Timothy Pont

Timothy Pont (c. 1565–1614) was a Scottish cartographer and topographer, the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual survey.

Life

He was the elder son of Robert Pont, a Presbyterian cleric and politician, by his first wife, Catherine, daughter of Masterton of Grange. He matriculated as student of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, in 1580, and obtained the degree of M.A. of St Andrews University in 1584. He spent the late 1580s and the 1590s travelling throughout Scotland, mapping the country. Between 1601 and 1610 he was the minister of Dunnet Parish Church in Caithness. He was continued 7 December 1610; but he resigned some time before 1614, when the name of William Smith appears as minister of the parish. On 25 July 1609 Pont was enrolled for a share of two thousand acres (8 km²) in connection with the scheme for the plantation of Ulster, the price being 400l.

Works