William Roy Major - General William Roy FRS ( 4 May 1726 – 1 July 1790 ) was a Scottish military engineer , surveyor , and antiquarian . He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of Great Britain . It was Roy ' s advocacy and leadership that led to the creation of the Ordnance Survey in 1791 , the year after his death . His technical work in the establishment of a surveying baseline won him the Copley Medal in 1785 . His maps and drawings of Roman archaeological sites in Scotland were the first accurate and systematic study of the subject , and have not been improved upon even today . Roy was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London . Early life and family . Roy was born in Carluke Parish in South Lanarkshire in 1726 , and was educated in the parish school and Lanark Grammar School . There is no record of his further education , but circumstances strongly suggest that he obtained one . He was a respected land surveyor employed by the Callander family at their Craigforth estate near Stirling prior to his work for the military , and his demonstrated knowledge of general science , geodesy , chemistry , and astronomy imply that he was once an apt pupil within a formal system of education . Roy ' s father had been a steward or factor ( i . e . , a representative of a landowner in Scotland ) in the service of the Hamiltons of Hallcraig , as well as an elder of the Kirk . His grandfather had held a similar position as factor , and his uncle acted in that capacity for the Lockharts of Lee . His younger brother James had held the bursary in the Grammar School and College of Glasgow , took a Master of Arts after studies in the Languages and Philosophy , was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow , and held several other notable positions before his untimely death in 1767 , at the age of 37 . Roy maintained his connections to his birthplace and the people living there . A servant for the Lockharts of Lee recalled his visits there over time , as his national reputation grew . She noted that at first he would dine in the servants hall , in later years he would dine with the family , and later on still he would be seated at the right hand of the Laird . Career and later life . In 1747 Lieutenant - Colonel David Watson , Deputy Quartermaster - General , proposed the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands to facilitate the subjugation of the clans following the Jacobite rising of 1745 . In response , King George II commissioned a military survey of the Highlands , and Watson was placed in charge under the command of the Duke of Cumberland . Among his assistants were William Roy , Paul Sandby , and John Manson . The labours of Watson and Roy , and of Roy in particular , resulted in " The Duke of Cumberland ' s Map " , now in the British Library . The map reflects Roy ' s lifelong interest in ancient Scottish history by showing the locations of ancient Roman remains , primarily military camps , wherever he encountered them . Roy was first mentioned in connection with this effort in a 1749 letter , by which time he was Assistant to the Deputy Quartermaster - General , but without a military commission . He would continue to work on the survey until 1755 , and was then given a military commission and the title of Practitioner - Engineer . He was promoted steadily , reflecting acknowledgement of his considerable technical talents . Roy ' s technical abilities and willingness to innovate brought him to the favourable attention of Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick , the Commander - in - Chief of the Allied army at the Battle of Minden in 1759 . Preparatory to the battle , the various military engineers made drawings of each step of the coming battle , with each step drawn on a different sheet of paper . The commander could then study the course of the battle before it occurred , going from one sheet to the next . Lieutenant Roy , however , made his drawings on a single sheet with coordinated and accurate overlays , so that the commander could more easily study the course of the battle by examining a single sheet of paper . The commander ' s comprehension was greatly facilitated , and Roy ' s methodology was soon adopted as an advancement in military science . Roy was promoted to captain in the Corps of Highlanders a scant three weeks after the battle . The next year he became a Deputy Quartermaster - General and major of foot , and was promoted to lieutenant - colonel in 1762 . In 1765 he appears as a Deputy Quartermaster - General , Surveyor - General of Coasts , and Engineer - Director of military surveys in Great Britain , and in that capacity he visited Ireland in 1766 and Gibraltar in 1768 . He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767 . Roy was promoted to colonel in 1777 , and to major - general in 1781 . He was in charge of the departments of the Quartermaster - General and Chief Engineer in 1782 , and in 1783 became the Director of Royal