Surveyor-General of the Ordnance

The Surveyor-General of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the Board of Ordnance from its constitution in 1597. Appointments to the post were made by the crown under Letters Patent. His duties were to examine the ordnance received to see that it was of good quality. He also came to be responsible for the mapping of fortifications and eventually of all Great Britain, through the Ordnance Survey, and it is this role that is generally associated with surveyor-generalship.

The post was for a time held with that of Chief Engineer, but after 1750 became a political office, with the holder changing with the government of the day.

The office survived the dissolution of the Board of Ordnance in 1855, but was for some time vacant, the last holder, Lauderdale Maule, having died of cholera in the Crimea. The War Office Act of 1870 revived the office, making the Surveyor-General responsible for all aspects of Army logistics. The office was filled until 1888, when it was abolished.

Surveyors of the Ordnance

 * 5 February 1538: Henry Johnson
 * 23 January 1549: Anthony Anthony
 * 25 June 1565: Henry Iden
 * 2 December 1568: Thomas Pynner
 * 10 April 1570: vacant
 * 13 April 1570: William Jurden
 * 21 June 1595: William Partridge
 * 21 June 1598: vacant
 * 3 February 1599: John Davies (knighted 12 July 1599)
 * 17 July 1602: John Linewray (knighted 10 July 1604)
 * 11 June 1606: Joseph Earth
 * 5 September 1609: Sir John Kaye
 * 1 May 1624: Richard Kaye
 * 28 November 1624: vacant
 * 27 September 1625: Sir Alexander Brett
 * 29 October 1627: vacant
 * 3 December 1627: Sir Thomas Bludder
 * 8 April 1628: Sir Paul Harris (succeeded as 2nd Baronet January 1629)
 * ''Interregnum; post occupied by:
 * George Payler, March 1643 to December 1658
 * Elia Palmer, in 1660''
 * 22 June 1660: Francis Nicholls
 * 28 July 1669 (or before): vacant
 * 13 November 1669: Jonas Moore (knighted 28 January 1673)
 * 25 August 1679: Jonas Moore (II) (knighted 9 August 1680)
 * 13 July 1682: vacant
 * 29 July 1682: Sir Bernard de Gomme
 * 23 November 1685: vacant
 * 2 December 1685: Sir Henry Sheer
 * 19 July 1689: John Charlton
 * 29 June 1702: William Bridges
 * 30 October 1714: vacant
 * 2 December 1714: Michael Richards
 * 5 February 1722: vacant
 * 10 February 1722: John Armstrong
 * 25 April 1742: vacant
 * 30 April 1742: Thomas Lascelles
 * 10 April 1750: Charles Frederick
 * 13 May 1782: The Hon. Thomas Pelham
 * 20 May 1783: John Courtenay
 * 22 May 1784: The Hon. James Luttrell
 * 23 December 1788: vacant
 * 20 April 1789: The Hon. George Cranfield Berkeley
 * 10 July 1795: Alexander Ross
 * 22 November 1804: James Murray Hadden
 * 20 July 1810: Robert Moorsom (knighted 2 January 1815)
 * 16 March 1820: Sir Ulysses Bagenal Burgh (succeeded as 2nd Baron Downes 3 March 1826)
 * 18 May 1827: Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen
 * 1 April 1828: Sir Herbert Taylor
 * 16 April 1829: Sir Henry Fane
 * 15 January 1831: William Leader Maberly
 * 4 December 1832: Charles Richard Fox
 * 30 December 1834: Lord Edward Somerset
 * 25 April 1835: Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin
 * 1 May 1841: vacant
 * 11 May 1841: Charles Richard Fox
 * 13 September 1841: Jonathan Peel
 * 14 July 1846: Charles Richard Fox
 * 3 July 1852: Sir George Henry Frederick Berkeley
 * 18 January 1853: The Hon. Lauderdale Maule
 * 1 August 1854: vacant
 * 5 August 1870: Sir Henry Storks
 * 26 February 1874: Lord Eustace Cecil
 * 1 June 1880: Sir John Miller Adye
 * 17 January 1882: Henry Robert Brand
 * 27 June 1885: Guy Dawnay
 * 6 February 1886: William Woodall
 * 4 August 1886: Sir Henry Northcote

The office was abolished in 1888.