This is a list of the presidents of the

Geological Society of London 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 ...

List of presidents

* 1807–1813 George Bellas Greenough * 1813–1815

Henry Grey Bennet The Honourable Henry Grey Bennet FRS (2 December 1777 – 29 May 1836) was a British politician. Life Bennet was the second of three sons and fourth of eight children of Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville, and his wife, Emma, Lady Tank ...

* 1815–1816

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

* 1816–1818 John MacCulloch * 1818–1820 George Bellas Greenough * 1820–1822 Spencer Compton, Earl Compton * 1822–1824 William Babington * 1824–1826

William Buckland William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...

* 1826–1827 John Bostock * 1827–1829

William Henry Fitton William Henry Fitton (24 January 178013 May 1861) was an Irish physician and amateur geologist. Biography Fitton was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College in that city. He gained the senior scholarship in 1798, and graduated in the fol ...

* 1829–1831 Adam Sedgwick * 1831–1833 Roderick Impey Murchison * 1833–1835 George Bellas Greenough * 1835–1837 Charles Lyell * 1837–1839

William Whewell William Whewell ( ; 24 May 17946 March 1866) was an English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. In his time as a student there, he achieved ...

* 1839–1841

* 1841–1843 Roderick Impey Murchison * 1843–1845

Henry Warburton Henry Warburton (12 November 1784 – 16 September 1858) was an English merchant and politician, and also an enthusiastic amateur scientist. Elected as Member of Parliament for Bridport, Dorset, in the 1826 general election, he held the seat f ...

* 1845–1847

Leonard Horner Leonard Horner FRSE FRS FGS (17 January 1785 – 5 March 1864) was a Scottish merchant, geologist and educational reformer. He was the younger brother of Francis Horner. Horner was a founder of the School of Arts of Edinburgh, now Heriot-Wa ...

* 1847–1849 Henry Thomas De la Beche * 1849–1851 Charles Lyell * 1851–1853

William Hopkins William Hopkins FRS (2 February 179313 October 1866) was an English mathematician and geologist. He is famous as a private tutor of aspiring undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, earning him the ''sobriquet'' the " senior-wrangler maker." ...

* 1853–1854

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...

* 1854–1856 William Hamilton * 1856–1856 Daniel Sharpe * 1856–1858 Joseph Ellison Portlock * 1858–1860 John Phillips * 1860–1862

* 1862–1864

Andrew Crombie Ramsay Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay (sometimes spelt Ramsey) (31 January 18149 December 1891) was a Scottish geologist. Biography Ramsay was born at Glasgow. He was for a time actually engaged in business, but from spending his holidays in Arran he beca ...

* 1864–1866 William Hamilton * 1866–1868 Warington Wilkinson Smyth * 1868–1870

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...

* 1870–1872

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 vall ...

* 1872–1874

George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847), was a Scottish polymath and Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his te ...

* 1874–1876 John Evans * 1876–1878 Peter Martin Duncan * 1878–1880

Henry Clifton Sorby Henry Clifton Sorby (10 May 1826 – 9 March 1908) was an English microscopist and geologist. His major contribution was the development of techniques for studying iron and steel with microscopes. This paved the way for the mass production of st ...

* 1880–1882

Robert Etheridge Robert Etheridge FRS FRSE FGS (3 December 1819 – 18 December 1903) was an English geologist and palaeontologist. Biography Etheridge was born at Ross-on-Wye, in Herefordshire, the son of Thomas Etheridge and his wife Hannah Pardoe. After an ...

* 1882–1884

John Whitaker Hulke John Whitaker Hulke FRCS FRS FGS (6 November 1830 – 19 February 1895) was a British surgeon, geologist and fossil collector. He was the son of a physician in Deal, who became a Huxleyite despite being deeply religious. Hulke became Huxley's ...

* 1884–1886

Thomas George Bonney Thomas George Bonney (27 July 1833 – 10 December 1923) was an English geologist, president of the Geological Society of London. Career Bonney was born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Bonney, headma ...

* 1886–1888 John Wesley Judd * 1888–1890

William Thomas Blanford William Thomas Blanford (7 October 183223 June 1905) was an English geologist and naturalist. He is best remembered as the editor of a major series on '' The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma''. Biography Blanford was born ...

* 1890–1892

Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...

* 1892–1894

Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston FRS (né Simpson) (2 June 1828 – 29 January 1909) was an English geologist, ornithologist and paleontologist. Life Hudleston was born at York on 2 June 1828. He was the eldest son of John Simpson of Knaresborough ( ...

* 1894–1896 Henry Woodward * 1896–1898 Henry Hicks * 1898–1900 William Whitaker * 1900–1902

Jethro Justinian Harris Teall Sir Jethro Justinian Harris Teall FRS H FRSE PGS (5 January 1849 – 2 July 1924) was a British geologist and petrographist. Teallite is named after him. Life He was born to Jethro Teall of Sandwich, Kent (1816-1848) and his wife, Mary Hatha ...

* 1902–1904

Charles Lapworth Charles Lapworth FRS FGS (20 September 1842 – 13 March 1920) was a headteacher and an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordovician period. Biography Charles Lapworth was born at Faring ...

* 1904–1906

John Edward Marr John Edward Marr FGS FRS (14 June 1857 – 1 October 1933) was a British geologist. After studying at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he matriculated to St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with First Class Honours in 1878. Following under ...

* 1906–1908

* 1908–1910

William Johnson Sollas Prof William Johnson Sollas PGS FRS FRSE LLD (30 May 1849 – 20 October 1936) was a British geologist and anthropologist. After studying at the City of London School, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Mines he matriculat ...

* 1910–1912 William Whitehead Watts * 1912–1914

Aubrey Strahan Sir Aubrey Strahan KBE FRS (20 April 1852 – 4 March 1928) was a British geologist. He was elected FRS in 1903. He was Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain from 1914–1920. He won the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of ...

* 1914–1916

Arthur Smith Woodward Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, FRS (23 May 1864 – 2 September 1944) was an English palaeontologist, known as a world expert in fossil fish. He also described the Piltdown Man fossils, which were later determined to be fraudulent. He is not relate ...

* 1916–1918

Alfred Harker Alfred Harker FRS (19 February 1859 – 28 July 1939) was an English geologist who specialised in petrology and interpretive petrography. He was Lecturer in Petrology at the University of Cambridge for many years, and carried out field mapping ...

* 1918–1920 George William Lamplugh * 1920–1922 Richard Dixon Oldham * 1922–1924 Albert Seward * 1924–1926 John William Evans * 1926–1928 Francis Arthur Bather * 1928–1930

John Walter Gregory John Walter Gregory, , (27 January 1864 – 2 June 1932) was a British geologist and explorer, known principally for his work on glacial geology and on the geography and geology of Australia and East Africa. The Gregory Rift in the Great Rift ...

* 1930–1932 Edmund Johnston Garwood * 1932–1934

Thomas Henry Holland Sir Thomas Henry Holland (22 November 1868 – 15 May 1947) was a British geologist who worked in India with the Geological Survey of India, serving as its director from 1903 to 1910. He later worked as an educational administrator at Edi ...

* 1934–1936 John Frederick Norman Green * 1936–1938 Owen Thomas Jones * 1938–1940 Henry Hurd Swinnerton * 1940–1941 Percy George Hamnall Boswell * 1941–1943

Herbert Leader Hawkins Herbert Leader Hawkins FRS (1887 – 29 December 1968) was a British geologist. Awarded the Lyell Medal in 1940. In the First World War he was a conscientious objector, exempted from military service conditional upon continuing his then work. ...

* 1943–1945

William George Fearnsides William George Fearnsides FRS (1879–1968) was a British geologist at the University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by ...

* 1945–1947 Arthur Elijah Trueman * 1947–1949

Herbert Harold Read Herbert Harold Read FRS, FRSE, FGS, (17 December 1889, in Whitstable – 29 March 1970) was a British geologist and Professor of Geology at Imperial College. From 1947-1948 he was president of the Geological Society. Life He was born at W ...

* 1949–1950

Cecil Edgar Tilley Cecil Edgar Tilley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HonFRSE Geological Society, PGS (14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973) was an Australian-UK, British petrologist and geologist. Life He was born in Unley, Adelaide, the youngest child of John Thoma ...

