The Map That Changed the World (36 page)

In writing this book I owe the very greatest debt to Professor Hugh Torrens, the renowned historian of geology latterly based at Keele University in the English Midlands, who probably knows more about William Smith than anyone else alive, and is indeed himself in the process of writing the definitive academic study of Smith’s career and legacy. He gave generously of his time, his advice, and his help, and handed me an immense number of his own most useful papers, both published and unpublished, from which I learned much; a lesser man, on learning that a rival biography was in the making, would certainly have reacted more coolly. I thank Professor Torrens for his magnanimity, and can only repeat now what I suggested to him at the time—that this short book should be thought of simply as the hors d’oeuvre while we wait in eager anticipation for his main dish, soon to come. I earnestly hope that he will find that this brief account—while not so scholarly as the work he plans—will be a worthy enough tribute to the shadowy and half-forgotten figure whom we both so much admire. I wish also to record my thanks to the tireless and indefatigable Soun Vannithone, who, though taking no time off at all from cooking his legendary Laotian cuisine at a pub (the Racing Page, in Richmond, well worth the detour), managed to complete, precisely on time, the intricate and delicate illustrations on these pages. Alan Davidson, who since his time as British ambassador in Vientiane, has kept in close touch with Soun, helped at all stages; and to Alan and Jane Davidson I offer my sincere gratitude.

Professor Jim Kennedy, at the University Museum, Oxford, kindly made available the papers of William Smith, William Buckland and John Phillips; Stella Brecknell, the librarian and archivist who oversees this magnificent treasure-trove of documents, proved of enormous assistance, seeing to it that almost all of the most interesting items in her care made their way to me on the remote Scottish island where, perhaps perversely, I chose to write this book. Professor Keith Thomson, also at the University Museum, gave me helpful advice about the impact on pre-Darwinian thought that came about as a result of William Smith’s discoveries and theories.

Many of those who lectured in geology at Oxford when I was an undergraduate there in the mid-sixties remain in what is now grandly called the Department of Earth Sciences, and were each in their own way keen to help their prodigal student who, after so long a time away, decided to stumble back into writing about their discipline. In particular I wish to thank David Bell, Steve Moorbath, and Stuart McKerrow, whose lectures on igneous geology, geochemical dating techniques, and Jurassic paleontology respectively evidently left more of an impression on me than my generally lackluster examination results suggested.

Ron Oxburgh—now the Lord Oxburgh—was also at the Department in the sixties, and lectured on structural geology: he too has been helpful in more ways than the simply technical, not least because of his presidency of the Geological Society of London: I have many reasons for wishing to offer my gratitude for his efforts and enthusiastic support of this project. Rachel Laudan, from her home in Mexico, wrote helpfully about her own early interest in William Smith, and kindly sent me her entire doctoral thesis and several other papers that threw new light on Smith’s many achievements. That her position has long been generally critical of Smith did not in the least diminish her support for this book: the fact, she wrote, that he had mapped all England, and essentially on his own, has long since persuaded her that Smith was indeed a remarkable man, and she has long thought he deserved a biography—providing only that it stopped short of suggesting that he deserved a sainthood. I hope that in this I have been temperate, and fair.

