Thomas Bernard Collinson
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Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson (17 November 1821 – 1 May 1902) was an English military engineer of the Corps of Royal Engineers who carried out the earliest British surveys of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, and planned roads and other early military and civil engineering works in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Immediately prior to retirement, he was architect to the Scottish Prison Commission.


Origin and military service

Collinson was born in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
,
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, ninth child of Rev. John Collinson, Rector of Gateshead, and Amelia King. Educated at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...
, he was commissioned in the Corps of Royal Engineers as No. 683, with the rank of second lieutenant, on 16 June 1838, spending his first five years on
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
work in Wales, Ireland and Northern England. He advanced to rank of lieutenant on 9 March 1841 and was sent to Hong Kong and New Zealand in 1843. His service over the years, before his retirement with the rank of major-general in 1873, took him to
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
,
Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...
, Hobart Town,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the London metropolitan area, metropolitan and urban area of London, England, East London, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich ...
,
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
,
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
,
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, Chatham and
Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
. He was the younger brother of Sir Richard Collinson, RN, who pioneered
hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...
s of the southern China coast in HM ships ''Sulphur'' and ''Plover'', and commanded HMS ''Enterprise'' in the 1850–1855 search for Sir John Franklin's expedition missing in the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
since 1845.


Surveying Hong Kong

Collinson, accompanied by one sergeant and thirty-three sappers, left
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
on the HEICS ''Mount Stewart Elphinstone'' for
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
on 24 May 1843 and arrived there on 7 October. Major Edward Aldrich, RE, wife and servant who'd left from Southampton in January, had arrived in Hong Kong on 10 June. As Commanding Royal Engineer, Hong Kong, Aldrich had relieved Lieutenant John Ouchterlony, Madras Engineers, East India Company, who'd directed military engineering as acting engineer in the new settlement since 1841. Collinson took up the role of executive engineer and immediately commenced making the first set of detailed scientifically surveyed maps of the island, employing knowledge gained from his recent Ordnance survey work. Determined to make a perfect map, he represented elevation by
contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, isoquant or isarithm) of a Function of several real variables, function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a ...
, a system introduced on Ordnance maps during the Ordnance survey of Ireland by Colonel Thomas Colby, RE, Captain
Thomas Larcom Major-General Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom, Bart, PC FRS (22 April 1801 – 15 June 1879) was a leading official in the early Irish Ordnance Survey. He later became a poor law commissioner, census commissioner and finally executive head of the ...
, RE, and Lieutenant George Augustus Bennett, RE, in the late 1830s. He also added soundings and other nautical information from the Admiralty chart of Hong Kong by Captain Edward Belcher, RN, HMS ''Sulphur''. Collinson revealed to his children in his journal:
It was a work of some labour, but by the system I adopted partly by the ordinary triangulation, and partly by the nautical plan of taking rounds of angles from fixed points and plotting them, I was able to get the out of door work done during the winter months, leaving calculations and plotting to the summer. Lines of level from mean water mark were carried across various points, and from there the contours were filled in with compass and a pocket reflecting level. To all the points fixed by rounds of angles, I also took vertical angles & they therefore formed independent checks to the contours.
Between 1843 and 1845, Collinson established 27 trigonometric stations around
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
. Only one stone trig station now remains, revealed by a
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
team on 3 October 2015, at Lei Yue Mun Park. He also recorded many place names for the first time, including prominent locations in today's Hong Kong—
Shek O Shek O is an area of the south-eastern part of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It can refer to Shek O village, Shek O Peninsula or Shek O Headland. Administratively, they are part of Southern District. Geography The name ''Shek O'' litera ...
,
Chai Wan Chai Wan (; ), formerly known as Sai Wan (西灣), lies at the east end of the urban area of Hong Kong Island next to Shau Kei Wan. The area is administratively part of the Eastern District, and is a mosaic of industrial and residential ar ...
,
Shau Kei Wan Shau Kei Wan or Shaukiwan is a neighborhood in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong Island. The area is bordered by Chai Wan to the east, Mount Parker (Hong Kong), Mount Parker to the south, Sai Wan Ho to the west, and ...
,
Quarry Bay Quarry Bay is an List of buildings, sites, and areas in Hong Kong, area beneath Mount Parker (Hong Kong), Mount Parker in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Quarry Bay is bordered by Sai Wan Ho ...
,
Tai Tam Tai Tam or ''Tytam'' is an area in Southern District, Hong Kong, Southern District on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Tai Tam means a ''big pool'' in the Chinese language which illustrates a triangular bay, namely Tai Tam Bay between Stanley ...
,
Tin Wan Tin Wan ( zh, first=t,j, t=田灣) is an area at the south of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is at the west of Aberdeen and the east of Kellett Bay and Wah Fu Estate. Housing Tin Wan Estate is a public housing estate ( zh, t=田灣邨, labe ...
,
Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
, and
Pok Fu Lam Pok Fu Lam ( zh, t=薄扶林, links=no, labels=no) or Pokfulam is a residential area on Hong Kong Island, at the western end of the Southern District. It is a valley between Victoria Peak and Mount Kellett, around Telegraph Bay. Pok Fu L ...
.
Cape Collinson Cape Collinson (), also Hak Kok Tau (), is a cape located near Ngan Wan between Siu Sai Wan and Big Wave Bay at the eastmost point of Hong Kong Island. It faces Tathong Channel. Name The cape is named for Major-General Thomas Bernard Colli ...
, Mount Collinson, Collinson Street, Cape Collinson Road and Path, on
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
, were all named in his honour.
Collinson was rewarded by the engraving of his map at Ordnance Survey, Southampton, and with a compliment from the geographer John Arrowsmith that it was the most complete map he had ever seen. He also produced early detailed sketches of Hong Kong. His drawings were of such an admirable standard that Major Edward Aldrich, RE, illustrated his 21 July 1846 report on the erection of Ordnance buildings in Hong Kong with them.