* 1950–1951 Owen Thomas Jones * 1951–1953 George Martin Lees * 1953–1955

William Bernard Robinson King William Bernard Robinson King (12 November 1889 – 23 January 1963) was a British geologist. Education King was educated at the University of Cambridge graduating a first-class Honours degree in geology in 1912 Career He joined the British Ge ...

* 1955–1956 Walter Campbell Smith * 1956–1958

Leonard Hawkes Leonard Hawkes FRS (6 August 1891 – 29 October 1981) was a British geologist. Awarded the Murchison Medal in 1946 and the Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological So ...

* 1958–1960 Cyril James Stubblefield * 1960–1962 Sydney Ewart Hollingworth * 1962–1964

Oliver Meredith Boone Bulman Oliver Meredith Boone Bulman (20 May 1902 – 18 February 1974) was a British palaeontologist. He was Woodwardian Professor of Geology at the University of Cambridge. Early life Oliver Bulman was born in Chelsea to artist Henry Herbert Bul ...

* 1964–1966 Frederick William Shotton * 1966–1968

Kingsley Charles Dunham Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (2 January 1910 – 5 April 2001) was one of the leading British geologists and mineralogists of the 20th century. He was a Professor of Geology at the University of Durham from 1950–71. He was later Professor Emeri ...

* 1968–1970 Neville George * 1970–1972

William Alexander Deer William Alexander (Alex) Deer FRS (26 October 1910 – 8 February 2009) was a distinguished British geologist, petrologist and mineralogist. Biography Alex Deer was born in Rusholme, Manchester, the son of William Deer. He attended Manchester Ce ...

* 1972–1974

Thomas Stanley Westoll Prof Thomas Stanley Westoll, FRS FRSE, FGS FLS LLD (3 July 1912 – 19 September 1995) was a British geologist, and the long-time head of the Department of Geology at Newcastle University. Education and career He was born in West Hartlepool t ...

* 1974–1976 Percy Edward Kent * 1976–1978 Wallace Spencer Pitcher * 1978–1980

Percival Allen Percival Allen FRS (15 March 1917 – 3 April 2008) was a British geologist. Served as Professor and Head of Department at Reading from 1952 and became an Emeritus Professor on his retirement in 1982. He was awarded an honorary DSc in 1992. ...

* 1980–1982

Edward Howel Francis Edward Howel Francis, BSc, DSc, FRSE, FGS (31 May 1924 – 22 May 2014) was a British geologist and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Leeds. He was President of the Geological Society of London from 1980 to 1982. ...

* 1982–1984 Janet Vida Watson * 1984–1986 Charles Hepworth Holland * 1986–1988 Bernard Elgey Leake * 1988–1990 Derek John Blundell * 1990–1992 Anthony Leonard Harris * 1992–1994

Charles David Curtis Charles David Curtis (born 1939) is a British geologist who has served as president of the Geological Society of London from 1992 to 1994. He is an emeritus professor of geochemistry at the University of Manchester. Curtis read chemistry and geoch ...

* 1994–1996 (Robert) Stephen (John) Sparks * 1996–1998 Richard Hardman * 1998–2000 Robin Cocks * 2000–2002

Ronald Oxburgh, Baron Oxburgh Ernest Ronald Oxburgh, Baron Oxburgh, (born 2 November 1934) is an English geologist, geophysicist and politician. Lord Oxburgh is well known for his work as a public advocate in both academia and the business world in addressing the need to r ...

* 2002–2004 Mark Moody-Stuart * 2004–2006 Peter Styles * 2006–2008

Richard Fortey Richard Alan Fortey FRS FRSL (born 15 February 1946 in London) is a British palaeontologist, natural historian, writer and television presenter, who served as president of the Geological Society of London for its bicentennial year of 2007. Ea ...

* 2008–2010 Lynne Frostick * 2010–2012 (Julian Patrick) Bryan Lovell * 2012–2014 David Thomas Shilston * 2014–2016 David Andrew Charles Manning * 2016–2018 Malcolm Brown * 2018–2020 Nick Rogers * 2020–2022 Michael Daly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:President Of The Geological Society Of London British geologists Lists of scientists by membership * London-related lists

List of presidents

See also

References