John Phillips M.A., D.C.L. (Oxon), LL.D.(Camb. And Dublin), F.R.S., etc.
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Images
Timeline
Date | Details |
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1800 | Born December 25th at Marden, Wiltshire of Welsh stock. Orphaned at 7 or 8 and subsequently brought up by his uncle, William Smith. After leaving school lived for a year with Rev. B. Richardson of Farley Castle near Bath, a keen naturalist. Then lived with W. Smith, accompanied him on tours, helped with geological maps etc. |
1824 | Smith went to York to lecture to Yorkshire Philosophical Society and Phillips went with him, the following year was appointed Museum Keeper. |
1826 | Paper to Philosophical Society “On the direction of the Diluvial currents of Yorkshire”. |
1829 | York Museum collections moved to new building in grounds of St. Mary’s Abbey. Phillips worked here till 1853. Appointed Secretary to Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Made extensive study of geology of Yorkshire. Published “Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire”; “Rivers, mountains, and seacoasts of Yorkshire”. |
1831 | Leading scientists met in Yorkshire Museum and established the British Association. Phillips was appointed Secretary (1831-63). |
1834 | Elected F.R.S. Appointed to Chair of Geology at King’s College, London (held for 6 years). Work in Yorkshire continued. |
1840 | Resigned charge of York Museum but continued Honorary Curator till1844. |
1841 | “Figures and descriptions of Palaeozoic fossils of Cornwall Devon and West Somerset” = result of work undertaken for Geological Survey. |
1842 | Began survey of Malvern Hills (Memoir published 1849, (Vol II part I). |
1844 | Joined Survey. |
1845 | Appointed Professor of Geology in Dublin University (Trinity College). |
1845 | Wollaston Medal. |
1849 | With J. Kenyon Blackwell appointed Commissioners to enquire into and report on ventilation in coal mines. |
1853 | Succeeded Strickland as Deputy Reader in Geology at Oxford. |
1856 | Appointed to Chair of Geology at Oxford (on death of Buckland). |
1859 | President of the Geological Society. |
1860 | Rede Lecture to Cambridge University, subsequently expanded into “Life on the Earth, its Origin and Succession”. |
1856-1865 | Various astronomical papers etc. communicated to the Royal Society. |
1865 | President of the British Association. |
1873 | President of the Geological Section of the British Association. |
1874 | Died April 24th. |
Biographies and obituaries
History of Geological Society (1907) p. 113
Geology of Yorkshire, Kendall and Wroot (1924) p. 45
Geological Magazine (1870) p. 301
John Phillips (geologist) — Wikipedia article
Rod Leonard, Rod. John Phillips FRS (1800-1874) Yorkshire scientists and innovators. Yorkshire Philosophical Society
John Phillips (1800-1874) Geologist — York Civic Trust
Morgan, Nina. Growing up a geologist—John Phillips and William Smith. Geology Today 11 October 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12284
Morgan, Nina. The packing case that changed the world Geoscientist Online
John Phillips and the Geology of Yorkshire. Nature 130, 874 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130874b0
Phillips, John (1800-1874) (DNB00) — Dictionay of National Biography — Wikisource
John Phillips — Strange Science article
Publications
Works listed in the BGS Library catalogue
Phillips, J. Seeley, H.G. Etheridge, R. 1885. Manual of geology : theoretical and practical. Part 2, stratigraphical geology and palaeontology. - London: Charles Griffin and Company
Phillips, J. Seeley, H.G. Etheridge, R. 1885. Manual of geology: theoretical and practical. Part 1, physical geology and palaeontology. - London: Charles Griffin and Company
BGS archives
Ref No | Title | Description |
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GSM/DC/A/C/3/200 | J. Phillips: Letter about Phillips' appointment. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/3/250 | J. Phillips: Letter to De la Beche reporting progress. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/3/356 | J. Phillips: Letter to De la Beche reporting progress. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/4/155 | J Phillips: Letter to H T De la Beche resigning his post. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/11/17 | J Phillips: Mentioned in letter of De la Beche. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/11/134,146,162,185 | J Phillips: Letters to H T De la Beche reporting progress. | |
GSM/DC/A/C/11/143 | J Phillips: Mentioned in letter of De la Beche. | |
GSM/GL/Sl | J.W.Salter | John William Salter was appointed as Assistant to Edward Forbes in 1846 and became Palaeontologist in 1854 when Forbes died. He was also responsible for palaeontological work in Ireland until 1857 when W.H.Baily transferred to the Irish survey and took over.Salter helped in the preparation of publications like the Decades and catalogues for the Museum. He described the fossils of North Wales which accompanied Ramsay's memoir of 1866 and worked with Phillips on the palaeontology of the Malvern Hills. He remained in Jermyn St until 1863 when he left to work at Cambridge. |
GSM/MG/P/4/69 | Letter to F.W. Rudler. | |
IGS/GL/Qu/2/84 | Letter: J Phillips to Mrs M E Quennell |
Other archives
John Phillips (1800-1874): papers and drawings in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History The National Archives
John Phillips (quote from Woodward, H.B. History of the Geological Society of London, 1907)
Among the men whom De la Beche attracted to his staff, mention may here be made of John Phillips (1800- 74), nephew of William Smith, who prepared for the Geological Survey 'Figures and Descriptions of the Palaeozoic Fossils of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset' (1841), and an elaborate memoir on ' The Malvern Hills, compared with the Palaeozoic Districts of Abberley, Woolhope, May Hill, Tortworth, and Usk ' (1848). While these works were in hand Phillips was professor of Geology successively in King's College, London, and in Trinity College, Dublin. In 1853 he succeeded Strickland as Deputy Reader in Geology at Oxford, and three years later, on the death of Buckland, he was appointed to the professorship. ' Eminently judicious, ever courteous, genial, and conciliatory, he gained the affection of all with whom he was brought in contact ; ' while as a lecturer, ' his qualifications were always of the highest order ; ' and 1 his knowledge, most various and profound,' was communicated in a lucid and pleasant style.