John Ogilby

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Image from John Ogilby's 1675 "Britannia" atlas, showing the route from Newmarket, Suffolk to Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.
Image from John Ogilby's 1675 "Britannia" atlas, showing the route from Newmarket, Suffolk to Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.

John Ogilby (November 1600September 4, 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario and cartographer. He is known best for his Britannia Atlas of 1675, which was perhaps the first British road atlas, and set the standard for those that followed (for example, in the use of 1760 yards for the mile, which was not then standard, and in his use of the scale of one inch to the mile (1/63360)). NB: Some of the minor roads used the local mile rather than the not-yet-standard mile of 1760 standard yards.

Ogilby was born in or near Edinburgh in November 1600. His father was a prisoner within the jurisdiction of the King's Bench, presumably for bankruptcy or debt, but by speculation the son found money to apprentice himself to a dancing master and to obtain his father's release.

He accompanied Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, when he went to Ireland as lord deputy, and became tutor to his children. Strafford made him deputy-Master of the Revels, and he built the Theatre Royal, Dublin, which was very successful.

The outbreak of the English Civil War ruined his fortunes, and in 1646 he returned to Great Britain. Finding his way to Cambridge, he learned Latin from kindly scholars who had been impressed by his industry. He then ventured to translate Virgil into English verse (1649-1650), which brought him a considerable sum of money. The success of this attempt encouraged Ogilby to learn Greek from David Whitford, who was usher in the school kept by James Shirley the dramatist.

His property was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, but he rebuilt his house in Whitefriars, and set up a printing press, from which he issued many magnificent books, the most important of which were a series of atlases, with engravings and maps by Hollar and others. He styled himself "His Majesty's Cosmographer and Geographic Printer."

Ogilby died in London in 1676.

