Thomas Holdich

ColonelSir Thomas Hungerford HoldichKCMG KCIE CB FRGS(13 February 1843 – 2 November 1929) was anEnglishgeographer and president of theRoyal Geographical Society.He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys inBritish India,arbiterin theCordillera of the Andes Boundary Case^[1]and author of numerous books, includingThe Gates of India,The Countries of the King's AwardandPolitical Frontiers and Boundary Making.^[2]

Life

Born inDingley, Northamptonshire,Englandto the Rev. Thomas Peach Holdich, he was educated atGodolphin Grammar Schooland theRoyal Military Academy,obtaining a commission in theRoyal Engineersin 1862. He saw active service in theBhutanexpedition of 1865, theAbyssinian campaign of 1867–68and theSecond Anglo-Afghan Warof 1878–79.

During peacetime, Holdich was largely occupied with the survey of India. He was the chief surveyor on theAfghan Boundary Commissionof 1884–86. The Commission soon found itself in the midst of a crisis, inflamed by thePanjdeh incident;when this nearly led to war with Russia, Holdich was put in charge of fortifyingHeratagainst a potential Russian invasion.^[3]He later served on the Tasmar Boundary Commission of 1894, the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1895 and the Perso-Baluchistan Boundary Commission of 1896. He was awarded theFounder's Medalof theRoyal Geographical Societyin 1887 in recognition of his work on the Afghan frontier.

Holdich was also member of the British tribunal engaged inThe Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Caseby the governments ofArgentinaandChilein 1902 toarbitrate the boundaryalong theAndes Mountains.For this service he was appointed a Knight Commander of theOrder of St Michael and St George(KCMG) in December 1902.^[4]

On his retirement to half-pay in 1898, he thanked "that providence which had been good to me in that during that last year of my Indian career I had been able to put a round finish on the last of our frontier maps". He was placed on the Retired list with an Indian pension 13 February 1900.^[5]

In later years, he wrote and lectured extensively on geographical issues, and served as president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1917 to 1919. He also served as President of the Geographical Association between 1917 and 1918. He contributed a number of entries to theeleventh edition of theEncyclopædia Britannica.

Boundaries are the inevitable product of advancing civilisation; they are human inventions not necessarily supported by nature's dispositions, and as such they are only of solid value so long as they can be made strong enough and secure enough to prevent their violation and infringement. – Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich (1916)^[6]

His thought on international boundaries emphasized a need for them to be, or have the potential to become, militarily strong.^[7]

Holdich died in 1929 at his home at Parklands inMerrow, Surrey,nearGuildford,at the age of 86.

List of publications

T H Holdich. (Editor).Peru-Bolivia Boundary Commission Report 1911-1913.1918.
T H Holdich.Boundaries in Europe and the Near East,1918.
T H Holdich.Frontiers and Boundary Making,1916.
T H Holdich, Leonard Arthur Bethell andHamilton Bower.The Abor Expedition: Geographical Results: Discussion.Geographical Journal,Feb., 1913, vol. 41, no. 2, pages 109–114.
T H Holdich.Gates of India, Being an Historical Narrative of Early Relations Between the East and the West,1910.
T H Holdich.Tibet, the Mysterious,1906.^[8]
T H Holdich.Countries of the King's Award,1904.
T H Holdich.England's Strength in Asia.Proceedings of the Central Asian Society, 1904.
T H Holdich.Indian Borderland 1880–1900,1901.
M. G. Gerard, T. H. Holdrich, R. A. Wahab, A. W. Alcock.Report on the proceedings of the Pamir Boundary Commission.Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. 1897.
T H Holdich.Notes on the Antiquities, Ethnography and History of Las Bela and Makran,1894.
"The Frontier Question".The Empire and the century.London: John Murray. 1905. pp. 651–662.

Family

Holdich was married to Ada Vanrenen, and had two daughters and two sons. His elder daughter Laura Holdich married in 1898 Major Edmund Peach (1865–1902), Indian Staff Corps.^[9]

References

^Williams, Glyn (1975). "Cwm Hyfryd".The desert and the dream: A study of Welsh colonization in Chubut 1865 – 1915.Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 140.ISBN 978-0-7083-0579-9.
^"Obituary: Sir Thomas Holdich – A Maker of Frontiers".The Times.4 November 1929. p. 14.
^Salisbury, Robert(2020).William Simpson and the Crisis in Central Asia, 1884-5.ISBN 978-1-5272-7047-3
^"No. 27503".The London Gazette.12 December 1902. p. 8589.
^"No. 27167".The London Gazette.20 February 1900. p. 1173.
^Political Frontiers and Boundary Making (London:Macmillan and Co., 1916 p.2.
^Prescott, J.R.V. (1965).The Geography of Frontiers and Boundaries.Hutchinson University Library. p. 14.
^"Review ofTibet, the Mysteriousby Sir Thomas Holdich ".Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute(3, Session 1906–1907): 194–195. February 1907.
^"Obituaries".The Times.No. 36957. London. 22 December 1902. p. 6.

External links

Biographyfrom the Holdich Family History Society
The Geographical Journal– Obituary, Vol LXXV, No 3, March 1930
Works by Thomas HoldichatProject Gutenberg
Works by or about Thomas Holdichat theInternet Archive

[1] Williams, Glyn (1975). "Cwm Hyfryd".The desert and the dream: A study of Welsh colonization in Chubut 1865 – 1915.Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 140.ISBN 978-0-7083-0579-9.

[times-2] "Obituary: Sir Thomas Holdich – A Maker of Frontiers".The Times.4 November 1929. p. 14.

[3] Salisbury, Robert(2020).William Simpson and the Crisis in Central Asia, 1884-5.ISBN 978-1-5272-7047-3

[4] "No. 27503".The London Gazette.12 December 1902. p. 8589.

[5] "No. 27167".The London Gazette.20 February 1900. p. 1173.

[6] Political Frontiers and Boundary Making (London:Macmillan and Co., 1916 p.2.

[7] Prescott, J.R.V. (1965).The Geography of Frontiers and Boundaries.Hutchinson University Library. p. 14.

[8] "Review ofTibet, the Mysteriousby Sir Thomas Holdich ".Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute(3, Session 1906–1907): 194–195. February 1907.

[9] "Obituaries".The Times.No. 36957. London. 22 December 1902. p. 6.

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v t e Presidents of theRoyal Geographical Society
19th century	F. J. Robinson George Murray John Barrow William R. Hamilton George Greenough Roderick Murchison Charles Abbot William J. Hamilton William Smyth Roderick Murchison Francis Egerton Frederick Beechey Roderick Murchison Bingham Baring Roderick Murchison Henry Rawlinson Henry Frere Rutherford Alcock Thomas Baring Henry Bruce John Campbell Richard Strachey M. E. Grant Duff Clements Markham
20th century	George Goldie Leonard Darwin George Curzon Douglas Freshfield Thomas Holdich Francis Younghusband Lawrence Dundas David George Hogarth Charles Close William Goodenough Percy Cox Henry Balfour Philip Chetwode Francis Rodd Harry Lindsay James Wordie James Marshall-Cornwall Roger Nathan Raymond Priestley Dudley Stamp Gilbert Laithwaite Edmund Irving Edward Shackleton Duncan Cumming John Hunt Michael John Wise Vivian Fuchs George Bishop Roger Chorley Crispin Tickell George Jellicoe John Palmer
21st century	Ron Cooke Neil Cossons Gordon Conway Michael Palin Judith Rees Nicholas Crane Lynda Chalker Nigel Clifford

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