Professor Eva G. R. Taylor 1879-1966
In 1959 a group of distinguished scholars established an annual lecture in honour of Professor Emeritus Eva G. R. Taylor, the first female professor of geography in the UK, on the occasion of her 80th birthday on 22 June 1959. The sponsoring organisations, amongst others, were the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the Hakluyt Society (HS), the Society for Nautical Research (SNR), and the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN). These four Societies have arranged over 40 lectures since then to be given by scholars of any nationality in the branches of knowledge to which she made great contributions. Her fields were historical geography, especially the history of nautical science, of navigation and of cartographical ideas and discoveries. She held the chair of geography at Birkbeck College London University for many years and wrote extensively for the Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Mariner’s Mirror, The Geographical Journal, Imago Mundi and other periodicals.
In 2010 the late Professor Bill Mead recalled his first encounter with her. Her unconventional use of a walking stick seems to have stuck in his mind, when he recalled vividly how she used to point it at students when asking a question, as well as using it to hail taxis or even to hook Professor Darby’s leg to join her taxi from a crowd of people waiting.
She had three boys (one died) and was the partner of Herbert Dunhill, brother of the founder of the pipe and tobacco firm Alfred Dunhill. Sarah Tyacke recollects that with the papers deposited in the British Library by Eila Campbell in 1981 there was a pipe, no doubt fondly kept by her. She was a decidedly unconventional and great scholar.
Her publications were prolific. Among her books were Tudor Geography (1930) and numerous editions for the Hakluyt Society (1932-63) including The Original Writings… of the two Richard Hakluyts (1935) and The Haven-Finding Art (1956). As Dr Helen Wallis, Map Librarian at the British Library (1968–86), said in 1967 in a commemorative appreciation of her work:
Her writings were characterised by the extensive use of original sources and documentary evidence and they were always a delight to read.
For many later specialists it is her two monumental volumes on the mathematical practitioners of Tudor and Stuart England (1954), and then those of Hanoverian England (1966) which stand out as seminal in terms of demonstrating the range and depth of scientific innovation and knowledge across England during those centuries; from the obscure artisans who made the instruments and taught mathematics, to luminaries like Hooke, Newton and Flamsteed.
The Eva G. R. Taylor lectures celebrate her own breadth of scholarship and showcase current research in all the historical scientific fields to which she devoted her life. These are listed below.
Biographical publications about her and her personal papers
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E.G.R Taylor’s correspondence and papers 1929-1966 are held in the British Library Add MS 69466-90 and at Add MS 71872-4.
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(1967) Eva G R Taylor, Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 20:1, pp. 94-101. A collection of commemorative articles.
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Campbell, E. M. J. (1987) Geography at Birkbeck College, University of London, with particular reference to J. F. Unstead and E. G. R. Taylor (in) British geography 1918-1945, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.45-57.
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de Clercq, P. (2004) A chronicle of lesser men. E.G.R. Taylor and her mathematical practitioners of England, Bulletin of the Scientific Instruments Society 81, pp. 31-33.
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de Clercq, P. (2007) ‘The life and work of E.G.R. Taylor (1879-1966) author of 'The Mathematical Practitioners of Tudor and Stuart England' and 'The Mathematical Practitioners of Hanoverian England’. Updated and annotated version of the EGR Taylor lecture given at the RGS on 13 Oct 2005. The Journal of the Hakluyt Society
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Maddrell, A (2009) Complex locations: women’s geographical work in the UK 1850-1970, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, p. 411.
