Joseph Henry Collins

Joseph Henry Collins
Born 16 March 1841(1841-03-16)
London
Died 12 April 1916(1916-04-12) (aged 75)
Crinnis, Cornwall
Residence Cornwall
Citizenship British
Fields Geology, Mining engineering, Mineralogy
Institutions RGSC, RCPS, RIC, The Miners Association, IMM, Geological Society
Notable awards Bolitho Medal of the RGSC, 1898

Joseph Henry Collins FGS, (1841–1916), mining engineer, mineralogist and geologist. Of Cornish descent, he was born in London.[1]

Contents

Career

He was at various times the secretary or president of the three learned societies of Cornwall - Royal Geological Society of Cornwall (President from 1903–1904, and 1911–1912) [2], the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society and the Royal Institution of Cornwall. He also lectured for, and was secretary of, The Miners Association.

Collins pioneered systematic exploration for china clay in the St Austell area, and had a long association with the area, as well as introducing both the filter press and the monitor to the china clay industry.[1]

Contributed significantly to the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and was awarded the Bolitho Medal by the RGSC in 1898.[3]

Collins was the founding Secretary of the Mineralogical Society in 1876 and was involved in founding the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, becoming its Vice-President in 1892.

Chief chemist and metallurgist Rio Tinto mines in Spain.

Life

Collins was educated at The Working Men's College and Birkbeck College in London.

His sons included Arthur L. Collins, a mine manager murdered in America, and William Edward Collins, Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe.

He died at his home in Crinnis, near St Austell, on 12 April 1916.[4] A memorial to him was erected by the Mineralogical Society in Charlestown church.

In 2008, the Mineralogical Society established a new annual award, The Collins Medal[5], to recognise the lifetime contributions of scientists to pure or applied aspects of Mineral Sciences and associated studies. The Collins medal was first awarded in 2010, to Dr Henry Emeleus.

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ a b Bristow, Colin M.. "Joseph Henry Collins 1841-1916". Mineralogical Society. http://www.minersoc.org/pages/msinfo/collins.html. Retrieved 2008-12-14. 
  2. ^ K. F. G. Hosking & G. J. Shrimpton, ed. "Patrons and Presidents". Present Views of Some Aspects of the Geology of Cornwall and Devon. Penzance: Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. pp. iii. 
  3. ^ K. F. G. Hosking & G. J. Shrimpton, ed. "The William Bolitho Gold Medal". Present Views of Some Aspects of the Geology of Cornwall and Devon. Penzance: Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. pp. iv. 
  4. ^ Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 1916, p393
  5. ^ Collins medal, Mineralogical Society