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Timothy Pont (c.1565 - c.1614)

Timothy Pont was the son of the clergyman, Robert Pont (1524-1606), a notable public figure in Scottish ecclesiastical and legal affairs in the sixteenth century. The earliest surviving record relating to Timothy is his matriculation in 1580 from St. Leonard's College in the University of St. Andrews. He probably graduated in 1583. In 1584 Robert Pont appears to have endowed his son with a charter of church lands thereby providing him with the means and the financial independence to undertake his ambitious task - the mapping of Scotland. In 1600 or 1601 Timothy Pont was appointed the minister of the parish of Dunnet in Caithness, suggesting that he had completed his travels and research by these dates.

Pont devoted a great deal of the period between 1584 and 1596 travelling the length and breadth of Scotland drawing maps and sketches based upon his observations. What impelled him to undertake such an ambitious task is unclear, and apart from the maps themselves there is little evidence as to how Pont constructed his maps or where his travels took him.

Furthermore, except in one instance, the surviving Pont maps held in the National Library of Scotland do not include any dates: Pont Mss.34 is inscribed '.../Sept et/Octb:/1596 Descri/pta' at the head of the sheet.

Nevertheless the evidence is clear that not only did Pont travel extensively throughout the whole of Scotland, but also that he had completed his field work by 1596, or perhaps by the summer of 1595, or earlier - since by 1596 he was already making compilation maps based on his field notes. Therefore a conjectured maximum timespan for his fieldwork and the landscapes recorded on the manuscript maps, and their later derivatives in the work of the Gordons and Blaeu, would be 1583-1596.

Travel in Scotland in the 1580's and 1590's was not only arduous and difficult, but also dangerous. In period 1584 -1585 Scotland suffered one of the most serious epidemics of bubonic plague that had ever been experienced, with further outbreaks between 1586 and 1588. Scotland enjoyed a respite between 1589-1597 making travel more conducive. There is no corroborative evidence that Pont's work was carried out in this period however it is reasonable to assume that he may have been curtailed initially by these epidemics.

In 1601, he was appointed minister of the parish of Dunnet in Caithness. He remained here until the end of 1610. The last documentary record of Timothy Pont is a bond made at Edinburgh on 31 May 1611 recording the fact that George, Earl of Caithness, had borrowed 1,000 merks from Mr. Timothy Pont, minister of Dunnet in Caithness, and Isobell Blacader, his spouse.

The date and place of Timothy's death are unknown, but there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that it probably took place in 1614 when he was approximately 50 years of age. There is no record of his having had children or of having left a will.

Additional information regarding Timothy Pont is available at the National Library of Scotland's Timothy Pont website.

References:
Moir, D.G. The Early Maps of Scotland to 1850 (Vol.1). Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 1973. 3rd revised edition. (Chapter 5 "Timothy Pont and Blaeu's Atlas of Scotland" pp.37-53).
Stone, J.C. "The Preparation of the Blaeu Maps of Scotland: a further assessment". Scottish Geographical Magazine Vol. 86:1 1970, pp.16-24.
Stone, J.C. "Reverend Map-maker". Geographical Magazine 45:10 1973, pp.718-725.
Stone, J.C. The Pont Manuscript Maps of Scotland: sixteenth century origins of a Blaeu atlas. Tring, Herts: Map Collector Publications, 1989.
The Nation Survey'd: Timothy Pont's Maps of Scotland. Edited by Ian C. Cunningham. East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 2001.

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