Eva G.R. Taylor Lectures, 1960-2023: a record and bibliographic listing
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No. |
Date |
Location and/or host |
Author |
Title |
Published in/reference |
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1 |
Monday 17 October 1960 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Eric Axelson |
Prince Henry the Navigator and the discovery of the sea route to India: The first Eva G.R. Taylor lecture |
The Geographical Journal, June 1961, 127(2) pp.145-158 |
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2 |
Wednesday 31 October 1962 |
National Maritime Museum [NMM]) [Society for Nautical Research SNR] |
C.R. Boxer |
The Dutch East-Indiamen: their sailors, their navigators, and life on board, 1602-1795 |
The Mariner’s Mirror: the quarterly journal of the Society for Nautical Research (London; New York: CUP), May 1963, 49(2). |
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3 |
Monday 26 October 1964 |
Royal Geographical Society |
C. Koeman |
Lucas Waghenaer, a 16th-century marine cartographer: The Eva G.R. Taylor Lecture 1964 |
The Geographical Journal, June 1965, 131(2), [202]-17, pp.211-17 |
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4 |
Wednesday 26 October 1966 |
Royal Geographical Society/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
G.S. Ritchie |
Great Britain’s contribution to hydrography during the nineteenth century |
The Journal of the Institute of Navigation (London: c/o RGS; J. Murray), January 1967, 20(1), 1-11 |
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5 |
Monday 29 April 1968 |
Royal Geographical Society |
George Kish |
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901), polar explorer and historian of cartography : The Eva G.R. Taylor Lecture, 1968 |
The Geographical Journal, December 1968, 134(4), [487]-505 |
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6 |
Wednesday 11 June 1969 |
National Maritime Museum [NMM]) [Society for Nautical Research SNR] |
J.C. Beaglehole |
Some problems of Cook’s biographer |
The Mariner’s Mirror: the quarterly journal of the Society for Nautical Research. (London; New York: CUP), November 1969, 55(4), 365-81. |
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7 |
Monday 15 February 1971 |
Royal Geographical Society |
E.C. Willatts |
Planning and geography in the last three decades: The Eva G.R. Taylor Lecture, 1971 |
The Geographical Journal, September 1971, 137(3), [311]-38. Discussion: pp.330-8 |
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8 |
Monday 3 December 1973 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Michael Chisholm |
Regional policies for the 1970s: The Eva G.R. Taylor Memorial Lecture, 1973 |
The Geographical Journal, June 1974, 140(2), [215]-44 |
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9 |
Wednesday 21 May 1975 |
National Maritime Museum/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Eric G. Forbes |
John Flamsteed and the origins of the Greenwich astronomical tradition |
The Journal of Navigation (London: Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS; J. Murray), July 1975, 28(3), 251-62. |
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10 |
Monday 16 May 1977 |
Royal Geographical Society |
J.H. Bird and E.E. Pollock |
The future of seaports in the European Communities |
The Geographical Journal (ISSN 0016-7398), March 1978, 144(1), [23]-48 |
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11 |
Thursday 12 October 1978 |
Science Museum/ Society for Nautical Research |
Glyndwr Williams |
Seamen and philosophers in the South Seas in the days of Captain Cook |
The Mariner’s Mirror: the quarterly journal of the Society for Nautical Research. (London; ISSN 0025-3359), February 1979, 65(1), 3-22. |
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12 |
Tuesday 10 June 1980 |
Royal Geographical Society |
D.R. Stoddart |
Geography, education and research |
The Geographical Journal (ISSN 0016-7398), November 1981, 147(3), [287]-97 : |
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13 |
Wednesday 4 March 1981 |
Royal Geographical Society/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Ursula Lamb |
The London years of Felipe Bauzá, Spanish Hydrographer in exile, 1823-34 |
The Journal of Navigation (London: Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS; Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press), September 1981, 34(3), 319-40. |
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14 |
Wednesday 13 October 1982 |
Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Whitehall / Society for Nautical Research |
D.B. Quinn |
Maps and illustrators in the discovery of North America |
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15 |
Monday 25 April 1983 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Peter Whitehead and John Hemming |
Painter-travellers in Brazil |
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16 |
Thursday 13 December 1984 |
Royal Geographical Society/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Derek Howse |
Nevil Maskelyne, the Nautical Almanac, and GMT |
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17 |
Monday 4 November 1985 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Ieuan Griffiths |
The scramble for Africa: inherited political boundaries |
The Geographical Journal (ISSN 0016-7398), July 1986, 152(2), [204]-16 |
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18 |
Wednesday 19 November 1986 |
Royal Geographical Society / Society for Nautical Research |
Gerard L’Estrange Turner |
Elizabethan computers and the secrets of the sea |
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19 |
Monday 23 November 1987 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Edward Heath |
Power shift to the Pacific |
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20 |
