Henry Scharbau (1822–1902), or Henry Sharbau, was a British

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

Biography

Scharbau was born at

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

in North Germany in 1822, but came to England in his youth. Due to his skills in surveying and draughtsmanship, firstly in work on the Ordnance Survey of the south of Scotland, and between 1858 and 1864 in the Admiralty Surveys in the Hebrides and some western lochs. In 1865 he was appointed temporary assistant in the Hydrographic Office, a post he held until 1874. In 1873, he asked

Colin Alexander McVean Colin Alexander McVean, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, FRGS (6 March 1838 – 18 January 1912) was a Scottish civil engineer who contributed to Japan's engineering development in 1870s. He left two brief autobiographies, diaries, photo ...

, Surveyor in Chief of Japanese government to work under him, and signed up the appointment in October 1873. But, he delayed departure more than a half year to take care of his weak wife. He became a naturalized British subject just before departure. Scharbau arrived at Japan in June 1874, and taught practice of

triangulation In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points. Applications In surveying Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle m ...

in the Survey Office, and travelled several routes to set up base line together with McVean and Japanese colleagues, such as Nikko-Nasu route, Asamayama-Oiwake route, and Oadawa-Sagami route. He left Japan at the end of October 1876 after termination of his contract, and following year returned to the Hydrographic Office as a draughtsman. In April 1881, he transferred to the Royal Geographical Society as chief draughtsman. In 1902, Scharbau and his wife would die the same year.Geographical Journal of July 1904, pp.106-107.

References

External links

Meiji Japan - Henry Scharbau and the Skaill House Journals''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharbau, Henry 1822 births 1902 deaths People from Lübeck 19th-century British cartographers Immigrants to the United Kingdom