Robert Etheridge FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FGS (3 December 1819 – 18 December 1903) 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 ...

and

palaeontologist 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 ...

Biography

Etheridge was born at

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye and ...

, in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, the son of Thomas Etheridge and his wife Hannah Pardoe. After an ordinary school education in his native town, he obtained employment in a business house 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 ...

. There he devoted his spare time to natural history pursuits. At the Bristol Philosophical Institution for lectures, he encountered William Sanders and

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 ...

, and in 1850 was appointed curator of its museum. He also became lecturer on

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

in the Bristol medical school. In 1857, through the influence of Sir Roderick I. Murchison, he was appointed to a post in the

Museum of Practical Geology The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology), started in 1835 as one of the oldest single science museums in the world and now part of the Natural History Museum in London. It transfe ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and eventually became palaeontologist to the

Geological Survey A geological survey is the systematic investigation of the geology beneath a given piece of ground for the purpose of creating a geological map or model. Geological surveying employs techniques from the traditional walk-over survey, studying outc ...

. In 1865 he assisted Prof. Huxley in the preparation of a ''Catalogue of Fossils in the Museum of Practical Geology''. His chief work for many years was in naming the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s collected during the progress of the Geological Survey, and in supplying the lists that were appended to numerous official memoirs. In this way he acquired an exceptional knowledge of British fossils, and he ultimately prepared an elaborate work entitled ''Fossils of the British Islands, Stratigraphically and Zoologically Arranged''. Only the first volume dealing with the

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and '' ...

species was published (1888). Etheridge also was author of several papers on the Rhaetic Beds, and of an important essay on the ''Physical Structure of North Devon'', and on the ''Palaeontological Value of the Devonian Fossils'' (1867). He edited, and in the main rewrote, the second part of a new edition of John Phillips's ''Manual of Geology'' entitled ''Stratigraphical Geology and Palaeontology'' (1885). He was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1871, was awarded 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 ...

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 ...

in 1880 and was president of that Society in 1881-1882. In 1881 Etheridge was transferred from the Geological Survey to the geological department of the British Museum, where he served as assistant keeper until 1891. In 1896 he was the first recipient of the Bolitho Medal of the

Royal Geological Society of Cornwall The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world ...

. He died in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, on 18 December 1903. He is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

. His son

Robert Etheridge, Junior Robert Etheridge (23 May 1847 – 4 January 1920) was a British palaeontologist who made important contributions to the Australian Museum.Australian Museum, 2015Walsh, 1981Serle, 1949 Biography Etheridge was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire ...

was also a palaeontologist.

Spurious quotation

Etheridge is quoted in

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...

literature as saying:

In all this great museum there is not a particle of evidence of transmutation of species. Nine-tenths of the talk of evolutionists is sheer nonsense, not founded on observation and wholly unsupported by fact. This museum is full of proofs of the utter falsity of their views.

The content of the statement differs in creationist books and the quote is often misattributed to Etheridge's son

Robert Etheridge Jr Robert Etheridge (23 May 1847 – 4 January 1920) was a British palaeontologist who made important contributions to the Australian Museum.Australian Museum, 2015Walsh, 1981Serle, 1949 Biography Etheridge was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire ...

. The origin of the quote is a letter from

George Edward Post George Edward Post (1838–1909) was an American surgeon, academic and botanist. Biography George Edward Post was born in New York City on December 17, 1838, the son of Alfred Charles Post. He was a Professor of Surgery at the Syrian Pro ...

that appeared in the ''New York Evangelist'' for 10 September 1885. It is possible that Post may have misrepresented Etheridge's views. Etheridge never wrote about the

transmutation of species Transmutation of species and transformism are unproven 18th and 19th-century evolutionary ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. The French ''Transformisme'' was a term used ...

in his publications.Branch, Glenn. (2014)
"Dr. Etheridge, Fossilologist, Part 4"
NCSE. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

References

External links

Obituary
by

Richard Bullen Newton Richard Bullen Newton, ISO, (23 February 1854 - 23 January 1926) was a British paleontologist who was between 1910 and 1912 president of the Malacological Society of London and the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Newton is buri ...

; Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London v. 14-15 (1923) {{DEFAULTSORT:Etheridge, Robert 1819 births 1903 deaths People from Ross-on-Wye English geologists English palaeontologists English botanists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of King's College London Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh