Sydney Ewart Hollingworth (7 November 1899 – 23 June 1966) was a British

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, althoug ...

and academic who specialized in the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

geology of northwest England, and was Professor of Geology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, 1946–66. The Hollingworth Cliffs in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

and the mineral "Hollingworthite" are named after him.

Early life and education

He was born in

Flore, Northamptonshire Flore (historically spelled as ''Floore'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. The village's name means 'Floor', perhaps referring to a Roman tessellated pavement. South of the neighbouring parish of Nether Heyford ...

, the son of Alice Masters Hollingworth and Charles Hollingworth, a foreman in the Army Ordnance Department. He was educated at Northampton School, and then joined the Army at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was wounded in active service. After the end of the war, he entered

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, where he was influenced by

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Hollingworth took first-class honours in both parts of the natural sciences tripos and in 1921 was awarded the Harkness scholarship. In 1921, he graduated from Cambridge and 10 years later earned a DSc from the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Career

British Geological Survey

For 25 years, he worked at the British Geological Survey, followed by 20 years as the Yates-Goldsmid Professor of Geology at University College, London. His work with the BGS took him to Cumberland, where he worked with the group tasked with resurveying the West Cumberland coal and iron-ore fields. Along with Frederick Murray Trotter and others, he helped create new maps and memoirs of

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...

, and

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

districts of Cumberland. During this time he became an expert on the

geology of the region, and his 1931 thesis was devoted to the glaciation and drumlin development in

Edenside Edenside is a cricket ground in Carlisle, Cumbria. The ground is the primary home ground of Cumbria County Cricket Club. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1850, when Carlisle played an All-England Eleven. The ground hosted its fir ...

and the

Solway Plain The Solway Plain or Solway Basin is a coastal plain located mostly in northwest Cumbria in England, extending just over the Scottish border to the low-lying area around Gretna and Annan. It lies generally north and west of Carlisle along the Sol ...

, and the subject formed the basis of his 1931 thesis, ''The Glaciation of Western Edenside and Adjoining Areas and the Drumlins of Edenside and the Solway Basin''. In 1934, the BGS transferred Hollingworth to the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

section and he began years of fieldwork in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

began in 1939, Hollingworth joined a team tasked with updating and increasing geological knowledge of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

s, particularly those in Northamptonshire such as

Northampton Sand Formation The Northampton Sand Formation, sometimes called the Northamptonshire Sand, is a Middle Jurassic geological formation which is placed within the Inferior Oolite Group. It was formerly worked extensively in Northamptonshire for its ironstone. Th ...

. These were particularly vital at that time as they served as the UK's chief domestic source of iron ore, which played a crucial part in steel production required by the war effort.

University College London

Hollingworth returned to academia after the war ended, becoming the Yates-Goldsmid Professor of Geology at University College, London. Over the next two decades, he embarked on new areas of research while expanding the department's facilities, equipment and prestige. In the mid-1950s, during a sulphur shortage, Hollingworth took a research trip to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

with students and staff. While there he recognized additional geological significance to the area and returned in the early 1960s to make new geological maps in Chile. He also went the

Caledonian orogeny The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that ...

of Norway, investigating ancient rocks north of the Arctic Circle. In academia, his area of focus were geomorphology, structural geology, economic geology and conservation. In 1965, the university opened a subdepartment devoted to

hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aqui ...

thanks to Hollingworth's initiative.

Geological Society

Hollingworth became a fellow 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 1922 and remained active throughout his life. For 17 years, he served on its council, was secretary from 1949–56, served twice as vice president (1956–58 and 1962–64), and was president from 1960–62. The Geological Society awarded Hollingworth the Lyell fund in 1938 and 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 ...

in 1959.

Personal life

In 1927, Hollingworth married Anne Mary Lamb, with whom he had two sons. He died in 1966 at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lond ...

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 ...

after a sudden illness. His trips to Chile brought him a love of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, where his ashes were scattered.

Legacy

In 1965, Eugen Friedrich Stumpfl and Andrew M. Clark named a

sulfide mineral The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) or disulfide (S22−) as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, th ...

"Hollingworthite" of the

Cobaltite Cobaltite is a sulfide mineral composed of cobalt, arsenic, and sulfur, Co As S. Its impurities may contain up to 10% iron and variable amounts of nickel.Klein, Cornelus and Cornrlius Hurlbut, 1996, ''Manual of Mineralogy'', 20th ed., Wiley, p. ...

group. The British Antarctic Survey of 1968–71 named the Hollingworth Cliffs in

after named for him.

References

External links

Hollingworthite Mineral Data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollingworth, Sydney Ewart 1899 births 1966 deaths People from West Northamptonshire District Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 20th-century British geologists Fellows of the Geological Society of London Alumni of the University of London