Richard John Griffith

Sir Richard Griffith

Sir Richard John Griffith (* 20th September 1784 in Dublin ; † 22. September 1878 ) was an Irish geologist , mining - engineer and chairman of the Building Authority of Ireland. Under his direction the first geological map of all of Ireland was completed and he was the author of the soil estimate of Ireland known as Griffith's Valuation .

Training and initial work experience

Griffith was born on Hume Street in Dublin. In 1799 he entered the service of the Royal Irish Artillery , but retired from military service after a year when the Corps was united with that of England , and devoted himself to civil engineering and mining . He studied chemistry , mineralogy and mining with William Nicholson in London for two years . After completing his studies, he first conducted investigations into the mining areas in various parts of England, Wales and Scotland . During a stay in Cornwall discovered he nickel - and cobalt - ores in material that was discarded as worthless. After the field work, he completed his studies in Edinburgh with Robert Jameson and other teachers. In 1807 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , and in 1808 he became a member of the newly formed Geological Society of London .

As an engineer and geologist in Ireland

In the same year he returned to Ireland. In 1809 he was commissioned by the Commission to investigate the nature and extent of the moors in Ireland and to look for methods to develop them. In 1812 he was appointed Professor of Geology and Mining Science at the Royal Dublin Society , and later succeeded Richard Kirwan as State Mine Inspector. A short time later he decided to compile a geological map of Ireland. Over the next several years he conducted numerous explorations and published many reports on ore districts in Ireland. This material formed the basis of the first geological map of the country, published in 1815. However, the majority of the map goes back to the work of Patrick Ganly , a fact Griffith was reluctant to admit.

In 1822 Griffith became an engineer with the City of Cork, County Kerry and Limerick Construction Department, repairing old roads and building new roads into inaccessible corners of the country until 1830.

Commissioner of Valuation

In 1825 he was finally commissioned by the government to re-establish the borders in Ireland. This work included not only the boundaries of the counties, but also those of every other administrative unit such as the properties of the Irish barons, rural parishes and parishes , and served in preparation for the first survey of Ireland by the Ordnance Survey . In addition, he worked on the preparation of a parliamentary decree, which should serve the general estimate of Ireland.

The edict appeared in 1826 and Griffith was appointed Commissioner of Valuation in 1827 . However, his work did not begin until 1830, when the new six-inch maps ( six-inches-to-the-mile , approximately 1: 10,560 scale ) of the Ordnance Survey appeared, which he had to use according to the law as the basis for the estimate. The estimate maps of Griffith's Valuation contained the details of the various local and public soil evaluation, with their creation Griffith was until 1868, that employs nearly 40 years.

The extensive research carried out as part of the estimate provided him with ample material to improve his geological map, and the second edition was published in 1835, followed by a smaller-scale map ( one-inch-to-the-mile , scale 1: 63,360). This third edition was published in 1839 by the Board of Ordnance and was published again in 1855. In 1850 he was appointed Chairman of the Irish Building Authority. In recognition of his great work and other scientific achievements, the Geological Society awarded him the Wollaston Medal in 1854 , and he was promoted to baronet in 1858 .

Final rest

He died on September 22, 1878 at the age of 95 in his home at Fitzwilliam Place No. 2 in Dublin. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the Geological Society of London and the last survivor of the long-defunct Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. He was buried next to his wife Maria Jane in Mount Jerome Cemetery at Harold's Cross, Dublin. His tombstone bears the inscription:

"Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord"

"Not lazy in duty, ardent in spirit, a servant of the Lord"

Fonts

• Outline of the Geology of Ireland. 1838.
• Notice respecting the Fossils of the Mountain Limestone of Ireland, as compared with those of Great Britain, and also with the Devonian System. 1842.
• with Frederick McCoy : A Synopsis of the Characters of the Carboniferous Limestone Fossils of Ireland. 1844.
• with Frederick McCoy: A Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils of Ireland. 1846 ( archive.org )

literature

• Griffith, Sir Richard John . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 12 : Gichtel - harmonium . London 1910, p. 596 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
• Patrick N. Wyse Jackson: Sir Richard John Griffith (1784-1878): A Portrait in Oils by Stephen Catterson Smith (1806-72) . In: Irish Journal of Earth Sciences . tape 26 , 2008, p. 45–51 ( ria.ie [PDF; 972 kB ]).

Richard John Griffith memoranda appeared in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society , Volume xxxv, p. 39; and in Geological Magazine , 1878, p. 524 (with bibliography).

Web links

• Sir Richard John Griffith, 1st Baronet. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Accessed April 22, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wyse Jackson 2008, p. 50