Engineers . In 1783 - 84 he conducted observations to determine the relative positions of the French and English royal observatories . In 1784 he measured a base - line for that purpose between Hampton and Heathrow ( hamlet ) , the germ of all subsequent surveys of the United Kingdom , for which in 1785 the Royal Society awarded him the Copley medal . Roy ' s measurements ( not fully utilised until 1787 , when the Paris and Greenwich observatories were properly connected ) form the basis of the topographical survey of Middlesex , Surrey , Kent and Sussex . These surveys were made for the most part using the new Ramsden theodolite which Roy had commissioned from Jesse Ramsden , and were the start of the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain . He was finishing an account of this work for the " Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society " when he died . Legacy . Scientific Roy ' s use of scientific advancements and accurate mathematical formulas paved the way for modern geodesic surveying . His tenure and his work are the dividing line between older , approximate mappings and newer , highly accurate ones in Britain . He is cited repeatedly in early nineteenth century mathematics textbooks for his use of spherical trigonometry in surveying . Early twentieth century technical books on modern surveying and geodesy include Roy ' s work as the historical starting point for the modern profession . Antiquarian Roy ' s maps and his drawings of the relics of the Roman presence in Scotland were immediately seen as credible and valuable . For sites where the Roman remains were later destroyed by human development , his drawings are the only reliable record of their existence . Roy was the first to systematically map the Antonine Wall and provide accurate and detailed drawings of its remains , an effort undertaken in 1764 . Historical work His only historical work , " Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain " , has a mixed reputation . His drawings and maps are held in the highest regard as still - valuable research sources . However , his efforts in the scholarly discussion of history are widely held to be without value , largely through no fault of his own . This was due to his belief that the spurious fraud " De Situ Britanniae " was a genuine work , a view shared by virtually all of his contemporaries . Roy consequently adjusted his perspective to be consistent with the history as told in the fraud , causing his own conclusions to be without a valid foundation . Much of Roy ' s research was devoted to the attempt to follow fictitious journeys throughout Scotland that were described in " De Situ Britanniae " . That Roy ' s considerable talents were partially wasted is a tragedy . He was a Scot with a lifelong interest in ancient Scottish history , and his technical ability and scientific knowledge made him uniquely qualified to provide information in an area of history where knowledge and understanding are minimal . That loss for Scottish history has been bemoaned by Scottish historians . In his introduction to " Celtic Scotland " , Skene deprecates those historical works based on " De Situ " , including Roy ' s , but adds for him alone the comment that " . . . perhaps more to be regretted , the valuable work of General Roy . . . " Minor biographical note While Roy was a famous and notable person by the time of his death , some of the minor details of his military career have been susceptible to error in later articles about him , usually in a way that enhances Roy ' s actual status as a young , non - military assistant and surveyor . Among these , a 1793 obituary says he held the rank of Colonel of Artillery in 1746 , whereas he was then a 20 - year - old surveyor with no military commission , and who was never connected with the artillery . An 1885 book about Western Scotland with a chapter on Roy ' s life has him a Colonel in the British Army who was trusted with the work of mapping the Highlands in 1747 by his commanding general . Roy deserves much of the technical credit for the map that resulted , but he was actually a non - military assistant to a Lieutenant - Colonel who was a Deputy Quartermaster - General . An 1874 book on the history of Carluke Parish and its people has Roy himself the Deputy Quartermaster - General . The written history of the Royal Engineers makes a minor contribution to the list of errors , stating in passing that Roy was the nephew of his immediate supervisor in 1747 , and was given the rank of Lieutenant . Roy was not related to David Watson , nor was he in the military at that time . The author has confused him with David Dundas , who was the son of Watson ' s sister , and who joined his uncle in 1752 . Partial bibliography . Roy was an exceptionally neat and capable draughtsman , and often made maps of the survey work conducted by others , as well as maps of his own survey work . In the British Museum Maps and Plans drawn between 1752 and 1766 Publications