page_title: James Rennell
section_title: Achievements
hierarchical_section_title: James Rennell / Achievements
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of ancient Egypt created by James Rennell as an insert for his book "The geographical system of Herodotus examined and explained" (published 1800 and 1830). This map shows Rennell's understanding of the geography of Egypt's Nile delta during the Greek Classical period (510 BC - 323 BC) based on the writings of Herodotus (484 BC - 425 BC).
context_page_description: Major James Rennell, FRS FRSE FRGS was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as accurate outlines of India and served as Surveyor General of Bengal. Rennell has been called the Father of Oceanography. In 1830 he was one of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society in London.
context_section_description: Rennell's first and most influential work was the Bengal Atlas (1779) which was followed by the first detailed map of India (1783), the Geographical System of Herodotus (1800), the Comparative Geography of Western Asia (1831), and important studies on the geography of northern Africa—apparent in introductions to the Travels of Mungo Park and Hornemann. He however forged the geographic data of Park by introducing a mountain range, the Mountains of Kong, supposedly located in the western part of Africa. The fake was intended to support his own theory on the course of the Niger River. The Mountains of Kong remained present in maps until the early 20th century. He also contributed papers to Archaeologia on the site of Babylon, the island of St Paul's shipwreck, and the landing-place of Caesar in Britain. Rennell published a  book titled Memoir of a map of Hindoostan (1788) and dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks.
  Beside his geographical and historical works, James Rennell is known today for his hydrographical works on the currents in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. He started his research on these topics when he was travelling by a sailing ship with his family from India to Britain after his retirement in 1777. During the extraordinary prolonged voyage around the Cape of Good Hope he mapped "the banks and currents at the Lagullas" and published in 1778 the work on what is today called the Agulhas Current. This was one of the first contributions to the science of Oceanography. He was the first to explain the causes of the occasional northern current found to the south of the Isles of Scilly, which has since been called as Rennell's Current.
  After the death of his wife in 1810, he returned to the oceanographic topics. His numerous naval friends gave him a mass of data from their logs, which he assimilated into a chart of all currents in the Atlantic Ocean. During his last years, he wrote his last work Currents of the Atlantic Ocean, published posthumously by his daughter Jane in 1832.
  He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1781; and he received the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1791, and the gold medal of the Royal Society of Literature in 1825. James Rennell has been called the Father of Indian Geography, and for his pioneering work on oceanography  as the Father of Oceanography.
  In later life Rennell suffered from gout and in 1829 he fell from a chair and broke his thigh. He died on 29 March 1830 at his home on Suffolk Street. He was interred in the nave of Westminster Abbey, and there is a tablet to his memory, with a bronze bust by Ludwig Hagbold, near the western door. The year of his death saw the foundation of the Royal Geographical Society. His collection of books were gifted by his heirs to the Royal Geographical Society.
caption: James Rennell's map of ancient Egypt, based upon the works of Herodotus.
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