Ligar was born in Ceylon, where his father was stationed. Charles Ligar was educated at the Royal Military College from the age of 13. Reputedly commissioned in the Royal Engineers, Ligar resigned to join the British Ordnance Survey. Ligar married in 1839 Grace, daughter of Thomas Hanyngton, of Dungannon, Tyrone, and granddaughter of the Earl of Charlemont. Ligar was employed on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland until 1840.
Ligar was appointed Surveyor General of New Zealand by Lord John Russell and after being shipwrecked at the Cape of Good Hope arrived in Wellington, New Zealand on 8 December 1841. He was also land titles commissioner in the late 1840s. Ligar purchased a vast quantity of land from the Maoris for the European settlers. Following the Battle of Kororareka on 11 March 1845 and the passing of the Militia Bill in Auckland on 25 March, Ligar was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Auckland Battalion of Militia, second in command to the Governor, Robert FitzRoy, as Colonel. Construction of an ambitious fieldwork for two militia companies, called Fort Ligar, commenced on private land on the town’s western high ground as part of Auckland’s immediate defence. However, the arrival of 200 men of the 58th Regiment, and Fitzroy’s proclamation of 26 April commencing military operations in the north, brought an end to it only weeks after work began. During the war Ligar was engaged in producing a military map of the field in the Bay of Islands. Ligar resigned as Surveyor General in 1856, and went to Otago, unsuccessfully seeking to become the provincial surveyor. He discovered gold in the Mataura River while searching for grazing land.
Career in Australia
Ligar was appointed Surveyor General of Victoria in 1858, promising to reduce survey costs and open the land for settlers. Ligar initially proposed to replace all government surveyors with contractors, a move that was not popular. One great saving implemented at this time was by the implementation of photolithographic copying of plans, a process developed "in-house" by J. W. Osborne. By 1869, leading politicians were demanding his removal and Ligar resigned in September. His replacement as Surveyor General was Alexander John Skene. In 1869 Ligar married Marie, daughter of the late Captain Williams, of Auckland, N.Z.
Late life
Ligar retired initially to Europe, then took up ranching in Texas. He died there in February 1881 and was buried at Willow Springs, Parker County, Texas.
