Kingsley Charles Dunham Sir

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Kingsley Charles Dunham

Kingsley Charles Dunham was born in Sturminster, Dorset on 2 January 1910. He went to the University of Durham in 1927 planning to read chemistry but transferred to geology. He was awarded his BSc in 1930 and his PhD in 1932. Dunham went to Harvard in 1932 and was awarded an MS in 1933 and SD in 1935. He Joined the Geological Survey of Great Britain in 1935 and by 1946 was Principal Geologist and Head of the Petrographic Department. In 1950 he was appointed Professor of Geology at the University of Durham. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1955 and was President of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 1958-59. In 1967 he became Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences, a post which he held until 1975. Dunham was Knighted in 1972. He died on 5 April 2001 at the age of 91. His son Ansel (1938-1998) was Professor of Geology at the University of Hull and later Leicester University.

Timeline

Date Details
1910 Born
1930 1st Class degree Durham University
1932 PhD Durham University
1933 MS Harvard University
1935 Joined Survey Geologist
1946 Principal Geologist and Head of Petrographic Department
1950 Professor of Geology Durham University
1955 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
1958–1959 President of the Yorkshire Geological Society
1967 Director of Institute of Geological Sciences
1972 Knighted
1975 Retired
5 April 2001 Died

Biographies and obituaries

Penny, L.F. The Sorby Medal (1963) - Professor K.C. Dunham, F.R.C. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society v. 34 (4) 1964.

Kingsley Dunham — Wikipedia article

Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (1910-2001) Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. 54: 63. doi:10.1144/pygs.54.1.63

Sabine P. Dunham, Sir Kingsley Charles Oxford Dictionary of National Biography https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/75702

Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham, 1910 - 2001 Obituaries. Geological Society of London

Publications

277 works in the BGS Library catalogue

BGS archives

Ref No Title Description
BCRA/202D/G/4 Geological surveys of Ecton Mines area. Reports, letter and survey from K C Dunham
BCRA/202D/H/20 Masson Cavern. Reports, 4 photos and large survey by K C Dunham, "Non-Ferrous Development Control, Ministry of...
BCRA/207Y/D/26 Mossdale Caverns. Survey of Mossdale in relation to veins and faults, from "H M Geol.Survey" and letter
BCRA/207Y/F/5 Grassington Moor mines. Tracing of Geol.Survey (from K C Dunham?).
BCRA/207Y/F/13 Grassington Moor mines. Reports with excellent surveys of mine shafts, 33 surveys, 9 photos
BCRA/208Y/C/5 The Stratigraphy, Structure & Mineralization of the Greenhow Hill Mining Area. Pasted-up copy of Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, C (3+4) 209-68
BCRA/208Y/D/1 Greenhow Hill Mining Area (W end), 1/5000. Geological map of area.
BCRA/208Y/F/24 Stump Cross Caverns. Traced plan with "Big Swallow Hole".
BCRA/208Y/G/30 Greenhow Hill Mining area, Geol.survey 1/5000 Large plan. Duplicate of 208Y-D 01
BMC/EN/7 Bewerley Mines, Yorkshire Correspondence and reports, K C Dunham, University of Durham
IGS/DR/Du Kingsley Charles Dunham Kingsley Charles Dunham was born in Sturminster, Dorset on 2 January 1910. He went to the...
IGS/MS Marine Surveys and Geothermal Energy Directorate A Continental Shelf Unit was first formed in 1967 in Leeds to study the southern North Sea and...
KCD Kingsley Charles Dunham Collection Kingsley Charles Dunham was born in Sturminster, Dorset on 2 January 1910. He went to the...
KCD/A/1/1/1 Certificate stating that Kingsley Dunham is a subject of biographical record in "Who's Who in...
KCD/A/1/2 Obituaries and tributes BGS Library has an Obituary File for Kingsley Dunham [Biographical information on Kingsley...
KCD/A/1/3/5 Note in "The Times" announcing that Dunham has been appointed Sub-Warden of the Durham Colleges... Notice is part of the section 'University News'
KCD/A/1/3/9 'Bishop attacks fluorspar plant plan' Cutting about the Bishop of Durham attacking plans for a fluorspar crushing plant in Upper...
KCD/A/1/3/10 Cutting announcing Dunham has been awarded a knighthood Paper not known but article is part of a section called "Between Ourselves" which features a...
KCD/A/1/3/16 'Crowning moment of King Dunham's career Three newspaper cuttings commemerating Dunham's 75th birthday. Papers not known
'Birthday tribute means students' reunion'
'Student's...
KCD/A/1/3/17 "Bones and poleen prove Durham's ancient past" From The Northern Echo. Relates to Neolithic remains discovered in the Durham Cathedral area by...
KCD/A/2/1/3 "Theoretical Organic Chemistry" by Julius B Cohen Prize awarded to Kingsley Dunham, Form VI in the school year 1926-27
KCD/A/2/1/4 "Physio-Chemical Calculations" by Joseph Knox Prize awarded to Kingsley Dunham, Form VI in the school year 1926-27
KCD/A/2/2/1 BSc certificate Certificate awarding Kingsley Dunham his BSc from the University of Durham
KCD/A/2/2/2 Phd certificate Certificate awarding Kingsley Dunham his Phd from the University of Durham
KCD/A/2/2/3 MSc Degree certificate Certificate awarding Kingsley Dunham his MSc degree from Harvard University
KCD/A/2/2/4 SD Degree certificate Certificate awarding Kingsley Dunham his SD (Scientiae Doctor) degree from Harvard University
KCD/A/2/2/5 Copy of "A Treatise on a Section of the Strata from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Cross Fell" by... Inscribed "Kingsley C Dunham, March 1932, Dunelm, Presented by Dr J A Smythe"
KCD/A/2/2/8 Certificate electing Kingsley Dunham a member of the Harvard Chapter of the Society of the Sigma XI
KCD/A/2/2/10 Special note re student meeting Special note from Dunham, who was senior student, stating that Dr Masson had called a meeting of...
KCD/A/2/2/12 Schedule of psalms, hyms and organ music, Hatfield College Chapel Dunham was the chapel organist
KCD/A/2/4 Geological Survey and Museum More records relating to Dunham's time at the Geological Survey and Museum/Institute of...
KCD/A/2/4/1 Correspondence relating to Dunham's application to join the Geological Survey
KCD/A/2/4/3 Letter of appreciation thanking Dunham for his work as Sectional Secretary and Excursion Director...
KCD/A/2/5 Home Guard During World War II Dunham was a Captain in the Home Guard in Durham and then Hertfordshire.
KCD/A/2/6/1 Dunham-Durham Reunion A meeting over four days at the University of Durham to commemerate Dunham's 75th birthday and...
KCD/A/2/6/1/3 Correspondence relating to the event Includes a short letter from Alistair Cooke ("Letters from America") who met Dunham while Cooke...
KCD/A/2/6/1/6 Dunham-Durham reunion, Second Circular
KCD/A/2/6/1/8 Congratulations to Dunham on his 75th birthday from mining companies in South Australia
KCD/A/2/6/1/11 List of participants in the Dunham-Durham Reunion With handwritten annotations and a note attached saying how many attended the dinner on 15 April.
KCD/A/2/6/1/16 Circular re the Kingsley Dunham Trust Appeal A copy sent to Dunham
KCD/A/2/6/1/17 Biographical note re Dunham
KCD/A/2/6/1/18 Summary of Kingsley Dunham's career By R McQuillin
KCD/A/2/6/1/19 Correspondence between Dunham and M J Jones re title of the Dunham-Durham Reunion publication
KCD/A/2/6/2 Geology Exam papers Includes drafts of exam papers by Kingsley Dunham
KCD/A/2/6/4 Details re appointment to the Chair of Geology after Dunham's resignation
KCD/A/2/6/6 Notes informing Dunham of meetings of the Board of Studies in Geology
KCD/A/2/6/9 Drafts of Geology exam papers Accompanied by a letter from Dunham to G H Mitchell at the Institute of Geological Sciences...
KCD/A/2/6/10 Compliments slip from Professor K C Dunham
KCD/A/2/7 Institute of Geological Sciences - Director More records relating to Dunham's time at the Geological Survey and Museum/Institute of...
KCD/A/2/7/2 Institute of Geological Sciences letter headed note paper with "From the Director Sir Kingsley...
KCD/A/2/7/3 Copy of letter from Dunham to R J H Beverton at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC...
KCD/A/2/7/4 Letter from R J H Beverton at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to Dunham re the...
KCD/A/2/7/5 Monitoring the Environment, note by Dunham For the next NERC council meeting
KCD/A/3/1/1 Copy of IGS Office Minute From Dunham informing IGS staff that he has been awarded his knighthood. Mentions that Frank...
KCD/A/3/1/2 Career profile of Kingsley Dunham Produced when Dunham was awarded his knighthood
KCD/A/3/1/3 "Birthday Honours 1972 K[nigh]t[hood] Letters Acknowledged Letters, cards and telegrams congratulating Dunham on his knighthood. Some have copies of Dunham...
KCD/A/3/1/4 Name badge: Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor "Sir Kingsley Dunham, Knight 1972"
KCD/A/3/1/5 Copy of letters from Dunham to the Editors of the "Kensington Post" and "Durham Advertiser" about...
KCD/A/3/1/6 List of Birthday Honours in "The Times" including Dunham's Knighthood
KCD/A/3/1/7 Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor: A Record of the existing Recipients of the Honour of... Includes Dunham
KCD/A/3/3/9 Degree Congregation, University of Kent at Canterbury Dunham was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Science degree
KCD/A/3/3/10 University of Cambridge: Speeches of the Orator at the presentation of the recipients of honorary... Dunham was made an honorary Doctor of Science
KCD/A/3/5 BGS Keyworth site naming Records relating to the naming of the BGS Keyworth site the "Kingsley Dunham Centre" can be found...
KCD/A/3/5/1 Specially bound copy, in slip case, of "Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield" Volume 1...
KCD/A/3/6/1 Certificate awarding Kingsley Dunham the Geological Society of London's Murchison Geological Fund
KCD/A/3/6/2 Men of Achievement Diploma Awarded to Dunham for distinguished achievement. He was the subject of commendation in "Men of...
KCD/A/4/1 Invitations A large number of invitations from a range of individuals and organisations for Kingsley Dunham...
KCD/A/4/2/1 Letter informing Dunham he is being invited to become a Fellow of the Institution of Geologists
KCD/A/4/2/2 Certificate electing Dunham a corresponding member of the mathematics and science class of the...
KCD/A/4/2/3 Certificate electing Dunham a Fellow of the Royal Society
KCD/A/4/2/4 Certificate electing Dunham a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America
KCD/A/4/2/5 Certificate making Dunham a Twenty-five Year Member of the Society of Economic Geologists Inc
KCD/A/4/2/6 Certificate electing Dunham a Member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
KCD/A/4/2/7 Certificate admitting Dunham as a Corporate Member of the Institution of Geologists
KCD/A/4/2/8 Certificate admitting Dunham as a Fellow of the Institution of Geologists
KCD/A/4/2/9 Certificate admitting Dunham as a Fellow of the Imperial College of Science and Technology
KCD/A/5/1 Postcard: Dunham to his wife From Algiers, Algeria
KCD/A/5/2 Postcard: Dunham to his wife From Marrakech, Morocco
KCD/A/5/3 Postcard: Dunham to his wife From Tinerhir, Morocco
KCD/A/5/4 Postcard: Dunham to his wife From Ksar es-Souk, Morocco
KCD/A/5/5 Postcard: Dunham to his wife From Casablanca, Morocco
KCD/A/5/6 Postcard: Dunham to his wife and son From Marseille, France
KCD/A/7/1 File relating to the Parish Church of Holy Trinity with All Saints, South Kensington Dunham was a member of the church council.
KCD/A/8/1 Inscribed copy of Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report This copy of the report has been inscribed "To Prof. Dunham. Best wishes from the crew of Apollo...
KCD/C/1/1 PhD Thesis Kingsley Dunham's PhD thesis "The Ore Deposits of the North Pennines: A Genetic Study" submitted...
KCD/C/1/2 SD Thesis Kingsley Dunham's SD (Scientiae Doctor) thesis "The Geology of the Organ Mountains. With an...
KCD/C/1/3 PhD Thesis Ansel Dunham's PhD thesis "The Petrology and Structure of the Northern Edge of the Tertiary...
KCD/C/1/4 PhD Thesis Ananda Kumar Chakrabarti's PhD thesis "Structure and Geochemistry of the Lead - Zinc - Pyrite...
KCD/C/2/6 Sedimentation Various notes, papers etc. Includes draft of part of "Lower Carboniferous Sedimentation in the...
KCD/C/2/10 Report on Preliminary Geiger-Müller Counter Survey, Urgeiriça Mine Area, Portugal By Dunham, A W Jolliffe and J Cameron. Marked "Secret"
KCD/D/1/1 Summary of Inaugral Lecture A brief summary of Dunham's inaugral lecture as Professor of Geology at the University of Durham...
KCD/D/1/6 "Free Enterprise and the University" Talk given by Dunham to the Durham University Society
KCD/D/3/1/1 Correspondence Correspondence to and from Dunham during the time he was George A Miller Visiting at the...
