|
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of south-eastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.〔 == Early Life == Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire. On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General’s department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrennes. Subsequently he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements. When the war was over Murray obtained permission from the Treasury for an officer to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete the sketches of the battlefields which had been begun during the war for the Military Depot.〔Depot of Military Knowledge, Britain’s first central organisation for the collection, preservation and dissemination of military intelligence (including the collection, preparation and copying of maps), was created in 1803 by the Duke of York. During the war a branch was set up in Lisbon.〕 Lieutenant Mitchell, was selected as a person well qualified in every respect to aid in the accomplishment of the undertaking. The first duty allotted to him was the completing of such sketches, begun during the war, as had remained unfinished, and adding to these several other important surveys, for the execution of which it had been impossible to allot officers whilst operations were in progress in the field. But in the summer of 1819 the continuance of the disbursements made by Government for the undertaking became doubtful, so he was called home. He then devoted himself to the second part of his task, which was that of making finished drawings from the materials complied by himself, and from other documents of ascertained authenticity. But with the cessation of the Government allowances he had to stop this work. On 10 June 1818, during his posting in Spain and Portugal, he married Mary Blunt (daughter of General Richard Blunt)〔 in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment.〔 With the reductions in the military establishment of the country which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France, Captain Mitchell was placed on half-pay. It was not until a lapse of several years, whilst Mitchell was in London between 1838 – 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published, by the London geographer James Wyld, in 1841. Wyld’s ''Atlas containing the principle battles, sieges and affairs of the Peninsular War'', together with a ''Memoir'' annexed to it, consisted of a text of the movement orders prepared at the same time by Murray. Of almost unimpeachable accuracy, it is the prime source for the topography of the war.〔UK National Archives, Kew : file reference WO 78/5800, in 4 folders & 1 roll file〕 In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, and on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General.〔 In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region. The Great South Road (now replaced by the Hume Highway), also convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his 'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, and indigenous Australians. As Surveyor General, Mitchell also completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, and Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties. The map he produced was done with such skill and accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood.〔''Canberra's Engineering Heritage'', William Charles Andrews, Institution of Engineers, Canberra, 1990 p1〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Mitchell (explorer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|