Charting Background to the 1884 Conference

Extract

Alexander Dalrymple was not appointed as the first Hydrographer of the Navy until 12 August 1795. Until this time, and indeed for at least twelve years later, individual commanding officers of British warships were expected to buy whatever charts they could find – and could afford. Apart from Greenvile Collins's Coasting Pilot, no official chart was generally available although the East India Company (of which Dalrymple was allowed to remain Hydrographer when taking up his naval appointment) had produced many reliable charts of the Indian Ocean and East Indies.