John Ogilby (1600 - 1676)

In the world of cartography, Ogilby is remembered as a man who led a far from ordinary life. Beginning as a dance master and ending as Cosmographer and Geographic Printer by appointment to the King. In the interim years he was tutor to the children of the Earl of Stafford, built and ran a theatre in Dublin, translated numerous Greek and Latin texts and started a successful publishing business.

However, his life was not without setbacks, He twice lost everything he had; once in the 1640s in a shipwreck during the Civil War in and again in the Great Fire of London in 1666. After the fire, Ogilby was given the position of one of four 'Sworn Viewers', who were ordered to survey those parts of the city that had been destroyed in order to establish rights of ownership.

His fame came as a result of the publication of the ???Britannia??? in 1675, the first effective Road Altas. Collated from surveys taken of all the main roads in England and Wales. The maps are in what is known as ???strip??? form, following the roads directly, each strip also showing a compass to indicate any directional change. Depicted in the form of a scroll, details are given of the roads and towns/villages shown and the maps are attractive and distinctive with delicate engraving work.

Ogilby was also the first to establish the Statute mile of 1,760 yards as a national unit of measure, prior to this there were three different mile lengths in use.