Thomas George Bonney

“ After a serious illness he spent two years in a mercantile house at Civita Vecchia, returning to England in 1851, when he joined his father's business of carver and guilder, studying at the school of design, Somerset House. Next year he followed his brother Henry to the Royal School of Mines, gaining at the end of the two years' course the duke of Cornwall's and the council's scholarships. In 1854 he studied at the mining school of Freiberg in Saxony, and late in the autumn both brothers left England for India with appointments on its geological survey. ”

“ In 1860 he started on his own account in Liverpool as architect and civil engineer and built up a good business, being architect to the Liverpool school board during its existence from 1870 to 1902, and laying out the Blundellsands estate in 1868, on which he resided from 1868 till death. He died at his house, Park Corner, Blundellsands, on 26 May 1909, and was buried at Sefton, Lancashire.
Always fond of natural history, Reade began serious work in geology when about thirty-five years old, and lost none of the opportunities for that study which his profession offered. ”

“ At the outbreak of the Mutiny, McMahon, then a lieutenant and assistant commissioner of the Sialkot district, in which was a cantonment, was in full charge owing to his superior's illness. On 9 July 1857 the native troops rose, and after murdering some Europeans, including four of their officers, decamped to join the rebels. But McMahon contrived to send a note to General John Nicholson [q.v.] , who restored order at Sialkot so completely that McMahon was able to force the surrender of some 140 refugee rebels. ”

“ He went through the full course, obtained the associateship, the Duke of Cornwall's scholarship, the Edward Forbes medal and prize in palaeontology, and the Murchison medal in geology, and in his summer holidays worked in the Lake district with James Clifton Ward [q. v.] . Dawson returned to Canada in 1872, and next year, after reporting on some mining properties in Nova Scotia and giving lectures at Morrin College, Quebec, was appointed geologist and botanist to the commission for drawing the boundary line between Canada and the United States from the Lake of the Woods to British Columbia. ”

“ Attached to the Persian Boundary commission, he went to Teheran, visited the Elburz Mountains, and returned to England from the Caspian by Moscow, arriving home in September 1872. The hardships of this expedition affected his health, and during two years' enforced leave he prepared a volume for the report of the boundary commission (published in 1876) . Some important work on the geology of Sind was done after his return to India in 1874, but his time was chiefly occupied by office duties in Calcutta. ”

“ Settling in London, although he lived part of the year on property at West Holme, Dorset, and at Knaresborough, he began his career as a geologist. Engaging actively in the work of the Geologists' Association, he served as secretary from 1874 to 1877, and supplied many careful reports of their excursions. ”

“ In November 1862, on returning from leave in England, he was raised to the post of deputy superintendent, and employed during the next four years in the survey of the Bombay presidency, determining among other things the age of the Deccan traps. Late in 1867 he was attached to the Abyssinian expedition and accompanied the troops to Magdala, making large collections, both geological and zoological. Work on these occupied much time after his return to India in October 1868, and brought him to England on six months' service leave ”

“ McMAHON, CHARLES ALEXANDER (1830–1904) , general and geologist, born at Highgate on 23 March 1830, was son of Captain Alexander McMahon of Irish descent, formerly in the Indian service, by his wife Aim, daughter of Major Patrick Mansell (British army) . After education at a private school, he obtained a commission in the 39th Madras native infantry on 4 Feb. ”

“ He was also a corresponding member of other European, colonial and American societies, was president of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science in 1901 at the Hobart Town meeting, and was first president of the board of governors of the New Zealand Institute, by which a memorial medal and prize was founded.
In 1863 Hutton married Annie Gouger, daughter of Dr. WiUiam Montgomerie of the Bengal mihtary service, who introduced gutta-percha into practical use in Europe. His wife, three sons (one an officer in the royal engineers) and three daughters survived him. ”

“ Facing without flinching much toil and hardship, he made a large collection of natural history specimens, now preserved partly at Kew and partly in the British Museum, and his excellent report, published in 1875, described a section over 800 miles in length, of which some 300 were previously unknown even to geographers. ”

“ Early in 1895 he made a journey in India, travelling from Bombay as far as Srinagar. Hudleston, who received the Geological Society's Wollaston medal in 1897, presided over the geological section of the British Association in 1898. ”

“ In petrology he merits a high place among the pioneers, for in 1881 he had 'independently arrived at the conclusion, which then found only a very few supporters in England, that, as a general rule, the extent of metamorphism affords an indication of the relative age of ancient rocks, and in 1884 he maintained, as is now generally admitted, that foliation, in certain crystalline rocks, was due to a flowing of the mass while it was still viscid or partly crystallised. ”

“ Sorby's scientific work is distinguished by versatility and originality. His greatest advances were in geology, but ' scarcely any branch of knowledge or question of scientific interest escaped his attention : the use of the spectroscope in connection with the microscope ; the nature of the colouring matter in blood, hair, follage, flowers, birds' eggs, and minerals ”

“ In 1902 he published 'The Lesson of Evolution,' a series of essays, which at the time of his death he had enlarged and almost rewritten. This was printed for private circulation in 1907, but deserves to be more widely read. His last article, written while in England, on 'What is Life ?' appeared in the 'Hibbert Journal' (1905) . ”

“ A very practical result of his studies was that when the tunnel under the Mersey was projected in 1873 he predicted that it would encounter a buried river channel filled with drift; his prophecy was verified in 1885. He also made valuable collections of specimens from boulders and of marine shells from the glacial drifts. ”

“ The danger ended, he resumed work in the field, and was engaged in 18589 on the Rariganj coalfield. After November 1860 he spent two years in investigating the geology of Burma, discovering an extinct volcano near Pagan, and making extensive zoological collections. ”

“ His published papers are nearly 170 in number, and embrace a great variety of subjects. 'His many-sided accomplishments gave him a notable place among geologists, geographers, palaeontologists, and zoologists.' He was master of the Cordwainers' Company 1900-1. He shot well, and on the whole enjoyed good health till near the end. ”

“ His presidential addresses to societies are conspicuous for painstaking research and breadth of view. Tall, spare, and strongly built, a keen sportsman with both rod and gun, he enjoyed good health till the last few years of his hfe. He was J. P. for both Dorset and the West Riding. He died suddenly at West Holme, Dorset, on 29 January 1909. ”