew, Frederick
''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1901 Supplement, Smith, Elder & Co., 1901 In 1862 he entered the service of the Maharajah of Kashmir, with whom he remained ten years. He was at first engaged in looking for minerals, was then charged with the management of the forest department, and was finally governor of the province of

(1870–1871). He served as the Maharaja's representative on a "second" boundary commission to delineate the boundary between Ladakh and the British Indian districts Lahaul and Spiti. He acquired an intimate knowledge of the country and the people, and after his return to England he wrote ''The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories: a Geographical Account'' (London, 1875). It was provided with excellent maps, showing not only the physical features, but the distribution of races, languages, and faiths. A translation by Baron Ernouf was published at Paris in 1877; and in the same year Drew published a more popular account under the title ''The Northern Barrier of India''. He had been elected a fellow of the

in 1858, and served on the council from 1874 to 1876. In 1875, he was appointed one of the science masters at Eton, and he remained there till his death on 28 October 1891.

Reception

Sir

Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...

has made mention of 'his gentleness, helpfulness, and entire unselfishness, and his quiet enthusiasm for that domain of natural science to which he had given the labours of his life.' Scholar Parshotam Mehra regarded ''Jammoo and Kashmir Territories'' 'the definitive work on Kashmir's frontiers'.

Personal life

He married Sara Constance, daughter of Alfred Waylen, one of the first settlers in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

, and he left two sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, Frederick 1836 births 1891 deaths Scientists from Southampton 19th-century English scientists English geologists Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Governors of Ladakh British people in colonial India