Martin Hotine

Brigadier Martin Hotine CMG CBE (17 June 1898 – 12 November 1968)[3] was the head of the Trigonometrical and Levelling Division of the Ordnance Survey responsible for the 26-year-long retriangulation of Great Britain[4] (1936–1962) and was the first Director General of the Directorate of Overseas Surveys (1946–1955).[5]

Brigadier Martin Hotine CMG CBE
Born(1898-06-17)17 June 1898[1]
Wandsworth, London[2]
Died12 November 1968(1968-11-12) (aged 70)[1]
Surrey, England
Resting placeMunicipal Cemetery, Weybridge, Surrey, England
51.366442°N 0.465578°W / 51.366442; -0.465578
NationalityBritish
EducationSouthend Technical School (now SHSB)[2]
Magdalene College, Cambridge[2]
Known forFounder and first Director General of the Directorate of Overseas Surveys
SpouseKate Amelia Hotine (1895–1987)

He served on the North-West Frontier during the First World War and later in the Persian and Mesopotamian campaigns. He has been described as "decisive, ingenious and tough".[4]

Cartography

Hotine was responsible for the design of the triangulation pillars constructed during the Geodetic resurvey of Britain.[4] 6,173 of these were built.[4] They provided a solid base for the theodolites used by the survey teams during the survey, thereby improving the accuracy of the readings obtained.[4] They are sometimes referred to as "Hotine Pillars".

In the 1940s, Hotine developed a map projection for the Malay Peninsula and Borneo that is known as the Hotine oblique Mercator projection.[6]

Personal life

Hotine was married to Kate Amelia Hotine (née Pearson)(1895–1987) whose nickname to family and friends was 'Ajax'.[3]

Honours

Publications
  • Hotine, Martin (1931), Surveying from air photographs, Professional Papers of the Air Survey Committee – No. 3, London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, p. 71
  • Hotine, Martin (1931), The Fourcade Stereogoniometer, Professional Papers of the Air Survey Committee – No. 7, London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, OCLC 184739773
  • Hotine, Martin, Mathematical geodesy

References
  1. Edge, R C A (March 1969). "Martin Hotine". Bulletin Géodésique. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. 91 (1): 8–12. Bibcode:1969BGeod..43....8E. doi:10.1007/bf02524840. ISSN 0007-4632. S2CID 186233628.
  2. Humphries, G J (March 1969). "Martin Hotine obituary". The Geographical Journal. Royal Geographical Society. 135 (1): 156–157. JSTOR 1795667.
  3. "Martin Hotine grave monument details". Gravestone photographic resource. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. Crane, Nicholas (30 October 2004). "Britain: Master of all he surveys". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  5. Macdonald, Alastair (1996). Mapping The World (1st ed.). Norwich, England: HMSO. pp. ii. ISBN 0-11-701590-3.
  6. "The Malaysian CRS Monster :: Mike Meredith". mmeredith.net. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  7. "List of Past Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
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