18.
Col. Mudge never relinquished his zeal for
the survey but, in his turn, needed a devoted
and capable man to represent him when he was
absent from the fieldwork. This was a
stripling officer of 17, THOMAS COLBY, who
shared the physical ordeals, the inumerable
frustrations, and the penny-pinching
ordinances of the Commissioners on high until
Major General Mudge died in 1820.
In 1805 the first One Inch Ordnance Maps
were published. They were issued as a set to
cover the whole county of Essex. The four
sheets were numbered, 1 (southwest), 2 (south-
east), 47 (northwest), and 48 (northeast).
On Sheet 2 in the sea area off the coast was
a fine title spaced out on 10 lines, in
several styles of calligraphy and typography:
Part the First of the General Survey of
England and Wales, done by the Surveyors of
His Majesty's Ordnance under the Direction of
Lieut. Colonel Mudge, of the Royal Artillery,
F.R.S.
Although issued as sets of County maps
as in previous centuries, the engraving was
carried to the edges of each sheet to include
parts of adjoining counties, so that any
sheet always matched up with its neighbours.
Accuracy was better than ever before, but the
temptation to throw in a little guesswork on
the part of subsidiary surveyors was not un-
known, especially when a subsidy of 2d. an
acre awaited each completed field drawing!
When the experienced Colby was appointed
full charge from 1820, he intensified the
insistence upon accuracy, tolerating as much
delay as was needed to put wrong right, until
the best ever standard was attained. He