Robert Ernest Cheesman

Major Robert Ernest Cheesman CBE (1878, Ashford, Kent[1] – 13 February 1962) was an English military officer, explorer and ornithologist.

This article is about a 20th century army officer. For the subject of the portrait by Hans Holbein, see Robert Cheeseman.

Cheesman was Private Secretary to Sir Percy Cox during his tenure as High Commissioner in Iraq.

In 1923, during a journey into the Arabian Peninsula, Cheesman collected over 300 specimens from the Al-Ahsa Oasis, several of them previously unknown to science. These specimens are currently in the British Museum.

He is credited with discovering Cheesman's gerbil (Gerbillus cheesmani).

Cheesman was the first man to map the Arabian coast from the Gulf of Salwah to Uqair. In 1924 he fixed the position of Hofuf and identified the site of ancient Gerrha. He presented his findings to Ibn Sa'ud at his court in Hofuf. He was later given the Gill Memorial Award for this work by the Royal Geographical Society.

In 1936 he was awarded the Patron's Gold Medal of the society for his explorations and surveys of the Blue Nile and Lake Tana.[2]

Family

His sister Evelyn Cheesman was a noted entomologist and traveller.

Publications

'Report on a collection of mammals made by Col. J.E.B. Hotson in Shiraz, Persia', Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 573–581.

References
  1. http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=robert%20e&lastname=cheesman&eventyear=1878&eventyear_offset=0
  2. "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  • Travellers in Arabia, Eid Al Yahya, Stacey International (2006). ISBN 0-9552193-1-0 (9780955219313)
  • In Unknown Arabia, R. E. Cheesman Macmillan & Co. (1926)


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