Captain L.M. Boddam (full names Lionel Manning Boddam-Whetham) was a British army officer who served in Bethuen's Mounted Infantry during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and was wounded near Lindley in the Free State on 31 December 1900. Later in his career he served in World War I (1914-1918).

Boddam, with the assistance of G.A. Troye*, compiled Troye's new map of the Transvaal Colony (including Swaziland) which was published in Johannesburg by Crocott and Sherry from 1902 onwards. This topographic, cadastral and geological map had a scale of 1 inch = 2000 Cape roods (c. 1:297 500) and was printed in nine sheets. It was compiled from farm and geological surveys and other information by Boddam, while the geological information was revised and edited by Troye. This first complete geological map of the Transvaal included information on the diamond, gold and coal-mining districts and showed the Bushveld Complex correlated with the Cape System, both of Devonian age. It was probably partly based on Troye's 1892 map of the Transvaal.

List of sources:

Liebenberg, E.C. Die topografiese kartering van Suid-Afrika, 1879-1972; 'n histories-geografiese ontleding (pp. 176-177). MA-verhandeling in geografie, Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 1973.

Lives of the First World War: Lionel Manning Boddam-Whetham. Retrieved on 14 September 2023 from https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4715588

OldMaps.com, at http://www.oldmaps.com/maps/Southern-Africa Select Troyes-New-Map…

Standard encyclopaedia of southern Africa (SESA). Cape Town: NASOU, 1970-1976.

Stirling, J. The Colonials in South Africa, 1899-1902 (p. 66). Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1907.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2023-09-14 11:15:13