Brigadier

Martin Hotine

CMG CBE
Born(1898-06-17)17 June 1898[1]
Wandsworth, London[2]
Died12 November 1968(1968-11-12) (aged 70)[1]
Surrey, England
Resting placeMunicipal Cemetery, Weybridge, Surrey, England
51°21′59″N 0°27′56″W / 51.366442°N 0.465578°W / 51.366442; -0.465578
NationalityBritish
EducationSouthend Technical School (now SHSB)[2]
Magdalene College, Cambridge[2]
Known forFounder and first Director General of the Directorate of Overseas Surveys
SpouseKate Amelia Hotine (1895–1987)

Brigadier Martin Hotine CMG CBE (17 June 1898 – 12 November 1968)[3] was the head of the Trigonometrical and Levelling Division of the Ordnance Survey responsible for the 26-year-long retriangulation of Great Britain[4] (1936–1962) and was the first Director General of the Directorate of Overseas Surveys (1946–1955).[5]

He served on the North-West Frontier during the First World War and later in the Persian and Mesopotamian campaigns. He has been described as "decisive, ingenious and tough".[4]

Cartography

Hotine was responsible for the design of the triangulation pillars constructed during the Geodetic resurvey of Britain.[4] 6,173 of these were built.[4] They provided a solid base for the theodolites used by the survey teams during the survey, thereby improving the accuracy of the readings obtained.[4] They are sometimes referred to as "Hotine Pillars".

In the 1940s, Hotine developed a map projection for the Malay Peninsula and Borneo that is known as the Hotine oblique Mercator projection.[6]

Personal life

Hotine was married to Kate Amelia Hotine (née Pearson)(1895–1987) whose nickname to family and friends was 'Ajax'.[3]

Honours

Publications

References

  1. ^ a b Edge, R C A (March 1969). "Martin Hotine". Bulletin Géodésique. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. 91 (1): 8–12. Bibcode:1969BGeod..43....8E. doi:10.1007/bf02524840. ISSN 0007-4632. S2CID 186233628.
  2. ^ a b c Humphries, G J (March 1969). "Martin Hotine obituary". The Geographical Journal. Royal Geographical Society. 135 (1): 156–157. JSTOR 1795667.
  3. ^ a b "Martin Hotine grave monument details". Gravestone photographic resource. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e Crane, Nicholas (30 October 2004). "Britain: Master of all he surveys". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Macdonald, Alastair (1996). Mapping The World (1st ed.). Norwich, England: HMSO. pp. ii. ISBN 0-11-701590-3.
  6. ^ "The Malaysian CRS Monster :: Mike Meredith". mmeredith.net. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  7. ^ "List of Past Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
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