Wednesday 14 December 1988 |
Royal Geographical Society/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
D.W. Waters |
The English Pilot: English sailing directions and charts and the rise of English shipping, 16th to 18th centuries |
The Journal of Navigation (London: Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS; Oxford: OUP, September 1989, 42(3), 317-54: 13 ill. |
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21 |
Wednesday 29 November 1989 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Christopher Board |
Do we need a national atlas? |
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22 |
Wednesday 28 November 1990 |
Royal Geographical Society / Society for Nautical Research |
Robin Knox-Johnston |
In the wake of Columbus |
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23 |
Wednesday 27 November 1991 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Andrew David |
Artists’ views of Vancouver’s voyage’ ‘Exploration and discovery of the Pacific Northwest: the artists on Vancouver’s voyage to the northwest coast of America |
Harbour & Shipping (Vancouver BC : Progress Publishers, March 1992, 75(3), 26-33 |
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24 |
Wednesday 16 December 1992 |
Royal Geographical Society/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Helen Wallis |
Navigators and mathematical practitioners in Samuel Pepys’s day |
The Journal of Navigation (London : Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS ; Cambridge : CUP, January 1994, 47(1), 1-19. |
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25 |
Thursday 2 December 1993 |
Royal Geographical Society |
William Ravenhill |
The Honourable Robert Edward Clifford, 1767-1817: a cartographer’s response to Napoleon |
The Geographical Journal, July 1994, 160(2), [159]-72. |
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26 |
Monday 12 December 1994 |
Royal Geographical Society |
Peter Marshall |
Around Africa |
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27 |
Wednesday 29 November 1995 |
Royal Geographical Society / Society for Nautical Research |
Roger O. Morris |
Two hundred years of Admiralty Charts and Surveys |
The Mariner’s Mirror: the journal of the Society for Nautical Research (London; November 1996, 82(4), 420-35. |
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28 |
Wednesday 20 November 1996 |
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Robert K. Headland |
Russian aspects of the Arctic Ocean |
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29 |
Wednesday 3 December 1997 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Nicholas Rigby and Andrew Fagg |
Mapping for peace : the challenges of 250 years of crisis support |
in British Cartographic Society 34th Annual Symposium and Map Curators’ Group Workshop Leicester 1997 : Proceedings / edited by David Fairbairn (London : BCS c/o RGS, 1997pp.27-37; This presentation was in Symposium Session 2 ‘Military and overseas mapping’, whose chairman was Chris Board.*** NB: The British Cartographic Society’s 34th Annual Symposium and Map Curators’ Group Workshop : Workshop and Symposium Programme 11 – 14 September 1997 (Leicester : Dept of Geogr., University of Leicester, 1997), pp.[9]-[10]. |
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30 |
Wednesday 9 December 1998 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Society for Nautical Research |
Andrew Cook |
The public and private lives of a hydrographer: James Horsburgh (1762-1836) |
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31 |
Tuesday 30 November 1999 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Michael Richey |
E.G.R. Taylor and the Vinland Map |
The Journal of Navigation (London: Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, May 2000, 53(2), 193-205. |
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32 |
Tuesday 31 October 2000 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Jim Smith |
Sir George Everest, the man behind the mountain’ |
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33 |
Tuesday 13 November 2001 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Society for Nautical Research |
Anita McConnell |
Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1659-1730): from professional soldier to ‘Father of Oceanography’ |
The Mariner’s Mirror: the journal of the Society for Nautical Research (London; August 2002, 88(3), 323-31. |
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34 |
Thursday 10 October 2002 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
D.F.H. Grocott |
Maps in mind: how animals get home |
The Journal of Navigation (London: Royal Institute of Navigation, c/o RGS [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], January 2003, 56(1), [1]-14. |
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35 |
Tuesday 14 October 2003 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Corradino Astengo |
Mediterranean portolan charts of the 14th to 17th century’ |
Covered in The history of cartography ed. †David Woodward (Chicago; London: Univ. Chicago Pr., 2007) vol.3.1, ch.7 ‘Cartography in the European Renaissance’, pp.174-262). |
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36 |
Tuesday 26 October 2004 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Society for Nautical Research |
Francis Herbert |
". . . to mesure and compace the hevyn and erth and all the worlde large" : the RGS-IBG Collections Taylored for study |
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37 |
Tuesday 13 October 2005 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Hakluyt Society |
Peter de Clerq |
The life and work of Prof. E.G.R. Taylor, with special emphasis on the ‘Old Mathematical Practitioners’ |
