| Authorised form of name | Adair; John (c1660 - 1718); geographer and cartographer |
| Dates | c1660 - 1718 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | c. 1660 |
| Date of death | 15 May 1718 |
| Occupation | Surveyor |
| Research field | Natural history |
| Antiquities |
| Activity | Career:
Made maps of Scotland under the patronage of Sir Robert Sibbald; commissioned by the Privy Council to survey the coast and islands of Scotland (1686), financed by three Acts of Tunnage (1686, 1695, 1705)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 30/11/1688 |
| Other Royal Society activity | Proposed on 8 February 1688
Correspondent on his travels through the Highlands and the Western Isles (1698) |
| General context | Little is known about Adair's early life and family. His first known map, after his commission from the Privy Council, was of Clackmannashire near Stirling in Scotland. He was particularly interested in Roman Scotland and produced manuscript plans of the Roman camp at Ardoch near Loch Lomond. Additionally, he showed a keen interest in natural history and collected mineralogical specimens. His main publication is considered 'Description of the Sea Coasts and Islands of Scotland' (1703) of which a second part was never published. Much of his papers is thought to have been destroyed in a fire in 1811. |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; ODNB
Notes:
DNB says he probably died in London 1722; Hunter also gives date of death as c1722, no date of birth; ODNB gives 2 September 1660 as exact date of birth; letter from Peter G. Vasey (12/05/1988), Scottish Record Office, has c. 1647. Election noted only in Journal Book, not in Charter Book or PL; he did not pay any subscriptions or make a bond. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/258808375 |
| Royal Society code | NA3647 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| LBO/12/132 | Copy letter from George Russell and John Suddel, Rochester, to John Adair | 13 November 1699 |
| EL/A/48 | Letter, from John Adair to Hans Sloane, dated at Edinburgh | 20 December 1698 |