Cartography and Utilitarianism versus Culture: Thomas Colby of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland
In the years one man, Lieut. Colonel Thomas Colby of the Royal Engineers, dominated the Irish Ordnance Survey, established in by the British government to create a countrywide map for the purpose of removing inequalities in local taxation in Ireland. (See figure Inevitably, his main focus was cartography, and these new local maps helped to unveil the country to both the Irish and the British. Yet Colby and his second in command, Thomas Larcom later under secretary in Ireland recognized that maps had their limitations and that the Survey provided a unique opportunity for collecting other sources of information of equal accuracy and importance. (See figure Over time this evolved into a scheme known as the "Memoir," which aimed to chart the productive worth of the country and to illustrate and supplement the maps. Colby hoped that the combination of perfect maps and accompanying hard data would become the means for diffusing knowledge, stimulating the development of resources, and encouraging economic and social improvement in Ireland. He was a soldier, not a politician, yet he sanctioned and supported the Memoir, an extraordinary experiment whose significant "cultural" dimension was far removed from military duties and stood outside the limits of his formal orders.That alone would mark him as an unusual representative of the crown in Ireland. To this Cartography and Utilitarianism versus Culture: Thomas Colby of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland