Frederick Richard Cowper Reed (27 June 1860 – 8 February 1946) was an English paleontologist and geologist who studied invertebrate fossils mainly in Britain but also travelled and wrote a book on the geology of the British Empire.
Reed was born in London and studied at Harrow before going to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, where he passed with first class in the Natural Tripos part I (1891) and part 2 (1892). He won the Harkness scholarship for geology and paleontology as well as the Sedgwick Prize in 1901 for his work on the geological history of the
East Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to th ...
rivers. He received an Sc.D. in 1914. He worked at the
Woodwardian Museum
The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, is the geology museum of the University of Cambridge. It is part of the Department of Earth Sciences and is located on the university's Downing Site in Downing Street, central Cambridge, England. The Sedgw ...
from 1892 initially as an assistant.
Reed spent most of the interwar period abroad, living in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
from 1922 to 1933 where he helped to examine and identify remains of the
Massospondylus and
Coelophysis. From 1933 to early 1935 he lived in the
Tanganyika Territory where he worked on the remains of the
Kentrosaurus before returning home to
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
that July.
Reed's work was on British paleontology with interests in Brachiopods and Trilobites. He also contributed to the ''Paleontologica India'' between 1906 and 1944. In 1921 he published a ''Geology of the British Empire'' based on travels through Africa, India and Canada.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper Reed, F. R.
English palaeontologists
English geologists