For various specific items of help and advice I wish also to thank: Robin Cocks, Jill Darrell, Richard Fortey, Ann Lum, Susan Snell and Brian Rosen at London’s Natural History Museum; Wendy Cawthorne at the Geological Society of London; David Buchanan of the Scarborough City Museums; my friend Francis Herbert at the Royal Geographical Society; my long-term traveling companion Kirk Johnson at the Denver Natural History Museum in Colorado; his colleague there, Bob Raynolds; Ian MacGregor of the Meteorological Office Archive, who seems to be able to
find out what the weather was like on any particular day in the last three centuries; the authors Simon Knell and Roger Osborne, who have both written fascinating recent books on the development of geological thought; Nicolaas Rupke, who is an academic specialist in Holland researching this the same, very English field of study; Patrick Wyse-Jackson, the geology archivist at Trinity College, Dublin; Robert Millspaugh of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; Professor Ronald Numbers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, for his views on evolutionists; Joanna Innes of Somerville College, Oxford, a specialist on early London prisons, for her help with details of life in the King’s Bench debtors’ prison; Derek and Eileen Brown for their hospitality and friendship in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, close to where William Smith was born; Brian Excell and Fiona Ann Drury for their comments on the Tisbury Coral; Denys Brunsden, winner of a William Smith Award, for his help on the Jurassic of Dorset; Lord and Lady Derwent of Hackness Hall, near Scarborough, for their hospitality and help when I arrived to ask about William Smith’s Yorkshire exile; and Heather MacFadyen of Bristol, who kindly searched, with great professional expertise, the famous collection of the late Victor and Joan Eyles, a couple who—because of their profound knowledge of the subject—should by rights have long ago written the book I am writing now. My hope is that they would approve of the work I have done in their stead. My son Rupert Winchester also searched the papers in the Public Records Office at Kew—under the invigilation of a supremely helpful staff, he says—for details of Smith’s imprisonment, and less fruitfully, his marriage. Juliet Walker was tirelessly helpful, as she has been for so many of my projects: I hope she finds the Aeron chair I sent from Oklahoma at least a comfortable small recompense for all she managed to do.

My editors in London, Anya Waddington, Juliet Annan, and Clara Farmer, have proved wonderfully sympathetic in dealing with the complications inherent in a book about so curious a subject as geology—with Clara especially so since her father, David Farmer, is a geologist and very kindly looked over his daughter’s shoulder to make sure there were not too many errors of fact or judgment. Donna Poppy in London and Sue Llewellyn in New York, each deploying her remarkable copyediting skills, helped make sure that such infelicities as remained were ironed out and smoothed away. The proofreading phase of this book happened to coincide with my brief stay as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, where I decided to take advantage of my situation by asking the members of my writing class if they would each care to look at a couple of chapters to try to spot the most egregious of errors. They managed to detect some;
and so I am happy to record my thanks to a group of clever and talented young men and women who I suspect—since most of them hope to become writers—will become distinguished and familiar bylines before very long. The names for which editors should thus be on the lookout are those of Amy Biegelsen, Robert Peter Cuthbert, Melissa Klimala Dean, Gina DiPonio, Kristen Ina Grimes, Kurt Hagstrom, Frank Karabetsos, Daniel Lavetter, Kathleen Lingo, Zachary Martin, Kristen Morgan Miller, Casey Sanchez, Vanessa E. Raizberg and Leslie Synn. Responsibility for those mistakes that managed to survive their scrutiny—and I hope there are few—should be laid squarely at my door alone. In New York the legendary Larry Ashmead—who, by extraordinary chance, was once a geologist too, but moved on to become one of the most cherished editors in American publishing—seemed to think the manuscript passed muster, and made criticisms that were as constructive as they could only be, coming from a publisher who knew his rocks. My agents—Peter Matson in New York and Bill Hamilton in London—were also enthusiastic about my telling the tale of William Smith, L.L.D.: I hope they will think the finished product lives up to their own expectations, which they communicated with such early eagerness to the publishers.

I wish finally to make mention of my unforgettable tutor at Oxford, the great stratigrapher, field-trip speed-walker, longtime supporter, and friend Harold Reading, who over three long years hammered geology into my head with about the same energy that, in the field, he hammered fossils out of limestones. Harold succeeded, if not in winning me the greatest of all degrees, nor in persuading me to follow a glittering career in oil, or gold, or academia, but in keeping strongly alive my interest in the earth, for all the decades that have passed since he taught me. It is with the deepest gratitude for his wisdom, kindness and friendship, that I dedicate this book to him—the longest of all my essays, and thirty-five years late, but well meant all the same.

Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.

Page numbers in
italics
refer to illustrations.

Accurate Delineations and Descriptions of the Natural Order of the Various Strata That are Found in Different Parts of England and Wales
(Smith), 156–57

Adam brothers, 6, 205

Adelard of Bath, 122

Adelphi houses, 6–7, 204–5,
205

Agassiz, Louis, 295

Age of Reason, The
(Paine), 22

Agricultural Magazine
, 202

Agriculture, British Board of, 198, 199, 211, 217

Aikin, Arthur, 225

Allen, William, 224

Allen & Hanbury, 224

ammonites, 189

descriptions of, ix–xi, 165–66, 172–73, 179–80

evolution of, ix–x

found by author, 165–66, 170, 172–74

illustrations of, ix–xi,
173, 181, 188, 271

origin of name, ix

Annalis Veteris et Novi Testamenti
(Ussher), 15
n

Anning, Mary, 108–9, 112, 128, 240

Aptyxiella,
179–80

Arbuthnot, Charles, 246

Arkwright, Richard, 17

Art of Measuring, The
(Fenning), 53

Ashmolean Museum, 35, 179

Asteroceras, 188,
189

Austen, Jane, 121

Baily, Francis, 295

Baker, George, 299

Banks, Sir Joseph, 204, 242, 261, 262, 266

Bounty
expedition and, 200

Geological Society’s dispute with, 227

WS’s map dedicated to, 220

as WS’s patron, 149, 200, 201–3, 209–10, 217, 245, 246, 247

Barne, Barne, 246

baronets, 277
n

Barry, Edward, 296

Barry, Sir Charles, 296, 298

Bath, 51, 59, 95, 101, 114, 115, 118, 146, 148, 161, 169, 180, 181

Billingsley and Davis’s maps of, 124–25, 127

hot springs of, 121–22, 208–9, 253

population of, 122

Roman naming of, 121

Warner’s guide to, 214

Warner’s map of, 148

WS’s map of, 126–28,
126,
142, 148, 289

WS’s plaque in, 102,
103

Bath Agricultural Society, 130, 149

Bath and West of England Society, 123–24, 129

Bath Chronicle,
101, 122, 197

Bath Corporation, 208, 209

Bath stone, 82, 243

Bedford, Francis Russell, fifth duke of, 153–55, 205

estates of, 154, 209

sheepshearings of, 154–55

WS’s relationship with, 149, 156, 160, 196, 197, 209

Beeching, Richard, 79

Bennett, Etheldred, 110, 113–14, 233

Berisford, John, 255

Bevan, Benjamin, 201

Bible, 12–13,
13,
112, 248

Big Ben, 296

Billingsley, John, 124–25, 127

Birmingham, 24
n

bituminous coal, 48

bivalves, 71, 111

Blessed Order of the Visitation, 163

Bligh, William, 200

Board of Agriculture, British, 198, 199, 211, 217

bombazine, 113

Booth, Junius Brutus, 22
n

Bounty
expedition, 200

Bowdler, Thomas, 260
n

Bowerbank, James, 240

brachiopods, 33, 71–72

Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, third duke of, 42–43, 45, 77