New Zealand

On 11 June 1846, Collinson embarked on the ''Emily Jane'' for Sydney,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, and after a brief stay there, he sailed for Auckland, New Zealand, on the trading brigantine ''Terror'', arriving on 19 September 1846 to difficult times of conflict between the
Pakeha settlers European settlers in New Zealand, also known locally as Pākehā settlers, began arriving in the country in the early 19th century as settlers of various types, initially settling around the Bay of Islands mostly. Large-scale organised settleme ...
and the native
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
population. By November, he had sailed for Wellington and then spent over three years working on military buildings and defences there and in Wanganui. Collinson was a keen illustrator and many examples, some featuring Māori, are kept at the
Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...
of the
National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...
. Collinson returned to his station in Wellington in 1848, where duties included a plan for the defence of Wellington, the arrangement and construction of military buildings, and a report on the earthquake that damaged the Paremata Barracks at Porirua. He also made occasional visits to Wanganui and explorations about the local countryside. Sometime about September 1849 Lieutenant-Colonel
Daniel Bolton Major General Daniel Bolton (1793 – 1860) was an English military engineer of the Corps of Royal Engineers, who served in the Peninsular War (1813–1814), Netherlands Campaign (1814–1815), army of occupation in France (1815–1818), in Cana ...
, RE, sent Collinson a note saying that Lieutenant James Liddell, RE, was on his way to New Zealand with some sappers and that Collinson was ordered home. Collinson wrote to his sister Charlotte saying he’d hoped to be left to finish plans for his grand fortress—Mt Cook Barracks, Wellington. The great undertaking to produce an Ordnance map of New Zealand would have to be left to some future Commanding Royal Engineer. Liddell, age 20 years, had left England on the brig ''Richard Dart'' on 5 April but, by the time of Bolton’s note, had perished with a good part of his detachment of twenty-eight Royal Sappers and Miners when the ship struck rocks at Prince Edward Island of the
Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited subantarctic volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean that are administered by South Africa. They are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and P ...
, sub-antarctic Indian Ocean, on 19 June 1849. In consequence, Lieutenant Francis Rawdon Chesney, RE, set out for New Zealand in March 1850 with a detachment of twenty-seven men of the Royal Sappers and Miners. Collinson completed a paper on New Zealand timber trees, with notes supplied by the naturalist
William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...
, FRS, in February 1850 and in the following month, March, departed New Zealand for
Hobart Town Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly half ...
,
Van Diemen’s Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal-inhabited island was first visited by the Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasm ...
(Tasmania), on a homeward bound journey to England. During his service in New Zealand, he had served under two Commanding Royal Engineers—Brevet-Major William Biddlecomb Marlow, RE, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Daniel Bolton Major General Daniel Bolton (1793 – 1860) was an English military engineer of the Corps of Royal Engineers, who served in the Peninsular War (1813–1814), Netherlands Campaign (1814–1815), army of occupation in France (1815–1818), in Cana ...
, RE.


Homeward bound

Whilst at Hobart Town, Van Dieman’s Land, on Tuesday, 26 March 1850, Collinson forwarded his paper 'On Timber Trees of New Zealand' to the Royal Society of Van Dieman’s Land along with samples of timber and dried leaves of the principal forest trees found in the southern part of New Zealand, and was admitted into the Society at its April meeting. His paper was read before the Society on 10 July 1850 and published in the following year.


England

On his return to England in 1850, he was soon employed at the
Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...
as the ‘Superintendent of British Side of Building' under the general superintendence of Colonel Sir William Reid, RE. He also supplied the statistics of New Zealand for publication in the ''Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue''. For the New Zealand exhibit, South Area Q and R 32, his father, the Rev. John Collinson, provided article no. 3.—geological specimens, iron sand from
New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...
, a small bag made of New Zealand flax made by a lady, flax prepared by Māori (native pattern and dyes) and a mat of New Zealand flax made by Māori.(1851) "New Zealand", ''Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations'', Part 4—Colonies and Foreign Countries. By Authority of the Royal Commission. Spicer Brothers, London. 1851. p. 1000. Following this he was sent to Waltham until placed in command of the Royal Engineers at Aldershot in 1856. That year he married Katherine Baker, daughter of the Rev. J Baker, Chancellor of the Diocese of Durham, and Catherine Haggit.


Death

Collinson died at Little Haven,
Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
, on 1 May 1902. He was a wealthy man, leaving an estate of £20,534 10s 8d.


Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Maps

* (Select 'Map 1845') *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collinson, Thomas Bernard 1821 births 1902 deaths People from Gateshead Engineers from Tyne and Wear Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars 19th-century New Zealand military personnel 19th-century New Zealand engineers English surveyors Hong Kong surveyors New Zealand surveyors Military personnel from Tyne and Wear 19th-century British Army personnel British Army major generals