Frank Rutley (14 May 1842 – 16 May 1904), an English geologist and

petrographer Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The class ...

, was born in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

on 14 May 1842. He was educated partly in Bonn, but his interest in geology was kindled at the Royal School of Mines, where he studied from 1862 to 1864. He then joined the army, and served as lieutenant until 1867, when he became an Assistant Geologist on the Geological Survey. Working in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, Rutley began to make a special study of rocks and rock-forming minerals, and soon qualified as acting petrographer on the Survey. For several years be worked in this capacity at the museum in Jermyn Street; he described the

volcanic rocks Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a Rock (geology), rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of Volcano, volcanic origin. Like all rock types, ...

of East Somerset and the Bristol district in 1876, and wrote special memoirs on ''The Eruptive Rocks of

Brent Tor Brent Tor is a tor on the western edge of Dartmoor, approximately four miles (6.5 km) north of Tavistock, rising to 1100 ft (330m) above sea level. The Tor is surmounted by the Church of St Michael, the parish church of the village of ...

'' (1878) and on ''The Felsitic Lavas of England and Wales'' (1885). Rutley was the author of an exceedingly useful little book on ''

Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

'' (1874; 12th ed., 1900); also of ''The Study of Rocks'' (1879; 2nd ed., 1881), ''Rock-forming Minerals ''(1888), and ''Granites and Greenstones'' (1894); and of a number of petrographical papers, dealing with perlitic and spherulitic structures, with the rocks of the Malvern Hills, and other related topics. In 1882 he was appointed lecturer in mineralogy at the Royal College of Science, holding this post until ill-health compelled him to retire in 1898. He died in London on 16 May 1904.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutley, Frank 1842 births 1904 deaths People from Dover, Kent English geologists English mineralogists