Alfred Dundas Taylor (1825–1898) was head of the Marine Survey Department of the Admiralty of the United Kingdom.

Life

He was born on 30 August 1825 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, son of

George Ledwell Taylor George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London. Life Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton (proper ...

(1788–1873), who worked as an architect to the Admiralty. He is stated to have first proposed the

Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project () is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka. This would provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would b ...

, in about 1860, later proposed in 1955 and not begun until 1995.Latif, Asad. Three Sides in Search of a Triangle: Singapore-America-India Relations. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. p52 Taylor served on the East India Company ship ''Elphinstone'' as a midshipman until June 1843 when he was recommended to be made an officer. The following year he served in the brig ''Taptee'' under Commander Montriou where he surveyed the Concan coast off the coast of

Mumbai, India Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1847 and served the next two years on the ''Feroze'' in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. In 1850 he was appointed to command the survey ship ''Pownah'' where for six years he surveyed the

Gulf of Cutch The Gulf of Kutch is located between the peninsula regions of Kutch and Saurashtra, bounded in the state of Gujarat that borders Pakistan. It opens towards the Arabian Sea facing the Gulf of Oman. It is about 50 km wide at the entrance b ...

on the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

. In 1855 he examined the port of

Karwar Karwar is a coastal City and the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district, formerly part of the Bombay Presidency, located at the mouth of the Kali River (Karnataka), Kali river along the Konkan Coast in the present-day state of Ka ...

, and then spent four years surveying Coringa Bay and

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

port on the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

and

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

on the Malabar coast, surveying as far south as

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

. In 1859 he piloted the expeditionary force against

Wagher Wagher, Vagher or Waghir ( Gujarati: ISO 15919: ''Vāghēr or '') is a jāti from the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat in India. Some Waghers are Hindu and others are Muslim. They speak Kutchi as a mother tongue. History Rebellion ag ...

rebels involved in the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1859 at

Bet Dwarka Bet Dwarka (also spelled Beyt Dwarka) or Shankhodhar is an inhabited island at the mouth of the Gulf of Kutch, situated off the coast of the town of Okha, Gujarat, India, and north of the city of Dwarka. Northeast to southwest, the island meas ...

. In 1862, the Indian Navy was abolished and Taylor was pensioned off. Taylor became interested in improving the

hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...

of Indian waters. He was able to convince the Secretary of State of the Government of India to form the Marine Survey Department in 1875, with Taylor as its head. The department was productive during this period, producing many publications to aid in navigation, especially marine charts. Taylor retired on 1 July 1882 under the 55-year rule, succeeded by Commander L. S. Dawson.Black 1891, p15-17 Taylor died on 14 November 1898 in Sussex, England.

Works

At the request of Admiral Washington, Taylor was employed in compiling ''Sailing Directions for the West Coast of Hindostan'', published in 1865. Taylor's last published book was ''The India Directory for the Guidance of Steamers and Sailing Vessels'' (London: Smith Elder, 1891).

Family

Alfred was married to Bessie Mills and had a child, Alfred Mills Taylor, the only child mentioned in his will.

References

Sources

*Black, Charles Edward Drummond. ''A Memoir on the Indian Surveys, 1875–1890''. E.A. Arnold, 1891. 1825 births 1898 deaths 19th-century English architects {{UK-architect-stub