Sir Sidney Gerald Burrard, 7th Baronet, (12 August 1860 – 16 March 1943) was a British army officer who served as Surveyor General of India and played a major role in the
Great Trigonometrical Survey
The Great Trigonometrical Survey was a project that aimed to survey the entire Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton, under the auspices of the East India Company. ...
's work in the Himalayas and identified the source of errors resulting from the displacement of the plumbline by the mountains.
Early life
Burrard was born on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
in a family of eminence, his father being Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney Burrard of the Grenadier Guards. Their home at The Mount had been built by his grandfather, The Reverend Sir George Burrard. He was educated at school in
Lymington
Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...
and then
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headm ...
from 1873 where he showed his mathematical talents. In 1874 he moved to Wellington College where again he excelled at mathematics which led his father to decide that he was suited for the Royal Engineers.
Roorkee
Roorkee (Rūṛkī) is a city and a municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar city, the district headquarter. It is spread over a flat terrain under Sivalik Hills of Himalayas. The ...
and then joined the
Zhob
Zhob (; ) or Zhobak (), formerly known as Appozai or Fort Sandeman, is a city and district capital of Zhob District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of Zhob River 337 km from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan ...
valley expedition in
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
.
In 1884 he joined the
Survey of India
The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Aide-de-camp to the Viceroy, heard that there was a position for a young Royal Engineer who was good at mathematics and recommended Burrard's name to Lord Ripon. Burrard worked at
Dehra Dun
Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
under J.B.N. Hennessey and C.T. Haig. Working with Heaviside and Strahan, he examined the causes of minute triangulation errors. These they determined by experiments as being caused by the attraction of the plumbline to the Himalayan mountains. This was further analysed by John Henry Pratt.
In 1887 Burrard married Gertrude Ellen the daughter of the Superintendent of the Trigonometrical Survey, Major-General C.T. Haig. Burrard went on furlough in 1890 to England where his wife, an artist, spent time to study painting. During this time Burrard worked on a family genealogy.
Burrard later worked at a tidal observatory on the Red Sea. In 1899 he was appointed Superintendent of the Trigonometrical Survey and became a Surveyor General in 1908. He was made a
Companion of the Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointmen ...
(CSI) in 1911, and promoted to
Knight Commander
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders.
The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mi ...
of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) in 1914. In 1913 he received the Victoria Medal from 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 ...
. Burrard helped to organized the Indian Science Congress.
He left India in 1919 and retired to
Farnborough Farnborough may refer to:
Australia
* Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone
United Kingdom
* Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England
** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...
. Lady Burrard died in 1928.
He succeeded his cousin as the 7th baronet on 1933 and in 1935 he married Alice Simons but she died in 1938. They had a son and a daughter. The son, later Major Sir Gerald Burrard (1888 – 1965) was a specialist on firearms and was involved in the creation of the Firearms Act 1936.
Depressed and with a weakening eyesight, Burrard died in 1943.