Journal of the Hakluyt Society (www.hakluyt.com/journal_index.htm), February 2007; (www.hakluyt.com/journal_articles/2007/DeClerqTaylor.pdf), June 2010: ‘The life and work of E.G.R. Taylor (1879-1966), author of 'The Mathematical Practitioners of Tudor and Stuart England' and 'The Mathematical Practitioners of Hanoverian England’, with ‘Foreword’: “This is an updated and annotated version of the E.G.R. Taylor Lecture, delivered at the Royal Geographical Society on 13 October 2005 at the invitation of the Hakluyt Society.” This was the first lecture given on behalf of the Hakluyt Society at the suggestion of Anne Savours. |
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38 |
Thursday 12 October 2006 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Alan Stimson |
A symphony of nautical instruments: the Grinling Gibbons carvings in Admiralty House, Whitehall |
Published as ‘The Old Admiralty Boardroom carvings’ in Koersvast: vijf eeuwen navigatie op zee: een bundel opstellen aangeboden aan Willem Mörzer Bruyns bij zijn afschied van het Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam in 2005 / redactie: Remmelt Daalder [et al.]; samenstelling en eindredactie: Leo Akveld (Zaltbommel : Aprilis, 2005), pp.115-29. |
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39 |
Thursday 18 October 2007 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Ann Savours [Shirley] |
Sir Clements Markham (1830-1915) : shining light or éminence grise? |
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40 |
Tuesday 28 October 2008 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Society for Nautical Research |
Alison Morrison-Low |
“For those in peril on the sea”: marking and mapping of the Scottish seas before 1787 |
Chapter 3 ‘Scottish lights before the Bell’ in Northern Lights: the age of Scottish lighthouses (Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland, 2010.) |
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41 |
Thursday 15 October 2009 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Hakluyt Society |
Susanna Fisher |
Captain Joseph Huddart, FRS (1741-1816), mariner and distinguished man of science |
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42 |
Thursday 14 October 2010 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
Hans D. Kok |
Dutch maritime charts between 1550 and 1800 |
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43 |
Thursday 13 October 2011 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Charles W.J. Withers |
Instruments, geography and scientific enquiry: guides to travellers and methods in nineteenth-century Britain and France |
Published as ‘Science, scientific instruments and questions of method in nineteenth-century British geography’ Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (ISSN 0020-2754 print; 1475-5661 online), 2013, 38(1), pp. [167]-179. |
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44 |
Thursday 11 October 2012 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Society for Nautical Research |
Kirsten Seaver |
Flourishing fantasies of the Arctic: from ‘Pygmies’ to the Vinland Map |
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45 |
Thursday 10 October 2013 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Hakluyt Society |
Jim Bennett |
Adventures with instruments: science and seafaring in the precarious career of Christopher Middleton |
Notes and Records: the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, 73 (2019), pp. 303-27 |
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46 |
Thursday 9 October 2014 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)/ Royal Institute of Navigation |
David Rooney |
The dawn of the time lords: time for navigation in the chronometer age |
Navigation News : the magazine of the Royal Institute of Navigation (ISSN 0268-6317), Nov. – Dec. 2014; also available online (membership only) |
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47 |
Thursday 8 October 2015 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Felix Driver |
Women, editing and publishing: Ivy Davison and the Geographical Magazine in its first 30 years |
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48 |
Thursday 13 October 2016 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Andrew Lambert |
Finding Franklin: searching and science in the Canadian Arctic |
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49 |
Thursday 12 October 2017 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Captain M. K. Barritt RN |
Compassing the vaste globe: hydrographic practioners of the late Georgian Royal Navy |
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50 |
Thursday 11 October 2018 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
David Barrie CBE |
By the light of the heavens: how people and animals navigate by the sun and stars |
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50 |
Thursday 10 October 2019 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Professor Simon Schaffer |
Isaac Newton and the haven finding art |
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51 |
Thursday 9 October 2020 |
Online/Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Dr Margaret Schotte |
Estimates and instruments: the case for comparative maritime history |
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52 |
Thursday 14 October 2021 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Professor Michael G. Brennan |
English travellers to Venice, 1450-1600 |
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53 |
Thursday 13 October 2022 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
David Mearns |
Reconstructing the navigational clues to the sinking location of Shackleton’s Vessel Endurance |
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54 |
Thursday 12 October 2023 |
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Professor Charles W. J. Withers |
Instruments of exploration? British steamships on the Niger, Euphrates, and Indus Rivers, 1832-1838 |