Murdoch Mackenzie (cartographer)

Not to be confused with Murdoch McKenzie Wood.

Murdoch Mackenzie, FRS (1712–1797) was a hydrographer and cartographer.

Born in Orkney and employed by the Royal Navy, he became the first person to accurately chart the coastline around North Ronaldsay where many vessels had come to grief. His work led to the construction of a lighthouse at Dennis Head. North Ronaldsay and his charts are still in use by shipping today.

He also surveyed the north coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland, publishing the results in "Nautical description of the west coast of Great Britain from Bristol Channel to Cape Wrath" (1776) ^[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1774.

He died in Minehead, Somerset in 1797.

References

1. ^ http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27McKenzie%27%29

External links

• Margaret Carr, Charting the life of the man who mapped Orkney, The Orcadian, 19 September 2005
• Simon Treasure, Murdoch Mackenzie Snr, The Orcadian surveyor
• Images of Mackenzie charts, National Library of Scotland

Persondata
Name	Mackenzie, Murdoch
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1712
Place of birth
Date of death	1797
Place of death