42.     Henry James                                                                                1868 


In 1867 the Boundary Commission produced 196 plans of English Boroughs and 51 of Welsh Boroughs. Although the report purported to include each Borough and County, very few county or part-county maps were included.[1] Henry James (1803-1877) had overseen the initial stages of the later surveying of towns and boroughs in the West Country. He joined the Ordnance Survey in 1827 and became the Director-General in 1854, a post he held until 1875. James was a supporter of lithography and his enthusiasm for the new technique of photo-zincography led to it becoming a standard process in the production of Ordnance Survey maps. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, was knighted in 1860 and promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1874.

The boundary maps were prepared under the direction of Captain R M Parsons by lithographic transfer with overprinted colour representing the parliamentary boundary of 1832, the proposed Parliamentary boundary of 1868, the municipal boundary, and the parish and township boundaries see also B&B 146). A note explains that: A map of each Borough and County taken from the Ordnance Survey plans is appended to the Reports for the purpose of illustrating the existing and proposed Boundaries. These maps, however, many of which are of old date, are far from conveying an adequate idea of the extension of building which has taken place in recent years, and must not be considered as indicating the character of the Districts within the new proposed Boundaries. The report was printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode for HMSO. 

Title: EXETER

Size: 330 x 220 mm with Scale of 3 Inches to One Mile (or 1 Mile = 75 mm).

Signature: Henry James Colonel Royal Engineers (in hand).

Imprint:  Zincographed at the Ordnance Survey Office Southampton under the superintendence of Capt. R. M. Parsons R.E., F.R.A.S. Col. Sir H. James R.E., F.R.S. &c. Director and date below 1868. 

The panel below the map contains James’ signature, scale bar and reference for boundary colours. The title is in a panel top right. The plan covers the whole Exeter area from Cowley Bridge to High Wear and from Wick Lane to East Ponford. The only boundary changes proposed from those of 1832 are in the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle north of Foxhays to just below Exwick and straightening the south boundary by Marsh Barton Lane. But the area names have changed and wards have gone. The five outer areas are now St. David, St. Sidwell, St. Leonard, St. Thomas the Apostle and Heavitree.

Return to Catalogue

[1] Besides Devonshire only 8 county maps were included: Cheshire, Derby, Essex, (North and South) Lancs, Lincs, Norfolk, Somerset and Staffs. There were further maps of West Kent, East Surrey and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog