William Lambton

William Lambton FRS
Lambton in 1822, based on an oil painting by William Havell now in the Royal Asiatic Society
Born	1753 Crosby Grange
Died	January 1823 Hinganghat
Nationality	British
Occupation	Engineer, surveyor
Known for	Founding Superintendent of the Great Trigonometric Survey

Lieutenant-Colonel William Lambton, FRS (c. 1753 – 20 or 26th January 1823) was a British soldier, surveyor, and geographer who began a triangulation survey in 1800-1802 that was later called the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. His initial survey was to measure the length of a degree of an arc of the meridian so as to establish the shape of the earth and support a larger scale trigonometrical survey across the width of the peninsula of India between Madras and Mangalore. After triangulating across the peninsula, he continued surveys northwards for more than twenty years. He died during the course of the surveys in central India and is buried at Hinganghat in Wardha district of Maharashtra. He was succeeded by his assistant George Everest.

Lambton was born around 1753 at Crosby Grange, near Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was extremely reserved about the details of his family. Even the year of birth is speculated on the basis of an incident he recounted of a dinner in Madikeri in 1803 hosted by Veer Rajender Wadeer, the ruler of the province of Coorg. The Coorg Raja made all present declare their age and Lambton is said to have mentioned his as fifty. For many years he spent a substantial portion of his salary to support his parents from which it has been suggested that he came from humble origins. He often mentioned a mathematics teacher at school by the name of Emerson. His skill in mathematics earned him a place in a grammar school at Northallerton, and he studied under Dr. Charles Hutton.

On 28 March 1781, Lambton was appointed ensign in Lord Fauconberg's regiment of foot, and transferred to the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He was commissioned in the 33rd Regiment, and his ability at surveying led to work on measuring land for settlers in America. He spent most of his earning to support his parents. With his regiment he took part in the American War of Independence and was taken prisoner at Yorktown. Observing a solar eclipse through the telescope of a theodolite without darkened glasses led to the burning of the retina of his left eye. After this accident he obtained with the help of his friends, especially Sir Brook Watson, an appointment as barrack-master in New Brunswick with a salary of 400 pounds per year. He had considerable leisure during which he was able to lay, in his words, "...the foundation of that knowledge, which was one day to bring him to the notice of the world." He was appointed barrack master in Nova Scotia and he spent many years studying mathematics on his own. In 1795 the Duke of York ordered that all civilian officers should be struck off from the regiments. Lambton then joined the 33rd at Calcutta after 13 years away from regimental duties. The 33rd Regiment was commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley at Calcutta.