Person
Dalrymple, Alexander (1737 - 1808)
FRS
- Born
- 24 July 1737
New Hailes, Scotland - Died
- 19 June 1808
- Occupation
- Hydrographer and Geographer
Summary
Alexander Dalrymple, an employee of the East India Co. for over 20 years from 1752, published a number of books about the unexplored Pacific area. He was an advocate of the notion of the existence of a great southern continent. The suggestion that he lead an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus in 1769 came to nothing. Instead James Cook was appointed commander of the expedition, sailing in H.M.B. Endeavour. Dalrymple left the East India Company in 1795 and was Hydrographer for the Royal Navy until 1808.
Details
Chronology
- 1765 - 1808
- Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
- 1779 - 1795
- Career position - In charge of Hydrographic office, East India Company
- 1782 - 1808
- Award - Foreign Member, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- 1795 - 1808
- Career position - Hydrographer, Royal Navy
Related entries
Archival resources
National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection
Published resources
Books
- Dalrymple, Alexander, An historical collection of the several voyages and discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, 2 vols (London: The Author, 1770-1771). Details
- Dalrymple, Alexander, An Account of the Discoveries Made in the South Pacifick Ocean (Potts Point: Hordern House for the Australian National Maritime Museum, 1996), various pagings pp. Details
Book Sections
- Beaglehole, J. C., 'Dalrymple, Alexander (1737-1808)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966). Details
Journal Articles
- Jack-Hinton, C., 'Alexander Dalrymple and the rediscovery of the Islands of Solomon', Mariner’s mirror, 50 (2) (1964), 94-114. Details
- Tregonning, Ken, 'Alexander Dalrymple: the man whom Cook replaced', Australian quarterly, 23 (3) (1951), 54-63. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q550966. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/14795109. Details
- 'Dalrymple, Alexander (1737-1808)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1143845. Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education