Percy George Hamnall Boswell

Professor Percy George Hamnall Boswell OBE FRS FGS (7 August 1886 – 22 December 1960) was a British geologist.

Biography

Boswell was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, the son of printer George James Boswell of Ipswich and Mary Elizabeth (née) Marshall) of Tasmania.^[1]

He developed an early interest in geology while at school in Ipswich through fossil collecting and visiting local museums. As a teen he founded the Ipswich and District Field Club, which led to his election to as a fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1907. However, possibly as a result of his explorations, he developed choroiditis in both his eyes at 18 and nearly went blind; he never fully regained sight in his right eye.^[1]

After earning his Bachelor of Science at London University, Boswell continued at Imperial College London, studying at the Royal College of Science and the Royal School of Mines under William Whitehead Watts.^[1] He joined the Royal College in 1914 as a demonstrator in geology but left three years later to become the first George Herdman chair of Geology at Liverpool University.^[2]

Boswell was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 Birthday Honours for his work during the Great War, as Geological Adviser to the Ministry of Munitions.^[3] During the war, he investigated British supplies of moulding sands for use in metal foundries and ultimately became "a recognized authority as a sedimentary petrologist."^[2]

In 1930, he returned as a professor to London University. He spent several decades working as an adviser for the Metropolitan Water Board on the matter of the falling water table under London.^[2]

His work as a geologist covered many aspects, but according to his obituary in The Times, his best contributions were possibly concerning recent geology of East Anglia, "where he was a pioneer in making sense of the stratigraphy of the area with its record of alternate advances and retreats of ice."^[2]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1931^[4] and was president of the Geological Society of London from 1940 to 1941. In 1934, he visited Africa to validate Louis Leakey's claim that he had found fossil remains of Homo sapiens more than 100,000 years old and publicly disagreed with Leakey's conclusions.

He died in Ruthin, Wales, in 1960.^[2]

References

1 2 3 Williams, David. "Boswell, Percy George Hamnall (1886–1960)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
1 2 3 4 5 "Prof. P. G. H. Boswell". The Times (The Times Digital Archive). 23 December 1960. p. 10.
↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30730. p. 6696. 7 June 1918.
↑ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 18 December 2010.

Presidents of the Geological Society of London

19th century	George Bellas Greenough Henry Grey Bennet William Blake John MacCulloch George Bellas Greenough Earl Compton William Babington William Buckland John Bostock William Fitton Adam Sedgwick Roderick Murchison George Bellas Greenough Charles Lyell William Whewell William Buckland Roderick Murchison Henry Warburton Leonard Horner Henry De la Beche Charles Lyell William Hopkins Edward Forbes William Hamilton Daniel Sharpe Joseph Ellison Portlock John Phillips Leonard Horner Andrew Crombie Ramsay William Hamilton Warington Wilkinson Smyth Thomas Henry Huxley Joseph Prestwich George Douglas Campbell John Evans Peter Martin Duncan Henry Clifton Sorby Robert Etheridge John Whitaker Hulke Thomas Bonney John Wesley Judd William Blanford Archibald Geikie Wilfred Hudleston Henry Woodward Henry Hicks William Whitaker

20th century	Jethro Teall Charles Lapworth John Marr Archibald Geikie William Sollas William Watts Aubrey Strahan Arthur Smith Woodward Alfred Harker George Lamplugh Richard Oldham Albert Seward John Evans Francis Bather John Gregory Edmund Garwood Thomas Holland John Green Owen Thomas Jones Henry Hurd Swinnerton Percy Boswell Herbert Leader Hawkins William Fearnsides Arthur Trueman Herbert Harold Read Cecil Tilley Owen Thomas Jones George Lees William King Walter Campbell Smith Leonard Hawkes James Stubblefield Sydney Hollingworth Oliver Bulman Frederick Shotton Kingsley Dunham Thomas Neville George William Alexander Deer Thomas Westoll Percy Kent Wallace Pitcher Percival Allen Howel Francis Janet Watson Charles Holland Bernard Leake Derek Blundell Anthony Harris Charles Curtis R. S. J. Sparks Richard Hardman Robin Cocks

21st century	Ronald Oxburgh Mark Moody-Stuart Peter Styles Richard Fortey Lynne Frostick

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 118479587 ISNI: 0000 0001 1007 6349 SUDOC: 133289214 BNF: cb150954272 (data)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.