Henry MacLauchlan (26 April 1792 – 27 January 1882) was a British military, geological and archaeological surveyor. Born into a military family, MacLauchlan studied surveying whilst a cadet at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

with the Royal Corps of Military Surveyors and Draftsmen. He left the corps when it disbanded in 1817 and joined the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

a few years later. After leaving the army, MacLauchlan worked with geologist

Henry De la Beche Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche KCB, FRS (10 February 179613 April 1855) was an English geologist and palaeontologist, the first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, who helped pioneer early geological survey methods. He was the ...

on a survey of Cornwall and for the

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...

to survey archaeology in the north of England. MacLauchlan died in Clapham in 1882.

Early life and career

MacLauchlan was born at the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

base of

Landguard Fort Landguard Fort is a fort at the mouth of the River Orwell outside Felixstowe, Suffolk, designed to guard the mouth of the river. It is now managed by the charity English Heritage and is open to the public. History Originally known as Langer ...

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...

, Suffolk, to Andrew MacLauchlan, a storekeeper for the Board of Ordnance, and his second wife, Martha Haywood. After his father's death in 1795, MacLauchlan moved in with his mother's family in Chichester, before becoming, around 1804, a cadet with the Royal Corps of Military Surveyors and Draftsmen at the

. He spent several years with the army as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

before the corps disbanded in 1817 and he was retired on half pay. MacLauchlan worked with the

from 1823 to 1824, making surveys in Gloucestershire, South Wales and Bedfordshire.

Geological and archaeological work

As well as surveying, MacLauchlan was interested in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

, being elected a fellow of the Geological Society in 1832 and being known to the geologists William Conybeare and

George Bellas Greenough George Bellas Greenough FRS FGS (18 January 1778 – 2 April 1855) was a pioneering English geologist. He is best known as a synthesizer of geology rather than as an original researcher. Trained as a lawyer, he was a talented speaker and his ...

. In 1835 he was seconded to

to provide geographical expertise for his geological survey of Cornwall. MacLauchlan returned to surveying in 1839, before retiring in November 1844. Upon retirement MacLauchlan moved to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where he surveyed

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

s and linear

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

for the Assessionable Manors Commission. He published his findings in six papers in the annual reports of the

Royal Institution of Cornwall The Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC) is a Learned society in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was founded in Truro on 5 February 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seve ...

between 1847 and 1853. By 1848 he was conducting a survey of the archaeology of the North Riding of Yorkshire on behalf of the

, an amateur archaeologist. His work in Yorkshire was completed in 1849 and published in the ''

Archaeological Journal ''The Archaeological Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal for archaeological and architectural reports and articles. It was established in 1844 by the British Archaeological Association as a quarterly journal, but was taken over by the ...

''. The Duke then commissioned MacLauchlan to survey parts of Northumberland, including

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

and Hadrian's Wall, the results of which were published between 1850 and 1867.

Later life

MacLauchlan was consulted in 1854 by a commission of the British Parliament which was investigating which scales should be used by the Ordnance Survey for mapping and how best to represent hills on maps. MacLauchlan recommended the use of shading to show hills, considering

contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional grap ...

s to be less informative and aesthetically pleasing. MacLauchlan never married and, when not in the field surveying, resided in Lambeth or

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

in London. He died at 14 Liston Road, Clapham on 27 January 1882. MacLauchlan was little known until the 1950s and 1960s, when scholars of pre-historic and Roman northern England acknowledged the value of his accurate work, especially in his derivation of place names.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacLauchlan, Henry 1792 births 1882 deaths English surveyors People from Felixstowe British Army soldiers