The Arrowsmith family were leading British cartographers from the late 18th to 19th centuries. Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823), largely self-taught, began publishing in London by 1777. He created major maps of the world (1790, 1794) and North America (1795), and established a respected business at Soho Square. His sons Aaron Arrowsmith II (1802–1854) and Samuel Arrowsmith (1805–1839) carried on his work. Aaron II, hydrographer to the King and a Royal Geographical Society member, produced parliamentary and educational maps. Samuel focused on Irish surveys and parliamentary commissions before his early death. Their cousin John Arrowsmith (1790–1873) became the most distinguished figure. As cartographer to the Royal Geographical Society, he published the London Atlas and created influential maps of Africa, Australia, and Canada. He was awarded the RGS Patron’s Medal in 1863 and worked from Soho Square until his death. Together, the Arrowsmiths produced many of the most authoritative and widely used maps of their era, greatly shaping 19th-century cartography.
