William "Strata" Smith
(1769-1839)
"The Father of English Geology"

Born the eldest of four children of an Oxfordshire farmer, William Smith had little or no formal education.  He developed a childhood passion for the collection of fossils, no doubt unearthed when the land was being ploughed.  His first proper employment was as an assistant surveyor, progressing to become a surveyor and civil engineer.  By the age of 24 years he was commissioned to carry out a survey for the Somerset Coal Canal and throughout the next twenty years he worked extensively in the canal field, studying canal management in Newcastle and travelling the country surveying and repairing canals and also being instrumental in coastal defence works in Norfolk.

All of this gave William Smith the opportunity to follow his passion for collecting fossils and studying rock strata. He quickly became renowned in the field of geology and is widely credited with being the first person to regard geology as a science., having deduced that the World is made up of strata and, if you studied the fossils in the different strata layers you could see the evolution of life-this being regarded as his supreme contribution to science.  

Despite clearly being well able to document, or have documented, his findings and theories, William Smith appeared to have little thought for the commercial benefit for himself by the writing of books or academic papers. His “list of strata in the order of their succession from the Chalk to the Coal Measures”, now regarded as a document of great historical and geological significance and preserved by the Geological Society, was merely dictated by him to a friend, the Reverend Benjamin Richardson.  

Such was the lack of knowledge and information in this field that Smith’s contributions were so significant as to lead to him being regarded as the leading pioneer in the field.  At this time there did not even exist a suitable topographical map of the country and, at great expense, a huge 8’6” high and 6’6” wide map was engraved for Smith to colour, the final work being published in 1815.  Such was the scientific and geological importance of this map that it became known, and still is known, as The Map That Changed the World.

Within two years of the publication of his map, a further work, The Stratigraphical System of Organised Fossils, was published based upon his collection. Enormously valuable though his works were, Smith’s lack of consideration for personal gain cost him dearly and in 1819, whilst he was working in the North of England, his London house was seized by creditors.  The loss of his London home and his wife’s subsequent insanity, led to William Smith making his life in the North of England, and in particular in Scarborough, now regarded as the Dinosaur Coast as a result of his efforts. 

In 1820 he met with a select group of “gentlemen”, leading shortly thereafter to the formation of the Philosophical Society.  In 1828 he was retained as Land Steward at the prestigious Hackness Estate and during his period of tenure he went on to produce a detailed geological map of the Hackness district.  His works also had significance in other fields and even now are regarded as highly significant in the field of gas and oil exploration.  In 1832 William Smith became the first recipient of the Geological Society’s Wollaston Medal together with a princely government pension of £100.00 per annum.  

Such had become his collection of fossils that in 1829 a new museum, the Rotunda Museum, was built in Scarborough, following his design ideas, to house his and the Philosophical Society’s collection. The Rotunda has continued to house the Borough’s collection for the last 175 years and is rightly regarded both internationally and internationally for its significance.

Working to the last Smith died in 1839 at Northampton en route to Birmingham.  With the aid of very significant funds from the European Development Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund and corporate and other donations (including £300,000 from the shell Corporation in recognition of the significance of his works) the Rotunda has now undergone a £3.5 million facelift to include a “Geology Now Gallery”, a Gateway to the Dinosaur Coast section and the “Upper Drum” devoted to the historical story both of the museum and William Strata Smith, housing some of his own collection of fossils on loan from the National History Museum and replicas of his maps, including the famous “The Map That Changed the World.”

In his honour, the museum, which is perhaps the oldest surviving purpose built museum in the country, was re-opened on the 14th September 2007 by HRH The Prince of Wales and is now called “The Rotunda - The William Smith Museum of Geology.”  Situate within a stone’s throw of the South Bay beach this is an attraction which no one, young or old, should miss from their Scarborough holiday itinery.

Hosted and Website Creation By Complete Internet Services Ltd, Alma House, 8 Alma Square, Scarborough, YO11 1JR

Content provided by The Wordsmith Company

Local Interest:

Ann Bronte
Scarborough Railway Station
Scarborough Jail
Scarborough Lighthouse
Scarborough Buttercross
Hairy Bob's Cave

Accommodation in Scarborough

Hotels
Cottages
Guest Houses