Charles Thomas Clough MA, LLD, FGS,

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(23 December 1852 – 27 August 1916) was a prominent British

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and mapmaker. The

Edinburgh Geological Society The Edinburgh Geological Society (EGS) was founded in 1834 in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the aim of stimulating public interest in geology and the advancement of geological knowledge. It was a time of debate and controversy surrounding the emergi ...

named the Clough Medal in his honour.

Life

Charles Clough was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, the fifth of six children to the lawyer Thomas William Clough and Amelia Jane Ibeson. He attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

from 1867 to 1871, and in 1871 was accepted at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, to study Natural Sciences. He graduated in 1878 but was working from 1875, being employed as an Assistant Geologist on the national Geological Survey. He initially worked in the

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, located principally in County Durham, North East England. It is one of the Durham Dales, which are themselves part of the North Pennines, the northernmost part of the Pennine uplands. The dale is named after ...

and Cheviot districts of

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

, under H.H. Howell. In 1884 he was transferred to the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

office, in Scotland. Here his fame within his field grew for his work in the North West Highlands and the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

. In 1896 he was promoted to full Geologist and, on the death of William Gunn, in 1902 to District Geologist. Clough was a teetotaller and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. He made boots out of vegetable fibre but they were incapable of standing the wear and tear of his work so he had to give up their use.

Geological Society awards

In 1906 the Geological Society of London awarded him the Murchison Medal. In 1908 he was elected President of the

, a post he held until 1910. In mid-1916

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

awarded him an Honorary degree as a

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LLD). In the same year he was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, his proposers were

John Horne John Horne PRSE FRS FRSE FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1915 to 1919. Life Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in Campsie, Stirlingshire, the ...

, Benjamin Neeve Peach,

Robert Kidston Robert Kidston (29 June 1852 – 13 July 1924) was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist. Life He was born in Bishopton House in Renfrewshire on 29 June 1852 the youngest of twelve children of Robert Alexander Kidston, a Glasgow businessman, ...

and Sir John Smith Flett.

Family

In 1881 he married Anne Mary Usher, daughter of Thomas Durham Usher. They had a son and two daughters. They lived at St Ann's Mount on

Polton Polton is a village located in Lasswade parish, Midlothian, Scotland, anciently a superiority of the Ramsay family, cadets of Dalhousie. In 1618 David Ramsay of Polton was in possession. (See: ''Analecta Scotica'', Edinburgh, 1834). Notable res ...

, just south of

. His wife died in 1935 and was buried with Charles in

Lasswade Lasswade is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, south of Edinburgh city centre, contiguous with Bonnyrigg and between Dalkeith to the east and Loanhead to the west. Melville Castle lies to the north ...

Death

On 23 August 1916 Clough was studying rocks in a narrow railway cutting, near Manuel House, south of

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, when he was struck by a train as he crossed the line and severely injured, necessitating the amputation of both legs, at Edinburgh Infirmary. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in hospital, four days later, on Sunday 27 August. He was buried on 30 August, near the centre of the western section of

Cemetery.

Principal accomplishments

*Completion of the one-inch map of England and Wales *Survey of the

Cowal Cowal () is a rugged peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland to the north, and is bounded by Loch Fyne to the west, by Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde to the east, and by the Kyles of Bute ...

District in western Scotland *Aiding in the survey of the North-West Highlands *Survey and Mapping of large areas of Sutherland *Survey and mapping of

Loch Maree Loch Maree () is a loch in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. At long and with a maximum width of , it is the fourth-largest freshwater loch in Scotland; it is the largest north of Loch Ness. Its surface area is . Loch Maree c ...

. *Survey of Ross-shire *Survey of North Argyllshire and Mull *Survey of the coalfields in the Lothians, Lanarkshire and North Ayrshire *See

Published works

Clough published several papers on the geology of Scottish coalfields in cooperation with fellow geologist Charles Hawker Dinham. In addition Clough created the following:
Survey Memoirs: Otterburn and Elsdon (1887)
*English Side of the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes ...

(1888)
The Geology of Plashetts and Kielder (1889)
*
The Geology of East Lothian (1910)
*See

Recognition

The Edinburgh Geological Society adds annually to honour th

and the biennial Clough Memorial Award. Winners of the medal include: *1942/3 – James Livingstone Begg *1944/5 – Murray Macgregor *1957/8 – John Weir *1961/2 – Edward Battersby Bailey *1967/8 – Archibald Gordon MacGregor *1971/2 – James Phemister *1987/8 – William Stuart McKerrow

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clough, Charles Thomas 1852 births 1916 deaths 19th-century British geologists 20th-century British geologists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Deaths from pneumonia in Scotland English amputees Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Huddersfield Railway accident deaths in Scotland Scientists from Yorkshire Murchison Medal winners People educated at Rugby School