JACKSON, HENRY (1830-1906) was born in England and educated at York College. At 15 he entered as a midshipman in the Indian Navy, in which he served for 17 years and attained the rank of lieutenant. He carried out some marine surveys, including that of the Cocos channel (while in command of the survey ship Krishna) and was attached to the commission which delimited the Turko-Persian boundary. On this duty he rode from the head of the Persian Gulf to Mount Ararat, where three frontiers met, thence to Trebizond and by sea to Constantinople, where he was engaged for three years on his plans. Jackson made many journeys in Persia and Armenia and travelled widely also in India. In 1862, while he was in New Zealand on furlough, the Indian Navy was abolished, and he entered the New Zealand Survey department. Three years later he was appointed chief surveyor in Wellington province. He was a first-class mathematician. In 1879 he retired from the service and was elected to Parliament for the Hutt (defeating Mason). Parliament being dissolved five weeks later, he was defeated by Mason.

Jackson was an accomplished linguist in French, Arabic, Persian and Hindi. He died on 29 Oct 1906.

N.Z. Surveyor, Dec 1906; N.Z. Times, 24, 27 Jun, 16 Dec 1879.

Reference: Volume 1, page 233

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