Alexander Henry Green
FRS (10 October 183219 August 1896) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
.
Life
Green was born at
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
on 10 October 1832, was the eldest son of Thomas Sheldon Green, head-master of the
Ashby Grammar School
Ashby School, formerly known as Ashby Grammar School, is a co-educational day secondary school and sixth form in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The school is situated in the centre of Ashby on two sites.
History
Ashby Grammar Schoo ...
at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
,
who had married Miss Derington of Hinckley in Leicestershire. After passing through his father's school he went to
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
, where he was admitted pensioner on 25 June 1851, and graduated as sixth wrangler in 1855.
Elected a fellow of his college in the same year, he proceeded M.A. in 1858, and resided until 1861.
He obtained an appointment on the
Geological Survey of Great Britain
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research.
The BGS hea ...
in 1861.
Here he worked at first on the Jurassic and cretaceous rocks of the midland counties, passing on from them to the carboniferous deposits of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
,
and the northern counties.
In 1874 he left the survey to become professor of geology in the
Yorkshire College
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
at Leeds,
and wrote a well-received manual of ''Physical Geology'' in 1876. He also undertook, in 1885, the duties of the chair of mathematics, and was for a time lecturer on geology at the school of military engineering,
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
.
In 1888 he was appointed to the professorship of geology at Oxford in succession to Sir
Joseph Prestwich
Sir Joseph Prestwich, FRS (12 March 1812 – 23 June 1896) was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes of ancient flint tools in the Somme valle ...
, and received from that university the honorary degree of M.A.
Green became a
Fellow of the Geological Society
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
in 1862, and received the
Murchison Medal
The Murchison Medal is an academic award established by Roderick Murchison, who died in 1871. First awarded in 1873, it is normally given to people who have made a significant contribution to geology by means of a substantial body of research and ...
in 1892. In the latter year he was elected honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College. In 1886, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
,
and in 1890 was president of the section of geology at the Leeds meeting of the
British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
. His strength in this science lay in field work and in certain departments of physical geology where his mathematical knowledge was especially helpful. As a teacher and writer he was remarkably clear. In addition to the duties of his chair he undertook much examining and consulting work ; perhaps, indeed, excessive labour shortened his life, for he was most indefatigable and thorough in whatever he took in hand.
In the summer of 1896, he had a paralytic stroke, and died on 19 August at his residence,
Boars Hill
Boars Hill is a hamlet southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundary between the civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton. Historically, part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.
History
The earliest ...
, near Oxford.
Family
He was twice married: in 1866 to Miss Mary Marsden, from the neighbourhood of Sheffield, who died in 1882; and in 1883 to Miss W. M. Armstrong, a native of Clifton, who survived him.
One son and two daughters were the issue of the first marriage, and a son and a daughter of the second, all of whom survived their father.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Alexander Henry
1832 births
1896 deaths
19th-century British geologists
People from Maidstone
Fellows of the Royal Society
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge