William Buckland

William Buckland (12 March, 1784 - 24 August, 1856) was a prominent English geologist and palaeontologist who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, a proponent of Old Earth creationism and Flood geology who later became convinced by the glaciation theory of Louis Agassiz.

Glaciation theory

By this time Buckland was a prominent and influential scientific celebrity, and a friend of the Tory prime minister Sir Robert Peel. In co-operation with Adam Sedgwick and Charles Lyell he prepared the report leading to establishment of the Geological Survey of Great Britain.

Related Topics:
Tory - Robert Peel - Adam Sedgwick - Charles Lyell

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Having become interested in the theory of Louis Agassiz that polished and striated rocks as well as transported material had been caused by ancient glaciers, he travelled to Switzerland in 1838 to meet Agassiz and see for himself. He was convinced, and reminded of what he had seen in Scotland, Wales and northern England but had previously attributed to the Flood. When Agassiz came to Britain for the Glasgow meeting of the British Association in 1840 they went on an extended tour of Scotland and found evidence there of former glaciation. In that year Buckland had become president of the Geological Society again, and despite their hostile reaction to his presentation of the theory he was now satisfied that glaciation had been the origin of much of the surface deposits covering Britain.

Related Topics:
Louis Agassiz - Switzerland - 1838 - Glasgow - 1840

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In 1845 he was appointed by Sir Robert Peel to the vacant deanery of Westminster, and was soon after inducted to the living of Islip, near Oxford, a preferment attached to the deanery. Buckland became involved in repair and maintenance of Westminster Abbey and in preaching suitable sermons to the rural population of Islip while continuing to lecture on geology at Oxford. In 1847 he was appointed a trustee in the British Museum; and in 1848 he was awarded the Wollaston Medal by the Geological Society of London. Around the end of 1849 he contracted a debilitating illness which increasingly invalided him until his death in 1856. The plot for his grave had been reserved, but when the gravedigger set to work it was found that an outcrop of solid Jurassic limestone lay just below ground level and explosives had to be used for excavation. This may have been a last jest by the noted geologist, reminiscent of Richard Whatley?s Elegy intended for Professor Buckland written in 1820:

Related Topics:
1845 - Westminster - Islip - Westminster Abbey - 1847 - British Museum - 1848 - Wollaston Medal - 1849 - 1856 - Jurassic

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:Where shall we our great Professor inter

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:That in peace may rest his bones?

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:If we hew him a rocky sepulchre

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:He?ll rise and break the stones

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:And examine each stratum that lies around

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:For he?s quite in his element underground

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