Royal Corps of Military Surveyors and Draftsmen was a British

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

under the Board of Ordnance formally established in 1800 and disbanded in 1817. It was one of the predecessors of 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 ...

Establishment

The royal warrant to establish the corps was signed in 1800, making the civilian staff of the Drawing Room 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 ...

a military corps. It was believed that a militarization of the staff would increase its efficacy.Commissioners of Military Enquiry (1811), ''Thirteenth Report: The Master General and Board of Ordnance'', London, p. 283-284. In reality, the corps was not formed until 1805.Commissioners of Military Enquiry (1811), ''Fifteenth Report: Military Engineering'', London, p. 319. In 1813 it was confirmed by law that the corps as well as other corps of the military establishment of the Ordnance Board was subject to the

Mutiny Act Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

.John Raithby (1814), ''The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland'', London, p. 54.

Duties

Duties of the corps was to make surveys and drawings, both in Britain and abroad, particularly as part of the Trigonometrical Survey.

Staff

* 1 Chief Surveyor and Draftsman * 1 First Assistant Surveyor and Draftsman * 1 Second Assistant Surveyor and Draftsman * 8 Surveyors and Draftsmen 1st Class * 16 Surveyors and Draftsmen 2nd Class * 8 Surveyors and Draftsmen 3rd Class * 6 Surveyors and Draftsmen Cadets Each officer was appointed by a warrant from the

Master General of Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

; the cadets being appointed by letter.

Disbandment

The corps was disbanded in 1817 and its officers put on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

References

Military units and formations established in 1800 Cartography British administrative corps Military units and formations disestablished in 1817