Home > English Period > Chart of the Gulf of Florida or New Bahama Channel Commonly Called The Gulf Passage, etc.
Date:
1794
Title:
Chart of the Gulf of Florida or New Bahama Channel Commonly Called The Gulf Passage, etc.
Cartographer:
Gauld, George (1732-1782)
Summary:
This Chart was completed by Charles Roberts, Master of the Royal Navy based on the surveys of George Gauld, a Scottish surveyor who did extensive charting of the Gulf Coast including Florida, Louisiana, Cuba and the Bahamas. He worked with others including Bernard Romans and David Taitt. His works were available as early as 1764 as manuscripts and were published mostly by Faden as late as 1798 and 1802.
He came to the Florida area in 1764 on the English ship Tartar. Also on that ship was John Harrison’s son William, who was testing John Harrison’s clock Number Four, used to determine longitude. William Harrison travelled only as far as Barbados and from there he returned to England. The determination of longitude turned out to be accurate to two minutes, or two miles. This led to John Harrison’s recognition for the award for devising a simpler way of determining longitude other than observing the eclipses of the moons of Jupiter.
Note:
References:Tooley
Brown, Lloyd. The Story of Maps. Cresset Press. London 1951. Ware, John D. & Robert R. Rea. George Gauld Surveyor and Cartographer of the Gulf Coast. University Press of Florida. Gainesville & Tampa. 1982. Bowditch, Nathaniel. American Practical Navigator, revised and printed by U.S. Governor Printing office.
Coverage Time:
1700s