Brisbane, Sir Thomas, 295

British Association for the Advancement of Science, 292, 294–95, 296, 299

British Geological Survey, 109

British Museum, 94, 111, 241, 246, 253, 263

see also
Natural History Museum, London

Brogden, James, 245–46, 248, 251–52, 261

Brunsden, Denys, 170
n
–71
n

Buckland, William, 109, 270–71, 284–86, 287
n,
300

Burdett-Coutts, Angela, 57
n

Burke, Edmund, 22

Burlington House,
see
Geological Society of London

Cambrian epoch, 176
n

Cambridge University, 236, 286

camera lucida, 281–82

Camerton & Limpley Stoke Railway (the Clank), 79–82,
80,
83 camlets, 113

canals, 18, 49, 129, 150, 207

economic effects of, 43–45

“mania” for building of, 43–44, 51

WS as surveyor for, 51–52, 58, 61, 77–78, 83–91, 92–101, 115

Candler, E., 104

Carboniferous Coal Measures, 47

Carboniferous period, 134, 174

Upper, 64, 76, 83

Carter, John, 147

Cary, George, 7

Cary, John, 6, 142, 144

as mapmaker, 139–40

WS’s maps published by, 7, 8, 214–15, 218, 237, 261, 268, 271, 290

WS’s relationship with, 140–41, 215, 290

Cary
atlases, 7, 8, 139–40, 142, 261

Cary’s New Itinerary
(Cary), 140

Catalogue of English Fossils
(Woodward), 93

Catalogue of the Organic Remains of the County of Wilts, A
(Bennett), 110

chalk, 52, 132–33, 168, 170, 189–90, 216–17

Character of Moses Established, The
(Townsend), 214

Chedworth Buns, 29, 93
n

Christian, Fletcher, 200

chronostratigraphy, 173

“chums,” 258

Churchill, xvii, 11, 12, 15–16, 17, 18, 21, 22
n,
29, 32, 52, 54, 55, 187, 241–42, 290

Clarke, Edward, 236–37

Clink Prison, 254
n

Clipsham stone, 298

Clunch Clay, 142

Clypeus ploti,
33,
33,
93
n

coal, 18, 60, 83, 133, 196, 207–8

bituminous, 48

effects of mountain-building on, 48–49, 68, 71
n

formation of, 38, 47–48

map needed for locating of, 47

miner names for seams of, 70 mining history of, 45–47

seam depths of, 71–72

sequence of rock types found near,
49,
71–75

transportation of,
see
canals

coelacanths, 112

Coke, Thomas William, 20, 149, 151–53, 156

Collett, Samuel, 161

Collyweston slate, 187
n
Combe Down quarry, 243–44, 245, 256, 268

Conolly, Charles, 212, 243, 245

Tucking Mill House sold to WS by, 136–37, 256

WS sent to debtors’ prison by, 255–57, 261

Conybeare, William, 109

Cotswold stone, 183–84

Cottage Crescent, 102

County Agricultural Report,
Somerset, 124–25

Course and Phenomena of Earthquakes, The
(Michell), 94–95

Court of Common Pleas, 256–57

Craven Coffee House, 204

Crawshay, Richard, 210 Creation, 285

Ussher’s dating of, 12–15, 24, 25, 38
n,
41, 69
n,
285

Cretaceous period, 168–69, 170, 179, 216

Middle, 110

Upper, 141

Crompton, Samuel, 17
n

Crook, Thomas, 151, 156

Cruse, Jeremiah, 197, 203

Cunnington, William, 113, 115

cyclothems,
49,
177

Darby, Abraham, 18

Darwin, Charles, xvi, 8, 16, 24, 106, 182, 240, 287
n,
300

Darwin, Erasmus, 24 Davis, Thomas, 124–25, 127

Davy, Sir Humphry, 123, 224

Debrett, John, 157–60, 196, 201, 210

Debrett’s Peerage,
158

debtors’ prisons, 2–6,
3

description of, 258–59, 260

see also
King’s Bench Prison

de la Beche, Sir Henry, 109, 296, 298

Delineation of The Strata of England and Wales with a part of Scotland, A
(Smith), xv–xviii, 192–222, 246, 267

