- Thomas Holdich
Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich, KCMG, KCIE, CB (1843-1929) was an English geographer and president of the
Royal Geographical Society . He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys inBritish India and author of numerous books, including "The Gates of India", "The Countries of the King's Award" and "Political Frontiers and Boundary Making".Born in Dingley,
Northamptonshire ,England to the Rev. Thomas Holdich, he was educated at Godolphin Grammar School and theRoyal Military Academy , obtaining a commission in theRoyal Engineers in 1862. He saw active service in theBhutan expedition of 1865, the Abyssinian campaign of 1867-68 and theSecond Afghan War of 1878-79.During peacetime, he was largely occupied with the survey of India, and served on the Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884-86, the Tasmar Boundary Commission of 1894, the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1895 and the Perso-Baluchistan Boundary Commission of 1896. He was also engaged by the governments of
Argentina andChile in 1892 to define the boundary along the Andes Mountains. He was awarded the Gold Medal of theRoyal Geographical Society in 1887 in recognition of his work on the Afghan frontier.On his retirement in 1898, he thanked "that providence which had been good to me in that during that last year of my Indian career I had been able to put a round finish on the last of our frontier maps". In later years, he wrote and lectured extensively on geographical issues, and served as president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1917-19. He contributed a number of entries to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th edn .Sir Thomas was married to Ada Vanrenan, and had two daughters and two sons. He died in 1929 at his home at Parklands in
Merrow, Surrey , nearGuildford , at the age of 86.External links
* [http://www.holdiches.org/thomasholdich.htm Biography] from the Holdich Family History Society
Persondata
NAME=Holdich, Thomas Hungerford
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=English geographer, writer and soldier; surveyed the Indian frontier, and Chilean-Argentine border
DATE OF BIRTH=1843
PLACE OF BIRTH=Dingley,Northamptonshire ,England
DATE OF DEATH=1929
PLACE OF DEATH=Merrow,Surrey ,England
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