KCD/D/3/1/2 Economic Geology Includes lecture "The Search for Mineral Wealth", lecture notes and exam papers from Dunham's...
KCD/E/1 Bibliography A Bibliography of Kingsley Dunham's publications can be viewed by clicking on the URL button below
KCD/E/2 Published material This is by no means complete. The items have been roughly sorted by date and have not been...
KCD/E/3/5 Drafts, papers and correspondence relating to "Distributary channels and related sediments in the... This paper does not seem to have been published
KCD/E/3/8 "Die Entstehung von niedrig temperierten Blei - Zink und Eisenmineralisationen in Nordengland... Typescript in German produced in Vienna in 1944. This is presumambly a German translation of...
KCD/E/3/14 "Geology in a Real World" Published as "Geology in the Real World" in a collection of papers presented at the Dunham-Durham...
KCD/E/3/15 "Rocks, Minerals and Future Landscape" Later titled "The Geological Basis of Landscape" this was intended to be a chapter in a book but...
KCD/E/3/19 "Preliminary Note on the Stones of Durham" by Anthony Johnson and Kingsley Dunham Published in the Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and...
KCD/E/3/20 Corrected proof of "The paragenesis of sylvine, carnallite, polyhalite, and kieserite in Eskdale...
KCD/E/3/21 "The Barytes Deposits at Closehouse, Lunedale, Yorkshire" by J A Hill and K C Dunham Draft of paper published in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society Vol 36, Part 3...
KCD/F/1/1/15 BA Anniversary Meeting, York: Final Programme Celebrating 150 years of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Dunham was Vice...
KCD/F/2/2 Testimonial, 18th International Geological Congress, Excursion A-1, First party Expressing appreciation to Dunham for his labours in planning and conducting the excursion
KCD/F/4/2 Menus Large number of menus relating to numerous events attended and trips made by Dunham
KCD/G/1/2 Fourth Sir Julius Wernher Memorial Lecture: "The Future of Mineral Exploration" Copy of the Bulletin of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy which included the lecture...
KCD/G/1/3 Annual Dinner: Menu, seating plan and copy of Dunham's reply to the High Commissioner for Australia Dunham was the IMM President
KCD/G/2/2/1 'Visits to the Institute of the Earth Sciences in Russia' by K C Dunham Report by Dunham along with draft programme
KCD/G/2/5/1 Letter informing Dunham that he has been elected a member of Council
KCD/G/2/5/6 Report on the 150th Anniversary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences By Dunham who was the Society's Foreign Secretary
KCD/G/4/1 File relating to evidence given by Dunham to Sub Committee F (Energy, Transport, Technology and...
KCD/G/5 Council for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) Dunham was Chairman from 1973-1975
KCD/G/6/10 Letter to Dunham re Silverband Mines from Laporte Chemicals Ltd Writer's signature is unclear
KCD/G/11/1 File: Mineral Development Committee - Final Report, Draft 1 With annotations and corrections by Kingsley Dunham
KCD/G/11/2 Report of the Mineral Development Committee: Confidential Proof With notes and corrections by Dunham
KCD/G/13/29 File: Public Inquiry in to the proposed designation of North Pennine Area as being an Area of... Dunham objected on behalf of Weardale Minerals Ltd
KCD/G/15/47 Glebe Mines Ltd: Report re Hope Level Mine This report written by J D Willson [sic] and borrowed from Dunham by B L Hodge who returned it...
KCD/G/15/48 Glebe Mines Ltd: Letter re Longstone Edge Borehole No 4 B L Hodge to K C Dunham
KCD/G/15/49 Glebe Mines Ltd: Drilling details, summarized log and detailed log, Longstone Edge Borehole No 4 Sent to Dunham by B L Hodge
KCD/G/15/55 Glebe Mines Ltd: Letter re valuation of ore reserves P G L Vipan to K C Dunham
KCD/G/20/11 Handwritten report by K C Dunham on the Ilmenite-Rutile deposits near Tengani, Port Herald...
KCD/G/22 British Association for the Advancement of Science Dunham was a member and President from 1972-1973
KCD/G/24/1 United Kingdom Metal Mining Association Concerns a report by Dunham on the symposium on the future of non-ferrous mining in Great Britain
KCD/I/1/2/2 Potrait photographs of Kingsley Dunham
KCD/I/1/2/3 Photograph of field trip Location and date of field trip unknown. There is an inscription which reads "To Professor Dunham...
KCD/I/1/2/4 Photographs featuring Dunham Several photographs showing Dunham with others and on his own
KCD/I/1/2/6 Photographs Dunham-Durham Reunion A meeting over four days at the University of Durham to commemerate Dunham's 75th birthday and...
KCD/I/1/2/8 Photograph of the Wairakei Geothermal Area, New Mexico Photograph taken by Dunham
KCD/I/2/1 Framed copy of geological map of New Mexico Geology by N H Darton (US Geological Survey), 1927
Revised by K C Dunham, 1934
KCD/I/3/1 Pieces of ecclesiastical masonary 1) "Part of the disintegrated pinnacle north of centre, Nevill Screen (This was the top pinnacle...
KCD/I/3/2 Document Case: Royal Society Tercentenary Inscribed "Royal Society Tercentenary Celebrations, London 1960" and "K C Dunham"
KCD/I/3/3 Piece of Weardale Granite (Foliated Muscovite Granite), Rookhope Boring, Northern Pennines In a plastic bag attached to a card explaining that the existence of this subsurface granite was...
KCD/I/3/4 Copy of a pencil sketch of Kingsley Dunham

Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham 1910-2001

Extract with permission of the author from: Cooper A.H. Yorkshire geology as seen through the eyes of notable British Geological Survey geologists 1862-200046-67 in Myerscough, R and Wallace, V. Famous Geologists of Yorkshire. York. ISBN 978-1-906604-58-5. PDF on NORA

The son of an estate manager, Kingsley Dunham gained his education at Durham Johnston School, moving on to Hatfield College at Durham University. A talented musician he gained an organ scholarship and played the organ at his college. He had intended to read Chemistry, but came under the spell of Professor Arthur Holmes a renowned geologist and changed to a degree in geology. On graduation he continued with Arthur Holmes supervising his PhD (gained in 1932) on the distribution of vein minerals in the Northern Pennine Orefield, a topic he studied for the rest of his life. After a brief spell at Harvard University and the New Mexico Bureau of Mines he returned to England in 1934 to join the Geological Survey.

He worked initially around Chepstow, then in south Cumbria investigating the hematite ores of that area. During the Second World War, he was engaged on detailed investigations of the mineral resources of his former field area, the Northern Pennines (with the help of a Canadian Army drilling rig and crew). During the war he identified a forthcoming shortage of the mineral fluorspar, essential for iron ore smelting and helped look for further resources to support the war effort. While based in London he was also a Captain in the Home Guard in charge of E company, 4th Battalion. His wartime work in northern England culminated in the publication of The Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield, Volume 1, 1948 an encyclopaedic account of the origin and development of the mineral field between the Tyne Valley and Stainmore. He was awarded an Honorary D.Sc. by Durham University in 1946 and became Chief Petrographer of the Survey in 1948.

When offered the post of Professor in 1950, he could not resist a move back to his former department at Durham. During this time he expanded the department and worked with industry on both the North Pennines and the Permian evaporites of north-east England. In 1967 he accepted the post as Director of the Geological Survey (then called the Institute of Geological Sciences after being attached to NERC). His time as Director saw great expansion of the Geological Survey with staff numbers around 1200. He was a prolific author of more than 100 papers and was presented with numerous scientific accolades with the civil accolade of a knighthood in 1972. He retired in 1975, but never gave up his studies of the Pennines and in 1985, with A A Wilson, published the Geology of the North Pennine Orefield Volume. 2 covering the area north of Settle to Stainmore; he also revised Volume 1, which was republished in 1990. His son Ansell Dunham born in 1938 was also a geologist, the Professor of Industrial Mineralogy at Hull University. Sadly both his wife and son died in 1998 followed by Sir Kingsley a few years later in 2001.

