notes Mackenzie 1780s

	Research Notes Map Group MACKENZIE 1780s

Mackenzie 1780s
	Chart, series, coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, scales about 3 nautical miles to 1 inch, surveyed by Lt Murdoch Mackenzie, 1781-86?, published by the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, about 1808; published 1808-24?
	One of the charts in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service, item HMCMS:FA2000.22 is from the 1808 publication. The other three charts, items HMCMS:FA2000.21.1/2/3 are from a later edition, drawn by Besancon, engraved by Caplin, and published abroad by the Depot-general de la Marine, France, 1823-24.
	Most of the notes are from chart of the west part of The Solent item HMCMS:FA2000.21.1.

	HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
	PUBLISHING HISTORY
	MAP FEATURES
	REFERENCES
	ITEMS in the Collection
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HISTORICAL	BACKGROUND
	In the late 18th century Britain was generally at war with France (and Spain, and America, and so on). The War of American Independence began 1776; General Cornwallis surrended the british forces to General Washington at Yorktown, 1781; in the Treaty of Versaille, 1783, Britain recognised America as an independent state.
	All this time there were tensions in Europe with subsequent activity by european nations there and further abroad amongst their 'possessions'. 1779 there was a naval engagement between England and France off Flamborough Head; 1780 the Spanish were defeated by Admiral Rodney off Cape St Vincent; 1781, a french attack on Jersey fails; 1782, Admiral Rodney defeats the French at Isle of Saints; and so on. The French Revolution was underway by 1790; France was declared a republic in 1792; and from 1793 there was a state of war between Britain and France. From 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte was increasingly powerful. In 1797 the French invaded England at Fishguard, but were repulsed. Britain beat France at Aboukir Bay, the Battle of the Nile, 1798. In 1799 there was a coup d'etat in France, Napoleon takes charge. Admiral Lord Nelson defeated France and Spain in a naval battle off Cape Trafalgar, 1805; but Napoleon is still winning campaigns on land. After his defeat and withdrawl from Russia in 1812, Napoleon is defeated in France itself by an invasion of allied forces, and is exiled to Elba. He escapes from there in 1815, marches through France with a growing army that is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by Wellington and Blucher.
	This period is the background to these superb naval charts of the Hampshire coast, an area vital to the security of Britain, the prime naval base of the rulers of the waves. It is interesting that the charts, surveyed 1780s, are published by France! but years later when things are much more settled.
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PUBLISHING	HISTORY
	Lt Murdoch MacKenzie's uncle, Murdoch MacKenzie, was commissioned by the Admiralty, 1750, to make surveys of the coasts of Great Britain. He retired 1770 having done the coast of Ireland and the west coast of England down to Pembroke. Lt MacKenzie took over where his uncle had stopped, continuing south to the Bristol Channel and to Lands End; then surveying the Thames estuary.
	As I understand it, the manuscript charts were not engraved for many years. Two of the surveys were 'published' in England about 1804; and then not for the public, not even for the merchant navy. They were released to the public later in the 19th century.
	The charts were published abroad, drawn by Besancon, engraved by Caplin, by the Depot-general de la Marine, France, 1823-24.
	It is worth noting that a French publication of such detail maps of the English coast faced by France would not have been welcomed in England in the late 18th century.

