Obituary Notices. 
v 
Major-General Gosset. By John Winzer, F.R.S.E. 
(Read June 19, 1899.) 
The Royal Society of Edinburgh has lost a distinguished Fellow 
in the death of Major-General Gosset, R.E., F.R.S.E. ; he died at 
70 Edith Road, West Kensington, on the 19th May 1899, aged 
77. 
Major-General Gosset had a varied and distinguished career. 
At the Military Academy he was an able and industrious student, 
so got nominated to the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1840. In 
1842 he was appointed to the Ordnance Survey, and on this great 
national work he performed many very responsible and important 
duties. He was employed as Trigonometrical and Astronomical 
Observer, and assisted, in 1844, at the great longitude operations 
at Yalentia, in Ireland; and the Astronomer-Royal, Professor 
Airey, wrote of him : “ Lieutenant Gosset is a most zealous and 
able officer, and how fortunate for the satisfactory termination of 
the work was the choice of the Yalentia Observer.” From 
observing duties Lieutenant Gosset was placed in command of a 
Detail Survey Division for the surveying of counties in Scotland, 
and made surveys of Wigtown and Kirkcudbright, and commenced 
the surveying of the City and County of Edinburgh, but before 
finishing the latter work he was appointed Executive Officer at 
the Ordnance Map Office, Southampton, a post he could not have 
filled without possessing varied qualifications and marked ability. 
It was whilst superintending the surveying of the City of Edin- 
burgh, in 1850, that Captain Gosset was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1855 Captain Gosset was selected 
to fill the important post of Survey-General in the Island of 
Ceylon, a position in which he displayed great administrative 
ability, and rendered valuable services to the island. He found 
the Survey Department weak in numerical strength and inefficient, 
and in three years, under Sir Henry Ward’s approval, he reorgan- 
ised and added over twenty able assistants, most of whom were 
