Valentine Blacker CB (19 October 1778Burke, John (1835). ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank, Vol. II.'' Publisher: R. Bentley for Henry Colburn – 4 February 1826Holmes and Co. (Calcutta),
The Bengal Obituary
Or, a Record to Perpetuate the Memory of Departed Worth: Being a Compilation of Tablets and Monumental Inscriptions from Various Parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies, to which is added Biographical Sketches and Memoirs of Such as have Pre-Eminently Distinguished Themselves in the History of British India, Since the Formation of the European Settlement to the Present Time'', London: 1851, W. Thacker, pp. 208–9. Some sources give 1823 or 1827, e.g. ''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Volume 1'' (1847). His grave marker gives 4 February 1826), was a lieutenant colonel in the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and later

Surveyor General of India The Surveyor General of India is the Head of Department of Survey of India, A department under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Government of India. The Surveyor General is also the most senior member of the Survey of India Service, an o ...

Life and career

Blacker was born in Armagh,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

where his family has an ancestral home in the barony of

Oneilland East Oneilland East (, the name of an ancient Gaelic district) is a barony in the north-east of County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is also called Clanbrasil (from ''Clann Bhreasail'', "offspring of Breasal"). It lies in the north-east corner of t ...

. He obtained a commission in the Madras Cavalry in 1798, was made a cornet in 1799, and aide-de-camp to a Colonel Stevenson in the

Wayanad district Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

in 1800, and quartermaster-general in 1810. He served in

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

, 1817, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. His son, Maxwell, was born in June 1822. Blacker took over from John Hodgson as

in 1823. In this capacity he made substantial contributions to the ongoing Trigonometrical Survey of India. He was stationed in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

from 1823 until his death there from a

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...

in 1826. He was buried in

South Park Street Cemetery South Park Street Cemetery is located on Mother Teresa Sarani, Central Kolkata, India. The road used to be called Park Street, and prior to that Burial Ground Road. History The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemet ...

in Calcutta. Andrew Waugh said of him that "Blacker, with the exception of Col Everest, was the ablest and most scientific man that ever presided over this expensive department".J. R. Smith, ''Everest: The Man and the Mountain'' (1999), p. 226.

Writings

Blacker and his relative William Blacker were both lieutenant-colonels, and both were published authors. Because some of the work was published pseudonymously, the two are sometimes confused or conflated in texts. His correspondence with his father concerning military and political news, as well as his observations about Indian life and culture, was published in 1798.Blacker, Valentine (1798). ''Letter Book''. Blacker published a history of Maharashtra War, including discussion of the

Battle of Khadki The Battle of Khadki, also known as or The Battle of Ganeshkhind, took place at modern day Khadki, India on 5 November 1817 between the forces of the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire under the leadership of Appasaheb Bhonsle. T ...

, in 1821.Blacker, Valentine (1821).
Memoirs of the operations of the British Army in India during the Mahratta war of 1817, 1818 and 1819.
' Black, Kingsbury, Parbury, and Allen, 1821

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blacker, Valentine British East India Company Army officers Surveyors General of India 1778 births 1826 deaths People from County Armagh Companions of the Order of the Bath British surveyors