James Robertson of Gossabrough FRS (1753–1829) was an 18th-century Scottish surveyor and map-maker.

Life

He was born on the island of

Yell A yell is a loud vocalization; see screaming. Yell may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Yell, Shetland, one of the North Isles of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland * Yell Sound, Shetland, Scotland United States * Yell, Tennessee, an unin ...

in the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

north of mainland Scotland, the youngest of ten children to John Robertson, a relatively wealthy merchant. His family moved to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in his youth and he was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School then studied at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

in Aberdeen, graduating MA in 1778. He moved to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 1778/9 and leased out cattle to plantation owners. He made maps from at least 1791. In 1796 he successfully lobbied the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

to commission him for three years to map the entire island. He completed his one inch to a mile series of maps in November 1799 and was further commissioned to create more detailed maps which he completed in 1801. For the task he was paid £10,450, an absolute fortune at that time. He then went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to organise for the printing (and sale) of his maps, which were published in 1804. In London he lived in the Pall Mall area. In December 1810 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He unsuccessfully lobbied the Admiralty to commission the mapping of Orkney and Shetland, and unsuccessfully lobbied landowners to map

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. However, he obtained a successful commission from local landowners to map

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. This was begun in 1810 but was not "completed" until 1822. But the commissioning group were less than happy with the result, which was proven to have multiple omissions. Robertson went to court in Edinburgh's High Court to receive the agreed payment but the issue remained unresolved at the point of his death in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, on 15 January 1829. By contrast, in the 1980s the Jamaican maps were compared against modern maps and found to be 98% accurate.

References

1753 births 1829 deaths People from Shetland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen British cartographers Fellows of the Royal Society Date of birth missing Date of death missing History of Jamaica Geography of Jamaica {{UK-explorer-stub