Hydrographic Department (Royal Navy)

Hydrographers of the Navy

Dates of appointment given:

• Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, 1829 – 1855
• Rear-Admiral John Washington, 1855 – 1863
• Vice-Admiral Sir George H. Richards, 1863 – 1874
• Captain Sir Frederick J. O. Evans, 1874 – 1884
• Rear-Admiral Sir William J. L. Wharton, 1 August, 1884 – 31 July, 1904
• Captain Arthur M. Field, 1 August, 1904 – 1909
• Rear-Admiral Herbert E. Purey-Cust, 16 August, 1909 – 31 August, 1914
• Rear-Admiral Sir John F. Parry, 31 August, 1914 – 1 September, 1919
• Rear-Admiral Frederick C. Learmonth, 1 September, 1919 – 1924
• Rear-Admiral Henry P. Douglas, 1 October, 1924 – 1 October, 1932
• Vice-Admiral John A. Edgell, 1 October, 1932 – 1945
• Rear-Admiral Arthur G. N. Wyatt, 1945 – 1950

Assistant Hydrographers

Dates of appointment given:

• Captain Herbert E. Purey-Cust, 1 October, 1907 – 16 August, 1909
• Captain Charles E. Monro, 6 September, 1909 – 17 November, 1909  (temporary)
• Captain Charles E. Monro, 14 December, 1909 – April, 1910
• Captain John F. Parry, 28 April, 1910
• Captain Philip Nelson-Ward, 11 December, 1912 – 1916
• Captain Ernest C. Hardy, 1 September, 1914 – 1 February, 1919
• Captain Henry P. Douglas, 1 February, 1919  (this may be Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer)
• Rear-Admiral Robert W. Glennie, 1 August, 1921 – 1 September, 1924
• Captain John D. Nares, 1 September, 1924 – 23 February, 1928
• Captain John D. Nares, 24 January, 1930
• Captain John A. Edgell, 29 May, 1931 – 1 October, 1932
• Captain Arthur L. Jackson, 1 October, 1932 – 20 July, 1936  (vice Edgell)
• Captain Edward F. B. Law, 6 July, 1936 – 6 March, 1939
• Captain Arthur L. Jackson,  – 10 February, 1942  (medically unfit at end)
• Vice-Admiral (retired) John D. Nares, 14 January, 1942 – 14 June, 1945  (serving in rank of Captain)

The overlap between Hardy and Nelson-Ward should be examined.

Chief Civil Assistant to the Hydrographer

Dates of appointment given:

• Fleet Paymaster George W. Underhill,  – 18 June, 1897
• Commander George C. Frederick, 18 June, 1897

Naval Assistants to the Hydrographer

There seem to have been multiple men in this role at any given time, and so we do not link them in chains of succession at the foot of each man's page.

• Lieutenant Llewellyn S. Dawson, 1 October, 1876
• Staff Captain (retired) Henry R. Harris, 3 February, 1874 – 7 November, 1893
• Commander George Pirie, 7 November, 1893 – 1 July, 1894
• Commander Morris H. Smyth, 1 July, 1894 – 1 July, 1897
• Captain (retired) Cecil F. Oldham, 1 July, 1897 – 4 September, 1904
• Commander Robert W. Glennie, 1 April, 1904 – 1 February, 1905
• Lieutenant Vivian R. Brandon, 12 June, 1906 – 26 September, 1906
• Captain (retired) Lewis F. Blackburn, 8 July, 1907 – 15 January, 1909
• Commander Guy M. Marston, 2 January, 1908 – 10 November, 1910
• Commander (retired) Philip C. Pearson, 11 February, 1908 – 11 October, 1914
• Lieutenant Vivian R. Brandon, 18 March, 1909 – 11 May, 1909
• Lieutenant-Commander Vivian R. Brandon, 11 July, 1910 – 27 January, 1911
• Captain Robert W. Glennie, 7 November, 1913 – 16 December, 1913
• Commander John D. Nares, 1 March, 1914 – 17 February, 1915
• Commander Oswald T. Hodgson, 21 February, 1915 – 28 January, 1916  (temporary until 9 July, 1915)
• Captain (retired) Arthur W. Torlesse, 24 February, 1917 – 1 May, 1919
• Commander Edward B. Cloete, 19 June, 1918 – 6 May, 1920
• Commander Oswald T. Hodgson, 20 January, 1920 – 5 July, 1920
• Captain Charles W. Tinson, 28 October, 1925 – 4 August, 1926  (became ill with career-ending lung condition)
• Lieutenant-Commander Alfred F. B. Woodhouse, 14 March, 1928 – 11 January, 1947
• Lieutenant-Commander Horace V. Silk, 8 February, 1929 – 1 January, 1934
• Captain Arthur P. M. Lewes, 4 August, 1926 – 19 April, 1934  (temporarily, initially, while Tinson was ill)
• Commander Patrick S. E. Maxwell, 11 July, 1931 – 15 April, 1936
• Captain Sidney A. Geary Hill, 15 December, 1927 – 5 August, 1943  (this was extended repeatedly)
• Commander Archibald Day, 28 December, 1936 – 11 January, 1937
• Vice-Admiral John D. Nares, 1 August, 1940 – 14 January, 1942  (serving in rank of Commander)
• Lieutenant-Commander Charles H. Fforde, 4 July, 1942 – 6 November, 1944  (vice Henderson, Fforde died in this appointment)

Directors of Navigation

Dates of appointment given:

• Rear-Admiral Philip Nelson-Ward, 11 December, 1912
• Captain John A. Webster, 8 August, 1916 – 1 August, 1919
• Captain John E. T. Harper, 1 August, 1919 – 15 November, 1921
• Captain Frederick P. Loder-Symonds, 15 November, 1921 – 30 November, 1923
• Captain Arthur C. Strutt, 30 November, 1923^[Inference] – 30 November, 1925
• Captain Alfred H. Norman, 30 November, 1925 – 30 November, 1927
• Captain Oswald H. Dawson, 30 November, 1927
• Captain Kenelm E. L. Creighton, January, 1930 – 11 January, 1932
• Captain John W. Clayton, 1933 – 2 October, 1935
• Captain William G. Benn, 2 October, 1935 – 2 July, 1938
• Captain Charles E. Morgan, 18 June, 1938 – October, 1940  (vice Benn)
• Captain Ronald G. Bowes-Lyon, 15 October, 1940 – 12 August, 1942  (vice Morgan)

Superintendents of Charts

Dates of appointment given:

• Captain Frederick C. Learmonth, 24 April, 1908
• Commander Henry P. Douglas, 11 July, 1910 – 11 February, 1915
• Commander John D. Nares, 17 February, 1915 – 1 September, 1917
• Commander John A. Edgell, 1 September, 1917 – 1 November, 1920
• Captain John D. Nares, 1 November, 1920 – 1 March, 1923
• Captain John A. Edgell, 1 March, 1923 – 1 April, 1925
• Commander Francis E. B. Haselfoot, 1 April, 1925 – 26 April, 1927
• Commander Patrick S. E. Maxwell, 26 April, 1927 – 8 February, 1929

Bibliography

• Clowes, Sir Wm. Laird (1903). The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. Vol. VII. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited.
• Day, Vice-Admiral Sir Archibald (1967). The Admiralty Hydrographic Service 1795-1919. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office.
• Schofield, Vice-Admiral B. B. (1977). Navigation and Direction: The Story of HMS Dryad. Havant: Kenneth Mason Publications Ltd. ISBN 0859370879.