Whitehaven Office - Geological Survey of Great Britain
Whitehaven Office 1921–1927
The location of the office was Oddfellow's Buildings, Queen Street, Whitehaven later, St. Nicholas' Chambers, Church Street, Whitehaven.
The staff when the office opened were: Bernard Smith, M.A., District Geologist. Geologists: E. E. L. Dixon, A.R.C.Sc., B.Sc., Tom Eastwood, A.R.C.S, James Maden, M.Sc., F.M. Trotter B.Sc. (1921 Summary of Progress).
The 1926 group photograph shows the staff were: B. Smith, F.M. Trotter, J. Kidd, Dixon, T. Eastwood and S.E. Hollingworth.
Following a post World War I increase in staff numbers the two headquarters, in London and Edinburgh could not accommodate all the new staff so it was decided to open a series of new offices in certain coalfields each in charge of a District Geologist. Whitehaven was one of four offices opened, the others were Newcastle upon Tyne for Nothumberland and Durham, York for the Yorkshire Coalfield and Manchester for the Lancashire Coalfield.
Archives relating to the Whitehaven Office held at BGS
To be continued...
Other archives
Cumbria Archive Servicehas several geological maps with the Survey Whitehaven Office stamp on them.
Locations on Google streetview
Current locations and information (courtesy of Lesley Park, Cumbria Archive ServiceWhitehaven)
Oddfellows Buildings. The site was razed in the 1980s and rebuilt on the same footprint and with the new building similar to the original. The upper story of the old building was the Oddfellows Hall and was used for concerts etc.
St. Nicholas Chambers (the entrance, not shown, is in Church Street)