Valentine Ball

Valentine Ball (1843–1894)

Valentine Ball (14 July 1843 – 15 June 1894) was an Irish geologist, son of Robert Ball (1802-1857) and a brother of Sir Robert Ball. Ball worked in India for twenty years before returning to take up a position in Ireland.

Valentine was the second son of Robert Ball and was born in Dublin. He received his early education at Chester and later at the private schools of Dr. Henry and Dr. Benson at Dublin. He then went to the University of Dublin obtaining a B.A. in 1864, M.A. in 1872 and LL.D. in 1889. He was elected Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1874.^[1]

Ball joined the Geological Survey of India in 1864 and served until 1881. He also contributed to studies in ornithology and anthropology.^[2] He was made a Fellow of the Calcutta University (1875). His expertise on the central Indian region in search of coal-fields also led to his advice being sought for the best rail route between Bombay and Calcutta. Returning to Ireland in 1881, he became professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Dublin. In 1883 he became director of the Dublin Science and Art Museum, now the National Museum of Ireland. He was a secretary of the Royal Geological Society.^[1]

He was a regular contributor to Stray Feathers, the ornithological journal founded by Allan Octavian Hume. The Andaman scops owl (Otus balli) was named after him by Hume. His writings included Jungle-Life in India (1880), The Diamonds, Coal, and Gold of India (1881), The Economic Geology of India (1881), translation of Tavernier's Travels in India (1889) and numerous notes to the journals.^[1]

Ball married the eldest daughter of John Stewart Moore, of Moyarget, Antrim in 1869 and had four children.^[1]

Publications

Ball, V. 1874. On the avifauna of the Chutia, Nagpur Division S. W. frontier of Bengal. Stray Feathers 2: 355 440.
Ball, V. 1877. Notes on birds observed in the region between Mahanadi and Godavari rivers. Stray Feathers 5: 410-420
Ball, V. 1878. From Ganges to the Godaveri, on the distribution of birds. Stray Feathers 7: 191 235.
Ball, Valentine (1880). Jungle life in India. Thomas de la Rue & Co. London.
Ball, V. 1881. The Diamonds, Coal and Gold of India. scanned
Ball, V. 1885. On the identification of the animals and plants of India which were known to early Greek authors.

References

1 2 3 4 Anonymous (1895). "Obituary—Prof. Valentine Ball, C.B.". Geological Magazine. 2 (8): 382–383. doi:10.1017/S0016756800123386.
↑ Ball, V. "The ethnology of Indian races.". The Irish builder. 21 (461): 73–74.

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