Major Robert Ernest Cheesman

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1878,

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the Borough of Ashford, Ashford district, in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about by road southeast of centr ...

– 13 February 1962) was an English military officer,

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and author. He is noted for being one of the first to map the Arabian coast and credited with the discovery of a rodent, named after him, Cheesman's gerbil (''Gerbillus cheesmani'').

Life and career

He was one of the five children of Florence Maud Tassell (d. 1944) and Robert Cheesman (d. 1915), a gentleman farmer of modest means. Cheesman was Private Secretary to Sir Percy Cox during his tenure as High Commissioner in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. In 1923, during a journey into the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, Cheesman collected over 300 specimens from the

Al-Ahsa Oasis Al-Ahsa Oasis (, ''al-ʾAhsā''), also known as al-Ḥasāʾ () or Hajar (), is an oasis and historical region in eastern Saudi Arabia. Al-Ahsa Governorate, which makes up much of the country's Eastern Province, is named after it. The oasis is ...

, several of them previously unknown to science. These specimens are currently in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. During this period, he was accompanied by his sister, Evelyn Cheesman, a noted entomologist, painter and prolific author. He is credited with discovering Cheesman's gerbil (''Gerbillus cheesmani''). Cheesman was the first man to map the Arabian coast from the Gulf of Salwah to

Uqair Uqair (), also transliterated as al-'Uqair, Uqayr, and Ogair, is an ancient seaport located in the Al-Ahsa Governorate of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Situated on the Persian Gulf coast, it is considered ...

. In 1924 he fixed the position of

Hofuf Al-Hofuf ( ', also spelled Hofuf or Hufuf, also known as "Al-Hasa", "Al-Ahsa" or "Al-Hassa") is the major urban city in the Al-Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with a population of 729,606 (as of 2022). It is known f ...

and identified the site of ancient

Gerrha Gerrha () was an ancient and renowned city within Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the persian Gulf. Known from Greek sources, it has been identified with a few candidate archaeological sites in Eastern Arabia, with the main candidates being H ...

. He presented his findings to Ibn Sa'ud at his court in Hofuf. He was later given the Gill Memorial Award for this work by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. In 1936 he was awarded the

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

of the society for his explorations and surveys of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

and

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

Family

His sister Evelyn Cheesman was a noted entomologist and traveller. Another sister was

Edith Cheesman Florence Edith Cheesman (1877–1964) was a British artist and author, noted for her watercolours of Arabian birdlife and for producing a series of Iraqi postage stamps and postcards featuring wildlife. Life and career Florence Edith Cheesman was ...

, a notable artist who exhibited and published a series of sketches and paintings of Iraq.

Publications

* 'Report on a collection of mammals made by Col. J.E.B. Hotson in Shiraz, Persia', ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'', vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 573–581. * ''Unknown Arabia'', R. E. Cheesman. London, Macmillan & Co., 1926

References

* ''Travellers in Arabia'', Eid Al Yahya, Stacey International (2006). (9780955219313) * ''In Unknown Arabia'', R. E. Cheesman Macmillan & Co. (1926)

External links

Robert Cheeseman: An Arabian Explorer
1878 births 1962 deaths English explorers English travel writers Explorers of Asia Explorers of Arabia Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{UK-explorer-stub