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MAP FEATURES
title oval cartouche map maker engraver	Printed in an oval title cartouche upper left is:- PLAN / DE LA PARTIE OCCIDENTALE / DU CANAL / qui separe / L'ILE DE WIGHT, / DE LA COTE DE HAMPSHIRE. / Leve en 1781 par le Lieutenant Murdoch Mackensie. / PUBLIE PAR ORDRE DU ROI / Sous le Ministere de Son Excellence M. le Marquis DE CLERMONT-TONNERRE / Pair de France, Secretaire d'Etat au Department de la Marine et des Colonies, / Au Depot-generale de la Marine / en 1824. The title translates as:- Chart of the Channel between the Isle of Wight and the Coast of Hampshire The Depot-generale de la Marine is presumably the french equivalent of our Hydrographic Office. The chart was surveyed in 1781, others in the series in the Map Collection are 1783 and 1786. At that time the Admiralty would have been distressed to find detailed english charts of the coast of England facing France being published by the French; relationships with France were not good. One of the other sheets is published by the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty, 1808. The french publications were later, 1823-24; things were better. The map maker's name is given in the title cartouche:- Murdoch Mackensie The sheet in the series published by the Hydrographic Office has his name in a more likely spelling:- Murdoch Mackenzie At the bottom of the french editions is printed:_ Ecrit par Besancon Grave par Caplin
orientation north point up is N magnetic variation	The map has a north point; a line marked with a fleur de lys for north. North is up on the sheet. Magnetic north i shown by a line with a half fleur de lys, the angle is labelled:- Von. 23[degrees] 30[minutes] N.O. There are no rhumb lines over the chart. Leading lines are labelled with their headings, eg:- E. 1/4 N. 8[degrees] N. N.E. 1/4 N. 5[degrees] N.
lat and long scales	There are neither scales nor grid of latitude and longitude on this chart. Another map in the series, (Selsea Bill, Owers, etc, HMCMS:FA2000.21.3) was surveyed a little later, 1786, and has both lat and long scales and a lat and long grid over the sea. The scales are graduated at 5 second intervals; the grid is drawn at 3 minute intervals. Longitude is measured west of the meridian of Paris.
scale line scale	There is a scale line at the bottom of the chart, labelled:- Milles Marine The line is 10 nautical miles = 785.5mm gives scale, assuming the french nautical mile is like ours, about:- 1 to 24000 ? 3 ins to 1 nautical mile
sea area depth soundings depth contours anchorages	Depth soundings are marked all over the sea areas, into channels and river mouths.There is an explanatory (beware my translation may not be perfect):- Note The figures of soundings are given in english fathoms bigger then french by 1/8. The letters by the figures mark the nature of the bottom as; reverting to French:- S. Sable, V.S. Vase et Sable, Gr. Gravier, V.Gr. Vase et Gravier, Gr.S. Gravier et Sable, S.Gr. Sable Gravier, Coq. Coquilles, Gr.Coq. Gravier et Coquilles, S.Coq. Sable et Coquilles, R. Roches. The terms seem to translate as follows; Sable - sand, Gravier - gravel, Vase - mud, Coquille - shell, Roches - rocks. Examples:- 3 5/6 Gr. 4 1/6 S. There are dotted lines which seem to be depth contours. Sea areas are not named, but some of the river channels have labels, for example up the Lymington River entrance are:- Long Reach Skort Reach (sic) Horn Reach Anchorages are marked by an anchor symbol. There might be helpful; comment, eg:- Here is the best anchorage of the Yarmouth Roads Sandbanks are outlined by dotted lines in sea areas, and might be labelled or described, eg:- Mineway (off Milford) Tres mauvais Mouillage - Very bad anchorage (off Yarmouth)
coast line coast appearance headlands	The coastline is drawn to suggest its appearance; a low line of cliff at Milford, a flat line at Pilewell, etc. The foreshore is shown as a graded dotted area, perhaps with labelling, eg:- Vase Gravier One part of the foreshore, and its navigation hazards, is described in greater detail (forgive my translation):- The highest part of the mud bank bewteen Hurst and Pilewell covered at about 5 3/4 hours of the flood of spring tides at 17 feet. It is rarely or almost never covered by the top of the tides at New Moon. Headlands are noticed and labelled, mostly on the Isle of Wight; the Hampshire coast doesn't have headlands much on this particular stretch of coast.
coast line coast view	The map studied has two views of the coast from seaward. View 1 The view is taken on the line where Sconce Point begins to appear behind Round Tower Point. These are points on the Isle of Wight. The view shows Hurst Castle, The Solent, and the coast of the island. The other view is the entrance to The Solent from further out to sea.
sea area sea marks leading lines	A number of sea marks are drawn explicitly; a light at Hurst Castle, a conical buoy off the end of Warden Ledge off the Isle of Wight, and markers (balise) at the entrance to Lymington River, one labelled (in English):- Jack in the Basket The beacon at the east end of the Isle of Wight is described more fully:- The light at Needle Point is at 445ft; ground level 415ft, plus 30ft height of the building Land features, church towers, windmills, hill tops, headlands, etc, are also used to define leading lines. These lines usually have navigation instructions on them, (check modern sailing directions before trusting my translation) eg:- You must enter by the North Channel holding Scone Point very little apart from Hurst Point.
sea area tides	At various positions in the sea areas the direction of the flooding tide is given by an arrow, with its direction, and sometimes comments about the strength, eg between Hurst Castle and Round Tower Point:- N.E. 1/4 N 5[degrees] N. Speed 5 Spring Tides 3 1/2 Neap Tides The terms in French are:- G.M. - Grandes Marres M.E. - Mortes Eaux
rivers harbours bridges	Rivers and harbours are clearly indicated. Small streams reaching the coast are just wiggly lines, tapering inland. The important streams are shown with their channel through the foreshore mudflats, and have reaches labelled, as on the Lymington River, above, or as examples:- Oxsey Lake Penington Lake Depth soundings are shown up these channels, and achorages, and markers. The bridge at Lymington is drawn clearly.
relief hill hachuring	As well as drawing the appearance of the coast line, and the elevations in the coastal views, high land might be shown by hill hachuring. The ridge of hill on the Isle of Wight is marked this way.
settlements streets	Settlements on the coast are drawn in plan or perspective. A large house like Pilewell is drawn as a large house. Some of the buildings are used as sea marks for leading lines.
town	Towns have street plans with shaded blocks of building; the church may be drawn in perspective; labelled in upright block caps; eg:- LIMINGTON

village	Villages have a church and perhaps buildings drawn in perspective, plus a scatter of small blocks; labelled in upright lowercase text; eg:- Milford

hamlet	Hamlets have just a scatter of blocks, and perhaps a building in perspective; labelled in lowercase text; eg:- Key-haven Horl

salterns	The chart studied has detailed mapping of salterns along the coast west of Lymington along towards Hurst. The drawing seesm to show enclosed salt pans areas, numerous windpumps, and works buildings.
castles fortifications	Hurst Castle is drawn on this sheet. Other sheets in the series have other castles and fortifications protecting The Solent and Portsmouth Harbour.
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REFERENCES
	David, Andrew: 2002: Lieut Murdoch Mackenzie and his 1780s Survey of Portsmouth, Langstone and Chichester Harbours: (British Cartographic Society conference paper, ?not published)

ITEMS	in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
	HMCMS:FA2000.21.1 -- chart
	HMCMS:FA2000.21.2 -- chart
	HMCMS:FA2000.21.3 -- chart
	HMCMS:FA2000.22 -- chart
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