Dudley Stamp

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Laurence Dudley Stamp (9 March 1898 – 8 August 1966) was a British geographer and professor known for his work on land use and planning.

He was born in Catford, London, the seventh child of a shopkeeper. He studied at King’s College London, earning a BSc with first-class honours in 1917 and a BA in 1921 with first-class marks, as well as a DSc in 1921. Stamp served in the British Army during World War I in France and Belgium.

After the war, he worked as a petroleum geologist in Burma and, in 1923, became professor of geology and geography at the University of Rangoon. He returned to Britain in 1926 to become a Reader in Economic Geography at the London School of Economics (LSE).

From 1936 to 1944 he directed the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain, a nationwide project that used volunteers to map how land was used. Publication of the survey’s maps and reports began in 1933 and continued until 1948, with work interrupted by World War II. The project helped shape Britain’s land-use planning and policy.

In 1945 Stamp became Professor of Economic Geography at LSE and, in 1948, took the chair of Social Geography. He held many leadership roles in geographical societies and advised the government on rural land use and land classification for planning.

Stamp retired in 1958. He died in Mexico City in 1966 while attending a conference and was buried in Bude, Cornwall.

Personal and other interests: his wife Elsa Rea died in 1962. He managed the family grocery business, Cave Austin and Company, and served as president of the Institute of Grocers (1960–63). He also enjoyed stamp collecting.

Awards and honors: Stamp was made a CBE in 1946 and was knighted in 1965. He received several medals, including the Royal Geographical Society’s Founder's Medal (1949) and the American Geographical Society’s Charles P. Daly Medal (1950). He received the Vega Medal (1954) and other honors, and earned honorary degrees of LLD from Edinburgh (1963) and DSc from Exeter (1965).

Legacy: The Land Utilisation Survey influenced British land-use policy. A second survey began in 1960 led by Alice Coleman, and in 1996 the Geographical Association organized another large survey with school pupils. The Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund supports geography research and travel, and Stamp’s papers are held at the University of Sussex.