Robert Speight (2 October 1867 – 8 September 1949) was a notable New Zealand geologist, university professor and museum curator.

Early life

Speight was born in Stockton-on-Tees,

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, England in 1867. When he was about 12, his family emigrated to New Zealand. His father, a strong disciplinarian, was a teacher at the school at Tai Tapu, which is a rural village some south of the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

suburb of

Halswell Originally a separate village, Halswell is now a residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located southwest of Cathedral Square on State Highway 75. History Halswell is named after Edmund Halswell QC (1790–1874), a government offi ...

. Robert Speight gained a scholarship at

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven Ro ...

and it is said that his daily travels along the foot of the

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

, an extinct shield volcano, raised his interest in

volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin word '' vulcan''. Vulcan was the an ...

. His father transferred to St. Albans School and the family moved to Christchurch, and Speight continued his education at

Canterbury College Canterbury College may refer to: * Canterbury College (Indiana), U.S. * Canterbury College (Waterford), Queensland, Australia * Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario), Canada * Canterbury College, Kent, England * Canterbury College, Oxford, England ...

. He graduated in 1888 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

, and in 1889 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

with first class honours in mathematics.

Professional career

Speight took a teaching position at his secondary school and studied science part-time under Frederick Hutton, graduating in 1891 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

. When Hutton retired his teaching position from Canterbury College in 1903, Speight succeeded him as a lecturer, while retaining his teaching position at Boys' High for some more years. Speight was appointed assistant curator of Canterbury Museum in 1911, and was full director from March 1914 to November 1935. During his career, Speight published 130 papers and reports, which span a wide area of earth science. Geographically, he mostly published

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

topics, but also the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...

and the

New Zealand Subantarctic Islands The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands comprise the five southernmost groups of the New Zealand outlying islands. They are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the islands lie near the southeast edge of the largel ...

(which he visited in 1907). His papers on past worldwide climate changes and their causes gained him international attention, and he was elected to fellowships of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

and 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 ...

. He was also a fellow of the New Zealand Institute, and was the organisation's president from 1933 for two years and during that time, the name was changed to Royal Society of New Zealand in reference to 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 ...

based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. The New Zealand Institute awarded Speight the

Hector Memorial Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

in 1921, at the time its highest award. He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935.

Family and death

On 4 January 1899, he married Ruth Mary Seager at St Michael's Church in central Christchurch. His wife was the sister of Rose Elizabeth Seager, the mother of the writer

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of De ...

. Ruth and Robert Speight's three children all went to live overseas, so after his wife died in 1941 his life was lonely. He died at St George's Hospital on 8 September 1949, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speight, Robert 1867 births 1949 deaths 19th-century New Zealand geologists English emigrants to New Zealand Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand Directors of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch Fellows of the Geological Society of America Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School University of Canterbury alumni People from Stockton-on-Tees 20th-century New Zealand geologists University of Canterbury faculty