The Geological Society of London , known commonly as the Geological Society , is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows .
31-548: Thomas Field Gibson FGS (3 March 1803 – 12 December 1889) was a Unitarian silk manufacturer and philanthropist. He supported several novel initiatives to enhance British manufacturing quality and international trade while improving life for working people during the Industrial Revolution – particularly in Spitalfields where his business was centred. He also made important contributions to geology. He
62-736: A library, savings bank and benevolent fund, as well as pastoral visits to those in need. Gibson was on the Council of the Government School of Design (now the Royal College of Arts ) established in 1837 and spearheaded the early creation of a branch school of design in Spitalfields that achieved valuable results. He was then appointed to the Royal Commission of The Great Exhibition of 1851. In subsequent years he
93-751: A memorial to the passing of the Dissenters' Chapels Act in 1844 and is now the home of Dr Williams's Library . Fellow of the Geological Society Fellows are entitled to the postnominal FGS (Fellow of the Geological Society), over 2,000 of whom are Chartered Geologists (CGeol). The Society is a registered charity , no. 210161. It is also a member of the Science Council , and is licensed to award Chartered Scientist to qualifying members. The mission of
124-1131: The Association of Applied Geochemists ; Journal of Micropalaeontology for The Micropalaeontological Society ; Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society for the Yorkshire Geological Society ; and Scottish Journal of Geology for the Geological Societies of Edinburgh and Glasgow . The society counts many famous geologists amongst its past presidents. These include pioneers of geology William Buckland , Adam Sedgwick , Roderick Impey Murchison , Charles Lyell , Henry Thomas De la Beche , Thomas Henry Huxley , Joseph Prestwich , Archibald Geikie , Jethro Teall , and Charles Lapworth . Later well-known names include Alfred Harker , Arthur Elijah Trueman , Herbert Harold Read , Frederick Shotton , and Janet Watson . In 1831, it began issuing an annual scientific award for geology, known as
155-606: The Isle of Wight , he found the type specimen of an important extinct plant species at Luccombe Chine in 1856–57. Studied by Joseph Dalton Hooker , Director of the Kew Gardens , John Morris , the geology professor at University College London , and Unitarian scholar James Yates , it was then characterised by William Carruthers of the Natural History Museum , and later named Cycadeoidea gibsoniana after
186-625: The London Annual International Exhibition of all fine arts, industries, and inventions, are quoted in this source. Colonial contributions to the annual international exhibitions in London were primarily contained in the Queensland annex. For the colonies to contribute to the annual international exhibitions in London, there needed to be more space for them to be able to set up their exhibitions. This required
217-641: The Wollaston Medal . This is still the Society's premier medal, which in 2006 was awarded to James Lovelock , the originator of the Gaia hypothesis . Annual International Exhibitions (London 1871%E2%80%9374) The Annual International Exhibition was a yearly event held in South Kensington , London , United Kingdom between 1871 and 1874. It was preceded by the 1851 Great Exhibition of
248-559: The geosciences in Britain and abroad, under the auspices of the science writer and palaeontologist Professor Richard Fortey , the president that year. The Society has 24 specialist groups and 15 regional groups which serve as an opportunity for those with specific interests to meet and discuss their subject or region. They are all free for members to join and some are open to non-members. The Regional Groups are: The Specialist Groups are: The society publishes two of its own journals,
279-776: The (formerly Quarterly ) Journal of the Geological Society and the Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology . It also publishes the magazine Geoscientist for Fellows, and has a share in Geology Today , published by Blackwell Science . It also co-publishes journals and publishes on behalf of other organisations. These include Petroleum Geoscience with the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers ; Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis with
310-603: The Association. He also served on the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers that directed the early work of engineer Joseph Bazalgette towards developing an integrated sewerage and drainage system across London. Gibson was in addition "a patron of geology", being elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1847 and serving on its Council. Staying at his beach house at Sandown on
341-463: The London exhibition in 1873, the colonial exhibitions were not primarily focused on presenting recent technological developments of the current year, which was typical of nations during annual exhibitions. Instead, the colonial exhibitions favored artworks that depicted how the colonies lived and/or were perceived to have lived and their popular exports. This section of the annual international exhibitions in London, which enabled colonies to participate in
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#1732781088598372-537: The Society has been based at Burlington House , Piccadilly , London . This building houses the Society's library, which contains more than 300,000 volumes of books and journals. It is a member of the UK Science Council . In 1907 a decision was made by the Society to admit women as Associates, under the condition they distinguished themselves as geological investigators or submitted their own original research. Women were first allowed to become Fellows of
403-579: The Society in 1919. Margaret Crosfield became the first, due to alphabetical primacy, of the first eight women to be elected Fellows of the Society, on 21 May 1919. In 1991, the Society merged with the Institution of Geologists, which had been formed in 1977 to represent the geological profession. The Society is a member of the European Federation of Geologists . The Society celebrated its bicentenary in 2007. It ran programmes in
434-647: The Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution in early 1825, not long after the London Mechanics' Institution (now Birkbeck College ) was opened, and Gibson served on its Committee. Not being a success, it was reoriented into the Eastern Literary and Scientific Institution, and Gibson was still its patron in the mid-1840s. Father and son also helped open and support a mission in Spitalfields with day and evening schools, adult education,
465-472: The Works of Industry of All Nations and the 1862 International Exhibition in London, as well as many international exhibitions that been held in various countries since 1851. It was intended to be a series of 10 annual events. The first received over a million visitors and made a profit, but the subsequent three had fewer visitors and all made a loss. Details of the 1873 Exhibition, officially described as
496-493: The construction of a new building. This new building needed funds to be built and kept in top condition throughout the years. Hence every colony that participated in the exhibition within the Queensland Annex would be asked to donate funds based on the amount of their earnings. In the first year, only three colonies took part in the Queensland annex, these being New South Wales , South Australia , and Victoria . During
527-404: The exhibitions, continued running until the exhibition was no longer open. All of the colonies that held exhibitions in the Queensland annex after 1873 followed in the footsteps of the first three colonies presenting primarily artworks about daily life in the colonies and their popular exports. Unlike the colonies, India was present all four years that the annual international exhibition in London
558-582: The final year of the international annual exhibition in London, the primary theme of the Indian portion was leather-made objects. However, it is important to note while each year of the annual exhibition had a theme, the exhibitions representing India were not limited to said themes. During every annual exhibition, there was a large amount of Indian artwork shown. These artworks included ornaments, miniatures, carvings, and embroideries made of inlaid wood, metalworks, ivory, and onyx. These exhibitions were presented in
589-547: The finder. Gibson also presented a paper to the Geological Society on the Iguanodon femur he found on the island. Like his extended family, Gibson held Unitarian beliefs. His father chaired the meeting on 26 May 1825 at which the British and Foreign Unitarian Association was formed to provide national co-ordination of Unitarian issues and both he and Gibson Snr presided at the annual meeting at different times. Gibson Snr
620-429: The general public. In 1872 the exhibition had a theme of showing jewelry from India. The jewelry presented was not limited to certain classes of Indian society. Instead, the exhibition of 1872 showed pieces that were worn by both sexes from all economic classes. The third exhibition in 1873, was heavily focused on presenting Indian silks. The silks that were shown during the exhibition were both plain and embroidered. During
651-628: The period, Gibson believed in laissez-faire capitalism. He was an active member of the Anti-Corn Law League and supported Richard Cobden again in negotiating the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty in Paris, both of which had the goal of reducing import duties and promoting international trade. Education, and in particular practical education of the artisans in his area, was of considerable interest to him. His father founded
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#1732781088598682-520: The society is: "Making geologists acquainted with each other, stimulating their zeal, inducing them to adopt one nomenclature, facilitating the communication of new facts and ascertaining what is known in their science and what remains to be discovered". The Society was founded on 13 November 1807 at the Freemasons' Tavern , Great Queen Street , in the Covent Garden district of London. It
713-714: Was a Juror at the Exposition Universelle (1855) and a British Commissioner at the International Exposition (1867) , both held in Paris, and was awarded a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour . He also helped organise the Annual International Exhibitions held in London in the 1870s. Gibson was in addition a long-serving Councillor and benefactor of University College London and University College Hospital . Gibson
744-782: Was a founding Director of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes , an early housing association that built affordable and sanitary accommodation for rent. The second complex constructed by the Association was at Spitalfields and was open for viewing as part of the Great Exhibition. Gibson Gardens , completed in 1880 in Stoke Newington , was named in honour of Gibson's extended contributions to
775-399: Was active. However, unlike the colonies that depicted the general life of the colonies and kept a similar theme throughout the years, the exhibitions that represented India had a different theme/subject each year. In chronological order, these themes of the Indian portion of the exhibitions were woolens/pottery, jewelry, silks, and leather objects. The London Exhibition of 1871 was popular among
806-573: Was also part of the group that successfully lobbied Parliament in 1828 to repeal the Sacramental Test Act that prevented Nonconformists from holding public office, and chaired the controversial meeting of the committee of the South Place Chapel in 1834 that accepted the resignation of their minister William Johnson Fox – Fox had formed a close relationship with his ward Eliza Flower and separated from his wife. Gibson
837-708: Was born the week before her mother and namesake died. Gibson became a freeman of the Weavers' Company and took over his father's silk manufacturing business in 1829. From his warehouse in Spital Square, work was put out to several hundred weaving families in the Spitalfields area. He also employed weavers in Halstead , Essex and was a partner in the Depot silk throwing mill in Derby . Like other industrialists of
868-462: Was born to Thomas Gibson Snr and Charlotte née Field (who was Sir Francis Ronalds ' aunt) at 2 Canonbury Place Islington – his maternal grandparents and an aunt and uncle were living at No 6 and No 3 Canonbury Place respectively. His paternal grandfather (another Thomas Gibson – a laceman and banker) was associated with Sir Richard Arkwright ’s commercialisation of mechanised cotton spinning through his brother-in-law Samuel Need. Gibson's schooling
899-655: Was on the South Place chapel committee as well. He and his father were joint executors for the renowned Unitarian minister Thomas Belsham . Gibson helped his friend and third cousin Edwin Wilkins Field as a trustee of the Hibbert Trust for the first 25 years of its existence; its purpose was to support Nonconformist scholarship. He was also on Wilkin Field's committee that built University Hall as
930-517: Was partly the outcome of a previous club known as the Askesian Society . There were 13 founder members: William Babington , James Parkinson , Humphry Davy , George Bellas Greenough , Arthur Aikin , William Allen , Jacques Louis, Comte de Bournon , Richard Knight, James Laird, James Franck, William Haseldine Pepys , Richard Phillips , and William Phillips . It received its royal charter on 23 April 1825 from George IV . Since 1874,
961-918: Was with Unitarian ministers John Potticary in Blackheath (where Benjamin Disraeli was a classmate) and James Tayler (father of John James Tayler ) in Nottingham . In adulthood he resided in Bloomsbury ; Hanger Lane, Wood Green ; Elm House in Walthamstow (the birthplace of William Morris ); Westbourne Terrace, Paddington ; 10 Broadwater Down, Royal Tunbridge Wells ; and finally in Fitzjohn's Avenue , Hampstead . He married twice: to Mary Anne Pett and then to Eliza Cogan, daughter of Unitarian schoolmaster Eliezer Cogan , and his only child, Mary Anne,