Cary’s topographic map used as base for, 215–16

color scheme of, 125, 127, 142–43, 144–45, 216

completion of, 217–19

delays in work on, 209–10

description of, xv–xvi, 219

editions and prices of, 218, 235

engraving of, 216

Geological Society delegation’s viewing of, 222–23, 227–28

Greenough and Hall’s plagiarism of, xviii, 193, 228–31, 234–35, 237–38

importance and legacy of, xvi–xvii, xix, 7–8

number of copies of, 20

precursors to,
xiii,
126–28,
126,
142–45, 202

reasons for making of, 195–97

sales of, 235, 268 scale and size of, xvi, 215

Society of Arts prize awarded for, 196, 219

title of, xvi, 7, 219–20

WS’s first idea for, 124–25, 138, 161–62

Derbyshire, 94, 198, 200, 210, 230

Devonian period, 68, 69, 270, 278

Dickens, Charles, 122, 206, 254
n,
296, 298

Dictionary of National Biography
(DNB), 107, 110, 154, 204, 294
n

Dictionary of the English Language, A
(Johnson), 21, 139

Difficult Times Briefly Investigated, by an Accurate Observer of Passing Events
(Smith), 262–63

Dissenters, 195

divines, as fossilists, 111

divine virtue, and placing of fossils, 36

Dogger epoch, 173
n

Dosse & Co., 256

Dover, White Cliffs of, 168, 170, 216–17

Dublin, 265

Dundry Hill, 131–32

Dunkerton, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 103, 124

Earth:

geological questions on age of, 24–26

tectonic movements and, 48, 68, 116,
116,
175

Ussher’s dating of, 12–15, 24, 25, 38
n,
41, 69
n,
285

East India Company, 111

echinoderms, 30 echinoids, 33, 40

Edinburgh, 9, 266

Edinburgh Review,
267

Egerton, Francis, third duke of Bridgewater, 42–43, 45, 77

Egremont, Lord, 196

enclosure acts, 18–19, 151, 153

Encyclopædia Britannica,
25
n

England:

agricultural innovations in, 19–20, 151, 153

birth and death rates in, 20–21

class discrimination in, 8, 149–50, 199–200, 225–26, 228

enclosure acts in, 18–19, 151, 153

geologic tour of, 166–74, 176
n

industrialization of, 17–18, 45

Jurassic era location of, 116,
116

Jurassic rock outcroppings in,
178

social changes in, 11–12, 15–26

titled ranks in, 277
n

WS’s surveying expeditions in, 90–91, 92–101, 160, 190, 192, 203, 207, 242

English Diatesseron
(Warner), 114
n

eons, 168
n

epiboles, 168
n

epochs, 168
n
eras, 168
n

Etruria, 17

evolutionary theory, 8, 16, 62

fossil hunting and, 106, 112–13, 118

Eype, 164, 167–68

Farey, John, 157, 197–200, 225, 262, 266
n

Greenough aided by, 229, 230–31

WS’s relationship with, 156, 198–99, 201, 209, 210, 230, 231–32

Fenning, Daniel, 53

Fenning, Elizabeth, 53
n

figured stones, 34–35, 39

Fitton, William, 262, 265–68, 287
n

Floating Egg, The
(Osborne), 98–99

Flood, 39, 40, 214 “Fossilogical Map of Bath and Its Environs, A”(Warner), 148

fossils, 106–20,
108, 109,
188–89

collections and collectors of, 106–15, 129–31, 224, 277

early theories about, 34–41, 112–13

found or purchased by author, 165–66, 168
n,
170, 172–74

as key to geological dating, 105, 117–20, 168
n

at Natural History Museum, 108, 111, 239–41, 245–50

at Scarborough City Museum, 275

used as poundstones and marbles, 28–29,
31,
32–33,
33

WS’s collection of, 105, 118, 197, 204, 205–6, 222, 227, 240–41, 245–50

see also specific fossils

fuller’s earth, 105, 133, 186

fulling, 104–5

Garrard, George, 154–55

“General Map of Strata in England and Wales”(Smith),
xiii,
142–43

General Post Office (GPO), 140

Genesis, Book of, 16, 39

Geological Atlas of England and Wales
(Smith), 7, 8, 261

Geological Inquiries,
233

geological map, Smith’s,
see Delineation of The Strata of England and Wales with a part of Scotland, A

Geological Society of London, 199, 245, 247, 266, 277

bust and portrait of WS at, 300