Alexander Strange

Alexander Strange (27 April 1818 – 9 March 1876) was a British army officer in India and took part there in the Great Trigonometrical Survey. After retirement from the army he settled in Britain; he supervised the construction of scientific instruments used in surveying, and supported scientific research.

Early life Strange was born in Westminster, London on 27 April 1818, son of Sir Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange and his second wife Louisa, daughter of Sir William Burroughs, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Harrow School, and left aged 16 for India, on receiving a commission in the 7th Madras light cavalry (22 June 1834). He was promoted lieutenant on 10 May 1837.

Survey of India In India his natural bent for mechanical science and his inventive faculty soon declared themselves. After studying at the Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory at Simla, Strange was appointed in 1847 second assistant to the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. He was employed on the "Karachi longitudinal series", extending from the Sironj base in Central India to Karachi, and crossing the Thar Desert north of the Rann of Kutch. When the work was begun in 1850 Strange acted as first assistant to Captain Renny Tailyour, but after the first season Tailyour withdrew and Strange took chief command.

While at work in the Thar Desert, the absence of materials for building the necessary platforms, besides the need of providing a commissariat for two hundred men, taxed all the leader's resources. The triangulation of the section was completed on 22 April 1853. The series was long, consisting of 173 principal triangles, and covering an area of . After this work was ended, Strange joined the surveyor-general, Sir Andrew Scott Waugh, at his camp at Attock, and took part in measuring a verificatory base-line. He then bore the designation of "astronomical assistant". In 1855 he joined the surveyor-general's headquarters office, and in 1856 was placed in charge of the triangulation southwards from Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) to Madras (present-day Chennai), along the east coast. In 1859 he was promoted to the rank of major, and, in accordance with the regulations, retired from the survey. He received the special thanks of the government of India.

Strange died in Kensington, London on 9 March 1876, of "Indian fever" and a feeble heart.