[edit] List of 100 plates in Ogilby's 1675 'Britannia' Atlas

  1. London, Acton, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, Tetsworth, Oxford, Islip
  2. Islip, Moreton-in-Marsh, Broadway, Pershore, Bromyard, Worcester
  3. Bromyard, Leominster, Presteign, Aberystwyth
  4. London, Ewell, Dorking, Billingshurst, Amberley, Arundel, Chichester
  5. London, Waltham, Hoddesdon, Ware, Royston, Huntingdon, Stilton
  6. Stilton, Stamford, Grantham, Newark, Tuxford
  7. Tuxford, Doncaster, Wentbridge, Tadcaster, York
  8. York, Boroughbridge, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham, Chester-le-Street
  9. Chester-le-Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Belford, Berwick
  10. London, Hounslow, Maidenhead, Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Marlborough
  11. Marlborough, Calne, Chippenham, Bristol, Axbridge, Huntspill
  12. London, Acton, Uxbridge, Amersham, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Banbury
  13. Banbury, Stratford, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Banbury, Camden
  14. London, Brentford, Hounslow, Colnbrook, Slough, Maidenhead, Abingdon
  15. Abingdon, Faringdon, Fairford, Barnsley, Gloucester, Monmouth
  16. Monmouth, Newport, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Aberavon, Burton
  17. Burton, Kidwelly, Haverfordwest, St Davids
  18. London, Southwark, Rochester, Canterbury, Dover
  19. London, Romford, Brentford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harwich
  20. London, Farningham, Maidstone, Ashford, Hythe
  21. London, High Barnet, St Albans, Dunstable, Stony Stratford, Towcester
  22. Towcester, Daventry, Coventry, Lichfield
  23. Lichfield, Rugeley, Stone, Stableford, Nantwich, Tarporley, Chester
  24. Chester, Denbigh, Conway, Beaumaris, Holyhead
  25. London, Hounslow, Staines, Basingstoke, Andover
  26. Andover, Salisbury, Shaftsbury, Sherborne, Crewkerne
  27. Crewkerne, Honiton, Exeter, Ashburton, Plymouth
  28. Plymouth, Fowey, Tregony, Penzance, Land's End
  29. London, Croydon, East Grinstead, Lewes, Newhaven, Brighton, Shoreham
  30. London, Wandsworth, Cobham, Godalming, Petersfield, Portsmouth
  31. London, Bromley, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Rye
  32. Andover, Warminster, Bruton, Bridgwater
  33. Bridgwater, Dulverton, Barnstaple, Torrington, Hatherleigh
  34. Hatherleigh, Camelford, Padstow, St Columb, Truro
  35. Chippenham, Bath, Wells, Marlborough, Devizes, Trowbridge, Wells
  36. Stilton, Peterborough, Spalding, Boston, Sleaford, Lincoln
  37. Darleston, Brewerton, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Garstang
  38. Garstang, Lancaster, Bolton, Kendal, Penrith, Carlisle
  39. Guildford, Midhurst, Chichester, Midhurst, Petersfield, Winchester
  40. Stony Stratford, Northampton, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby
  41. Temsford, Stilton, Peterborough, Market Deeping, Sleaford, Lincoln
  42. Lincoln, Barton, Hull, Beverley, Flamborough
  43. Puckeridge, Cambridge, Ely, Downham, King's Lynn
  44. Four shire stone, Chipping Campden, Worcester, Ludlow, Montgomery
  45. High Barnet, Hatfield, Baldock, Biggleswade, St Neots, Oakham
  46. Puckeridge, Newmarket, Thetford, Attleborough, Windham, Norwich
  47. St Albans, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Oakham
  48. Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham, Mansfield, Rotherham, Barnsley
  49. Barnsley, Halifax, Skipton, Middleham, Richmond
  50. Meriden, Birmingham, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Welshpool
  51. Bagshot, Farnham, Alton, Alresford, Southampton, Romsey, Salisbury
  52. Newmarket, Swaffham, Wells, Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds
  53. Basingstoke, Stockbridge, Cranborne, Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth
  54. Colchester, Ipswich, Saxmundham, Beccles, Yarmouth
  55. Bristol, Chipping Sodbury, Tetbury, Cirencester, Burford, Banbury
  56. Bristol, Chepstow, Monmouth, Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow
  57. Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Chester
  58. Bristol, Wells, Glastonbury, Taunton, Exeter
  59. Bristol, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester
  60. Bristol, Wells, Crewkerne, Frampton, Weymouth
  61. Cambridge, St Neots, Northampton, Rugby, Coventry
  62. Carlisle, Jedburgh, Kelso, Berwick
  63. Chester, Wrexham, Newtown, Llanbader
  64. Llanbadardfynydd, Brecon, Cardiff
  65. Dartmouth, Exeter, Tiverton, Minehead
  66. St Davids, Fishguard, Cardigan, Talybont
  67. Talybont, Bala, Ruthin, Holywell
  68. Exeter, Chumleigh, Ilfracombe, Bideford, Torrington
  69. Exeter, Tavistock, Liskeard, Truro
  70. Gloucester, Cheltenham, Chipping Campden, Warwick, Coventry
  71. Gloucester, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford, Knighton, Montgomery
  72. Hereford, Worcester, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Coventry, Leicester
  73. Huntingdon, Ely, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich
  74. Ipswich, Thwaite, Norwich, Cromer
  75. King's Lynn, Thetford, Stowmarket, Harwich
  76. King's Lynn, Gayton, Billingford, Norwich, Yarmouth
  77. Monmouth, Abergavenny, Brecon, Llanbadarnfynydd
  78. Nottingham, Lincoln, Market Rasen, Grimsby
  79. Oxford, Faringdon, Malmesbury, Bristol
  80. Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Cambridge
  81. Oxford, Newbury, Basingstoke, Petersfield, Chichester
  82. Oxford, Banbury, Coventry, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Derby
  83. Oxford, Hungerford, Salisbury, Cranborne, Poole
  84. Presteign, Builth Wells, Llandovery, Carmarthen
  85. Salisbury, Marlborough, Lechlade, Chipping Campden
  86. Tynemouth, Newcastle, Hexham, Haltwhistle, Carlisle
  87. Welshpool, Dolgellau, Caernarvon
  88. York, Ripley, Skipton, Settle, Lancaster
  89. York, Leeds, Rochdale, Manchester, Warrington
  90. Warrington, Chester, Manchester, Stockport, Derby
  91. Carmarthen, Cardigan, Llanbadardfynydd, Aberystwyth
  92. Chelmsford, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds
  93. Chelmsford, Maldon, Rayleigh, Ingatestone, Billericay, Gravesend, Dover
  94. Exeter, Colyford, Lyme Regis, Bridport, Dorchester, Plymouth, Dartmouth
  95. Ferrybridge, Boroughbridge, Ripon, Barnard Castle, Ferrybridge, Wakefield
  96. Kendal, Ambleside, Cockermouth, Egremont, Cockermouth, Carlisle
  97. Alresford, Winchester, Poole, Christchurch, Southampton, Winchester
  98. Shrewsbury, Wrexham, Holywell, Chester, Flint, Holywell
  99. Whitby, Guisborough, Stockton, Durham, Sunderland, Tynemouth
  100. York, Pickering, Whitby, New Malton, Sherburn, Scarborough