Harold St. John Loyd Winterbotham Explained

Harold St. John Loyd Winterbotham (5 February 1879 – 10 December 1946) was a British soldier and surveyor who from 1930 to 1934 was Director of the Ordnance Survey.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

Born in Northampton and educated at Fettes College as well as the Royal Military Academy, Winterbotham was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1897.^{[3] [4]} He fought in the South African War, and his service there was recognized by a Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps. After the war, Winterbotham served as garrison adjutant in Saint Helena, later returning to South Africa in 1908 to carry out a topographical survey until 1911.^[5] He joined the Ordnance Survey out of Southampton in 1911, being in charge of the Trigonometrical and Topographical Division.

When World War I broke out in 1914, he left for France to serve as commander of a unit. During the war, it is remembered that he was nicknamed "The Astrologer" because he could pinpoint far-away targets with guns.^[6] For his service in the war, he was honored as both a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and a Companion of the Order of St Michael & St George, as well as receiving a brevet of lieutenant-colonel.

In 1920, Winterbotham returned to the same division of the Ordnance Survey, and from 1922 to 1929 was chief of the Geographical Section, General Staff. One year after his appointment to the directorship of the Ordnance Survey in 1930, he became an Aide-de-Camp to the King.^[7] From the 1930 general assembly until 1935, he served as Secretary General of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.^{[8] [9]}

Winterbotham retired from both the Ordnance Survey and the Army in 1935; he was placed on retirement pay 5 February, and was granted the honorary title of Brigadier. In 1939, George Washington University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree.^[10]

Winterbotham died in his Sutton Courtenay home on 10 December 1946, aged 68.

During both of their lifetimes, Winterbotham and Charles Close were close geographical collaborators.^[11]

Awards

• Distinguished Service Medal (1919)^[12]
• Victoria Medal (1920)^[13]

External links

• Harold St John Lloyd Winterbotham, Ancestry.com record
• Winterbotham, Brigadier Harold StJohn Loyd (surveying), S2A3 database entry

Notes and References

1. Cheetham . G. . 15 March 1947 . Brigadier H. St. J. L. Winterbotham, C.B., C.M.G. . . en . 159 . 4037 . 362–363 . 10.1038/159362a0.
2. Book: Lilley, Keith . Keith Lilley . Porter . Catherine . Rice . Catharine . Behind the Lines: Frontline Geographies, Spatial Technologies and Mapping First World War Landscapes .
3. Web site: Army Distinguished Service Medal Brigadier Harold St. John Loyd Winterbotham, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., A.D.C. . 28 January 2024 . Mitchell Families Online.
4. Ismail-Zadeh . Alik . Alik Ismail-Zadeh . Joselyn . Jo Ann . Jo Ann Joselyn . 16 April 2019 . IUGG: beginning, establishment, and early development (1919–1939) . . English . 10 . 1 . 25–44 . 10.5194/hgss-10-25-2019 . free.
5. Collier . Peter . Inkpen . Robert J. . September 2003 . Photogrammetry in the Ordnance Survey from Close to MacLeod . . en . 18 . 103 . 224–243 . 10.1111/0031-868X.t01-1-00009.
6. McMaster . Peter . 1991 . The Ordnance Survey: 200 years of mapping and on . . 139 . 5421 . 581–593 . 41375634.
7. 1931 . Army Notes . . en . 76 . 502 . 445–454 . 10.1080/03071843109427283.
8. 1 May 2019 . IUGG's Centennial Anniversary – historical note II . The IUGG Electronic Journal . . 19 . 5.
9. 1968 . 31 July 1959 . WINTERBOTHAM (Harold St. John Lloyd) . Biographie Belge d'Outre-Mer . fr . . VI.
10. Web site: Honorary Degree Recipients . 28 January 2024 . Office of the Provost . . en.
11. O'Brien . C.I.M. . September 1992 . A man for his time? Sir Charles Arden-Close 1865–1952 . Sheetlines . The Charles Close Society . 34 . 1–9.
12. Book: Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Distinguished Service Medal Issued by the War Department Since April 6, 1917 Up to and including General Orders, Number 126, War Department, November 11, 1919 . 3492910 . UNT Digital Library.
13. Web site: History and past recipients . 29 January 2024 . . en.