Robert Hyde Colebrooke (1762? - 21 September 1808) was a British infantry officer in India who conducted early surveys in Bengal and Mysore before becoming Surveyor General of Bengal, a position he held from 1788 to 1794 succeeding Alexander Kyd.

Life and work

It is thought that Colebrooke was born in Switzerland. His father Robert Colebrooke (1718 - 1784) was the British ambassador to the Swiss confederacy from 1762 to 1764 and his mother was Mary (née Williams). The father had to sell his property of Chilham Castle in 1774 to pay his creditors. Colebrooke joined the Bengal Infantry in 1778. T.D. Pearse trained and appointed him as Surveyor in 1783. Colebrooke surveyed the distance from Hooghly to

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using a perambulator. Trained in topographical illustration and surveying he produced "''Twelve views of places in the kingdom of Mysore''" in 1794 based on his work in Mysore in 1790. He accompanied

Archibald Blair Archibald Blair (1752–1815) was a naval surveyor and lieutenant in the Bombay Marine. He is particularly noted for his surveys of the Chagos Archipelago and the Andaman Islands. His father was the Rev. Archibald Blair, minister of Garvald, Ea ...

to survey the Andaman Islands in 1789. Colebrooke Island and Passage were named after him. Colebrooke compiled a vocabulary of Andaman islanders in an article to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He also described the volcanic Barren Island. After Alexander Kyd was moved to the Andamans as Superintendent of the settlement, the position of Surveyor General of Bengal became vacant and Colebrooke was appointed in 1794. He remained in this position he kept until his death from dysentery in 1808 on the way from Rohillakhand to Calcutta at

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur, historically known as Champapuri, Champa Nagari, is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges river. It is the Bihar#Government and administration, third largest city of Bihar by population and ...

. Colebrooke was a cousin of the orientalist H.T. Colebrooke. He was promoted to Lieutenant in November 1778, Lt-Colonel in November 1803. Colebrooke took a special interest in the changing course of the Ganges river. One of Colebrooke's suggestions, made in 1795, was that by cutting a 20 foot wide and 15–20 foot deep canal between the Hurdum and Ichamati to connect the

Churni River The Churni River is a distributary of the Mathabhanga River and a tributary of the Hooghly River, flowing through Nadia district in West Bengal, India. The Mathabhanga River itself is a distributary of the Padma River. The Mathabhanga-Churni is o ...

and the Ganges would make the river navigable for 155 miles and avoid the route through the Sunderbans. The idea was opposed by

James Rennell Major (United Kingdom), Major James Rennell (3 December 1742 – 29 March 1830) was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as a ...

who said: A keen astronomer, Colebrooke also corresponded with

John Goldingham John Goldingham (1767 - July 1849) was the first official astronomer of the Madras Observatory, appointed in 1802. Goldingham was also an architect and surveyor who headed the Madras Survey School which later grew into the Guindy Engineering Col ...

at the

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to establish the latitude of Calcutta. He was succeeded as Surveyor General by John Garstin.

Personal life

Colebrooke married Charlotte Bristowe (died at Bath 2 July 1833) in Calcutta on 31 July 1795 and they had three daughters and two sons (both named Richard, one of whom born 30 December 1800 became an ensign in the Bengal infantry and died on 23 February 1868). As was common in the period, he also had illegitimate children from Indian mistresses. Colebrooke's brother James (1772-18 January 1816) worked in the Madras Infantry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colebrooke, Robert Hyde 1808 deaths Robert Hyde Surveyors Year of birth uncertain