Sir Herbert George Fordham (9 May 1854 – 1929), was a British writer on

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

whose Carto-Bibliography method of cataloging maps was widely adopted. He was the benefactor of the ''Fordham collection'' housed by the Royal Geographical Society - one of the most important

map collection A map collection or map library is a storage facility for maps, usually in a library, archive, or museum, or at a map publisher or public-benefit corporation, and the maps and other cartographic items stored within that facility. Sometimes, ...

s in the country. Fordham was born in Odsey and attended

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

where he became a member of the Geological Society. After college he joined the family brewing business but left and in 1885 was called to the bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

. Between 1874 and 1892 he published several papers on the geology, natural history, and botany of Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. In 1887 he published ''Rural Municipalities and the Reform of Local Government''. In 1891, on the death of his father, Fordham returned to the family business. From 1904 he served in local government, chairing

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council consists of 61 councillors, representing 59 electoral divisions. The council is based at New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon. It is a me ...

and receiving a knighthood in 1908. In 1918 he contested the West Fulham election as the Liberal candidate. He lost partly due to his opposition to conscription. From 1920 he was deputy lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. He actively opposed the creation of the county borough of Cambridge. From 1900 he began to collect old maps and road books, initially from England and later from abroad. Using both his own and the collections of others, he began publishing and printing on maps including ''Studies in Carto-Bibliography'' in 1914. In 1929 he was awarded the gold medal of the Brussels Geographical Society recognising him as one of Europe's foremost authorities on cartography. Fordham donated some rare maps and atlases to both the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and to

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

and he bequeathed 1300 volumes, including rare road books and itineraries, to the Royal Geographical Society. He also donated the Anglo-Saxon Guilden Morden boar, discovered by his father, to the British Museum.

Publications

* * Fordham, Herbert George (1909). ''Studies in carto-bibliography, British and French, and in the bibliography of itineraries and road-books''. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Copy
at Internet Archive.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fordham, Herbert English cartographers English booksellers Deputy Lieutenants of Cambridgeshire Members of Cambridgeshire County Council Alumni of University College London British barristers 1854 births 1929 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates