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Authorised form of nameAdair; John (c1660 - 1718); geographer and cartographer
Datesc1660 - 1718
NationalityBritish
Date of birthc. 1660
Date of death15 May 1718
OccupationSurveyor
Research fieldNatural history
Antiquities
ActivityCareer:
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 categoryFellow
Date of election30/11/1688
Other Royal Society activityProposed on 8 February 1688
Correspondent on his travels through the Highlands and the Western Isles (1698)
OtherInfoLittle 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.
SourceSources:
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 Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/258808375
CodeNA3647
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
LBO/12/132Copy letter from George Russell and John Suddel, Rochester, to John Adair13 November 1699
EL/A/48Letter, from John Adair to Hans Sloane, dated at Edinburgh20 December 1698
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