William Whitaker

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William Whitaker was born on 4th May 1836 in London, and was educated at St Albans School and University College, London, where he gained a degree in chemistry in 1855. He became a geologist, specializing initially in water surveying and mapping. His thorough researches, wide knowledge, and his numerous publications, especially his The Geology of London and of Part of the Thames Valley (1889) justly earned him the description “the father of English hydrogeology”. He retired in 1896 but continued to work as a water engineer. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society in 1859, and FRS in 1883. He was president of numerous societes, including both the Geologists’ Association and the Geological Society and, and was a recipient of the latter’s prestigious Wollaston Medal in 1923. He died in Croydon, Surrey on 15th January 1925.

[edit] References

• Entry in Who's Who
• W. H. George: entry in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography