Henry Riley (1797–1848) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, naturalist,

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 ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He is notable for being the co-discoverer and co-describer of the

archosaur Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian d ...

Palaeosaurus ''Palaeosaurus'' (or ''Paleosaurus'') is a genus of indeterminate archosaur known from two teeth found in the Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation and also either the Magnesian Conglomerate or the Avon Fissure Fill of Clifton, Bristol, England (orig ...

'' and the

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

Thecodontosaurus ''Thecodontosaurus'' ("socket-tooth lizard") is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period (Rhaetian age). Its remains are known mostly from Triassic "fissure fillings" in South England. ''The ...

''.

Biography

Henry Riley was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1797.The Geological Curator, 10 (8). pp. 493-498. He trained to become a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and he graduated during the mid-1820s. He was one of the men who founded the

Bristol Institution Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in the 1820s. Riley was involved in a body snatching scandal in the late 1820s - he was fined £6 ( inflated to £657.29 in 2019) in 1828. He was later revoked of this claim during the 1830s. His Geoffroyan lectures of 1831-33 were the first to be heard in

. He was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

at St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol in 1832 and the

Bristol Royal Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the Wes ...

between 1834-1847. He taught at

Bristol Medical School Bristol Medical School was originally a medical institution in England which existed from 1833 to 1893. It later became amalgamated with University College, Bristol the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol. History It was built in ...

until he retired in 1846. In the autumn of 1834, Riley and the

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Samuel Stutchbury Samuel Stutchbury (15 January 1798 – 12 February 1859) was an English naturalist and geologist. Alongside Henry Riley, Stutchbury was the co-discoverer of ''Thecodontosaurus'', which in 1836 was the fourth dinosaur genus to be named. He also p ...

, began to excavate "saurian remains" at the quarry of

Durdham Down Durdham Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England. With its neighbour Clifton Down to the southwest, it constitutes a area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking, jogging and team sports. Its exposed positio ...

, at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, presently a part of

, which is part of the

Magnesian Conglomerate The Magnesian Conglomerate is a geological formation in Clifton, Bristol in England (originally Avon), Gloucestershire and southern Wales, present in Tytherington, Durdham Down and Cromhall Quarry. It dates back to the Rhaetian stage of the Late ...

. In 1834 and 1835, they briefly reported on the finds. They provided their initial description in 1836, naming the new genera ''

'' and ''

''. Riley died in 1848 in

, aged 50 or 51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Henry 19th-century surgeons English surgeons English palaeontologists English naturalists 19th-century English scientists 1797 births 1848 deaths Scientists from Bristol 19th-century naturalists 19th-century English medical doctors