Thomas Henry Tizard (1839 – 17 February 1924) was an English oceanographer, hydrographic surveyor, and navigator. He was born in Weymouth,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and educated at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich, at that time noted for its advanced mathematical training. He entered the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

by competitive examination as master's assistant in 1854 and served in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. In 1860 he was promoted second master and commenced surveying in the Rifleman ''Reed'', during which time he commanded the tender ''Saracen'' for three years. Tizard was largely responsible for an important series of observations on the surface and under-currents in the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

, which set at rest the vexed question of the movements of these waters. An

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

that Tizard surveyed in the 1860s from aboard HMS ''Rifleman'' was later named Tizard Bank after him. Towards the end of 1872 Tizard transferred to . The appointment opened to him the greatest opportunity of his life in bringing him into contact with the leaders of the science of oceanography. The ''Challenger'' expedition resulted in a vast increase of knowledge of the physical condition of the oceans and of the distribution of marine life, and in the progressive improvement of apparatus and methods of research. Tizard remained with the ''Challenger'' until she paid off in 1876, and spent the next three years at the Admiralty writing the narrative of the voyage in association with Sir John Murray. Mont Tizard, a mountain in Kerguelen, was named after him. In 1879 Tizard resumed surveying duties afloat, and took charge of the Home survey. He was at first in command of the hired vessel the ''Knight-Errant'' and then of , the first British ship to be built specifically for survey work. During the nine years that he held this command he wrote many papers of scientific value and interest. Among these may be mentioned a report on deep-sea exploration in the Faroe Channel; lectures on Marine Surveying and Hydrographic Surveying, and an article on the 'Thames Estuary' (Nature, 1890) which is of great permanent value. He was promoted to staff captain in 1889, and in 1891 was appointed assistant hydrographer of the navy, and was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He was appointed Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) in the 1899 Birthday Honours. In 1881 Tizard married Mary Elizabeth Churchward. They had five children, including one son, Sir Henry Tizard.

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tizard, Thomas Henry 1839 births 1924 deaths People from Weymouth, Dorset Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Navy captains Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War English oceanographers English surveyors English hydrographers People educated at the Royal Hospital School