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Geological Society of London

WOOD, Searles Valentine, the younger (1830-1884)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 378 LDGSL/713

Held at: Geological Society of London

Title: WOOD, Searles Valentine, the younger (1830-1884)

Date(s): [1862-1881]

Level of description: Series

Extent: 2 files and 19 maps

Name of creator(s): WOOD | Searles Valentine, the younger | 1830-1884 | geologist

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Searles Valentine Wood jnr, was born on February 1830 at Hasketon, Suffolk. His father, Searles Valentine Wood senior (1798-1880), was a keen geologist and his only child followed in his footsteps, working with him on fossiliferous Eocene deposits Hordle cliff, Hampshire, as early as 1843.

Wood attended King's College School (the grammar school which was once attached to King's College London) between 1839-1843 and continued his education in France until 1845. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1851, but after practising law in Woodbridge, Suffolk for a number of years, gave it up to purse geology full-time.

Wood's main focus of interest was on tertiary and post-tertiary geology, and is best known for his study of glacial beds and deposits on which he published nearly sixty papers, many in conjunction with his friend Frederic William Harmer. Although a virtual invalid for the last ten years of his life, he continued to study and to submit papers for publication right up to his death on 14 December 1884.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Searles Valentine Wood Jnr, [1862-1881], comprising:

Illustrated manuscript, 'A memoir in explanation of the structure of the glacial and post glacial beds.... in the Thames valley between London and the sea...', 1867; Ordnance Survey maps of East Anglia and the Thames Valley, annotated with geological lines, notes and colouring by Searles Valentine WOOD jnr, which were used as field maps during his research into glacial deposits in the south east of England, [1862-1881]; File of letters concerning the complaint by Searles Valentine Wood jnr about the alterations made to Joseph Prestwich's published paper on the Crag of Norfolk, Mar-Apr 1875.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

The original arrangement of the LDGSL series was not hierarchical. Material by the same creator/author was not collected together, instead each file or distinct item was given a different reference (not always sequential). In order to make them easier to find, where possible the papers relating to Searles Valentine Wood jnr are placed together, however there will be other material relating to him elsewhere in the collection.

Conditions governing access:

Access is by appointment only, daily readership fee is applicable unless you are a member of the Society. Please contact the Archivist for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Finding aids:

Online, detailed catalogue will be available shortly.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

For Frederic William Harmer's papers, see: LDGSL/714.

Notebooks and papers, 1865-1880, including 627 letters to Frederic William Harmer, 1864-1875, held by the British Geological Survey (ref: IGS1 and IGS3); Correspondence with Charles Lyell, 1869-1874, held by Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections (ref: Lyell 1); Letters to Thomas McKenny Hughes, Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives (ref: Add. 7652).

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; obituary, 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society', vol 41 (1985), proceedings, pp 40-41. Description by Caroline Lam.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: October 2012


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Geological mapping | Cartography | Surveying
Geological surveys | Surveys | Field work | Research work
Geologists | Scientists | Scientific personnel | Personnel | People by occupation | People
Physical geography | Geography

Personal names
Wood | Searles Valentine, the younger | 1830-1884 | geologist

Corporate names

Places
Essex | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Norfolk | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Suffolk | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe