Colonel Sir Charles Frederick Arden-Close, (10 August 1865 – 19 December 1952) was a British

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and surveyor. He was Director General of the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

from 1911 to 1922. His insistence on attention to detail saw the improvement of many attitudes and methods at the Ordnance Survey. Close's planning saw the production of many maps now viewed as pinnacles in the classic period of map making. He was born Charles Frederick Close and changed his surname to Arden-Close in 1938 so as to comply with a bequest. He was born in

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, the eldest of the eleven children of Major-General Frederick Close (1830–1899) and his second wife Lydia Ann Stevens. Close attended the Royal Military Academy at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

where

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

ing and

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were taught. He excelled at mathematics. After receiving his commission in the Royal Engineers in 1884, he saw service in the School of Military Engineering at Chatham,

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and

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. In 1889 Close was posted to the survey of India where he carried out

topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scien ...

work in

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and triangulation in Mandalay. There was a further posting to eastern

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, to survey the border with the

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. After appointment to the Ordnance Survey he carried out much work in central, eastern and southern Africa. Close led a small surveying unit in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, and returned to Chatham in 1902 to become chief instructor of surveying at the School of Military Engineering. His ''Text Book of Topographical and Geographical Surveying'' published in 1905 became the standard textbook on the subject. Close served as head of MO4, the Geographical Section of the General Staff, at the War Office until 1911, when he handed over to Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Coote Hedley. In 1911 Close was appointed Director General of the Ordnance Survey, a post he held until 1922. He introduced more rigorous scientific methods at the Ordnance Survey and proceeded with a second

geodetic Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

levelling of the United Kingdom. He was intent on producing one-inch maps ( Scale = 1:63,360 or 1 inch = 1 mile) of revolutionary appearance, the first of these for

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

district (Ireland was then part of the UK) used colour printing and precise printing methods. Because of the high cost of production Close had to compromise his aims and a simpler style was adopted. This design set the standard for subsequent one-inch series. Charles Close married in 1913 and had two sons and a daughter. He was knighted in 1918, in recognition of the Ordnance Survey's efforts during World War I during which over 30 million maps were produced. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1919. Upon retirement in 1922 he became secretary of the

International Geographical Congress The International Geographical Union (IGU; french: Union Géographique Internationale, UGI) is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the estab ...

. Close was also a long-serving Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 1927 was awarded their Victoria Gold Medal and elected

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(1927–30). Close changed his surname to Arden-Close by deed poll in August 1938. He died in Winchester registration district of Hampshire on 19 December 1952, aged 87. The Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps was founded in 1980.

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Further reading