Kingsley Charles Dunham as Director of the Survey

Extract from: From: Wilson, H.E. Down to earth - one hundred and fifty years of the British Geological Survey. Edinburgh:Scottish Academic Press, 1985. [In all directions: developments under Sir Henry's fourteen successors In all directions: developments under Sir Henry's fourteen successors]

He was succeeded by Kingsley Charles Dunham who had left the Survey in 1950 for the Chair of Geology in Durham. Dunham was a very extrovert character who had been much involved in geological 'politics' over the previous decade as a member of the Geological Survey Board, President of the Geological Society, a member of the Council for Scientific Policy, and a council member of the Royal Society. He became Director at the time when the 'white heat of technical innovation', as propounded by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was at its peak and, for a few years, Government funding of scientific projects allowed a dramatic increase in scientific work, including geological research.

The assimilation of the home and overseas surveys continued, a number of outside groups, particularly in geophysics, were incorporated, and the effects of commissioned research began to be significant in the early years of the Dunham era.

In 1968 Steve Buchan was made Deputy Director and the new Divisional organisation of IGS had four field divisions — two in England and Wales, one in Scotland and Northern Ireland and one Overseas — and three specialist divisions — Geochemical, Geophysical and Mineral Resources, — plus Museum, Hydrogeological, Palaentological and Petrographical Departments and, a legacy from Overseas Geological Surveys, an Editorial and Publications Unit. At this stage Overseas Division and Mineral Resources Division were headed by Senior Principal Scientific Officers, the old District Geologist grade having been incorporated into the Scientific Civil Service grading.

Since the end of DSIR the Geological Survey Board had disappeared but for five years there was an outside 'buffer' between the Director and NERC in the form of a Geology and Geophysics Advisory Committee, until it was abolished in 1970. In 1971 Dunham established a Director's Advisory Committee of representatives from Industry, the Universities and Government Departments, to monitor IGS programmes. This group of distinguished and influential people was a useful forum for discussion but had no teeth, and no influence with NERC, who were,increasingly intolerant of outside advice.

In 1969 the Head of Overseas Division was raised to Assistant Director rank and in 1972 a seventh AD post was approved as Head of a new Special Services Division, which included the four separate departments mentioned above, while the Head of Mineral Resources Division became an Assistant Director in 1973, when a new Mineral Statistics and Economics Unit was formed to join the existing Mineral Intelligence and Mineral Assessment Units.

In 1974 the two Continental Shelf Units were transferred from their Field Divisions to the Geophysics Division, now retitled Continental Shelf and Geophysics, but this only lasted until 1976 when the Shelf Units and Marine Geophysics were transferred to a new Continental Shelf Division. At the same time the Special Services Division was broken up. Hydrogeology and the remaining geophysical units became Geophysics and Hydrogeology Division, Petrology was transferred to the Geochemistry and Petrography Division, and the Museum joined Mineral Resources in a retitled Minerals Strategy and Museum Division.

The euphoria of the early years of Dunham's directorate began to cool with the implementation of the Rothschild 'reforms' and by 1973 he was spelling out, in his Annual Report, the dangers of the new system of commissioned research as applied to IGS:

The transfer of additional programmes could only bring under their (outside Departmental sponsors) control parts of the basic or "strategic" work of the Institute, a possibility not really contemplated in the White Paper.

In his final report, for 1975, Dunham said: 'it is important that this process should not be carried so far that the whole health of the organisation is threatened, as it would be if the whole programme had to be devoted to short term ad hoc investigations' — and, the first published comment on the new dispensation, the complexities of financing call for an excessive emphasis upon financial rather than technical control, and upon administrative direction rather than on scientific leadership'.

Dunham was a good Director whose initial enthusiasm for a much more comprehensive organisation was quenched by the realisation that the commercial outlook forced upon his extended Survey was going to be painful, if not traumatic.

Dunham was succeeded in 1976 by Austin Woodland who had been Deputy Director since 1971. Woodland was a traditional field geologist who had spent many of his early years mapping the South Wales Coalfield and whose evidence was important in the enquiry into the Aberfan disaster in the sixties. He was not wholly sympathetic with some of the directions in which the Institute had expanded over the previous decade and left NERC headquarters in no doubt about his views.