Albert Ernest Kitson
Encyclopedia
Sir Albert Ernest Kitson KBE
, CMG
(21 March 1868 – 8 March 1937) was a British/Australian geologist
and naturalist
, winner of the Lyell Medal
in 1927.
, Cheshire
, England, the son of John Kitson from Manchester
and Margaret, née Neil, from Edinburgh
, Scotland
. On his father's side the family had been stonemasons whilst his maternal grandfather was a Scottish Presbyterian minister. Albert's early childhood was spent in Nagpur
in the Central Provinces of India
where his family moved when he was a year old. Around 1876 they emigrated to Victoria (Australia)
. Here John and Margaret taught at a State School in the gold-mining settlement of Enoch's Point in the Victorian Alps before John was appointed as head teacher of the, recently created, North Winton State School near Benalla. John died of angina in 1879 and so until her death in 1898 Margaret took over the running of the school which was attended by both her surviving children - Albert and his younger brother (John) Sidney.
) and subsequently at the University of Melbourne
. By 1903, he had risen to become second-in-command of the Geological Survey of Victoria of which he subsequently became senior geologist and for a time acting director. He contributed a number of studies on the mineral resources of Victoria and the Glacial beds of Tasmania
. In 1907, Albert Kitson recommended that the Buchan Caves
in Gippsland
, Victoria be set aside as a reservation to protect them from vandalism.
After his initial work in Victoria, Kitson spent much of his subsequent professional life in Africa. Recognising his geological talents Professor J. W. Gregory recommended him for a post as Principal mineral surveyor in Southern Nigeria
where he went on to discover coal and lignite.
In 1909 he discovered black bituminous coal along the Enugu-Udi escarpment in Nigeria
and high hopes were placed in such a potenitally important coal deposit. The town of Port Harcourt was built in 1912 as an outlet for this Nigerian coal and was linked with Enugu
via a railway line that extended northwards to Kaduna
. The Enugu
coal fields went into production in 1915 and caused an important immigration of population to Enugu earning the town the nickname of the 'Coal City'. The Nigerian coal turned out to be of poor quality and was used mainly for domestic consumption within the colonies, providing an important power resource for the railways and electricity.
Although Kitson's mission was to discover mineral deposits which might be exploited by the British Colonial authority he always combined this with a paternalistic concern to improve the material situation of the local populations. In 1912, after hearing a lecture by J.P. Unstead about the climatic conditions for wheat cultivation in North America, Kitson's response was to ask whether Unstead's findings might be applied to Nigeria. Kitson argued: "Could a wheat-growing industry be established it would be a great boon to the people of West Africa". In paternalistic tones he went on: "It might in Northern Nigeria replace to a large extent the less valuable millet now grown there, while in Southern Nigeria it could materially supplement the staple foods- cassava, yams and maize".
After Nigeria, Kitson continued his explorations in Africa, along with Edmund Thiele
, working particularly in the Gold Coast
(now Ghana
) between 1913-30 where he was first Principal of the Mineral Survey and afterwards Director of the Geological Survey. Kitson travelled round the colony by train and bicycle and discovered sizeable mineral deposits including bauxite
and manganese
. The first manganese ore which he discovered was in May 1914 when he found occurrences near the Sekondi-Kumassi Railway about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Tarkwa. These deposits were important to Britain's war effort, as supplies of these minerals from other locations had become difficult. During the last year of the war 32 000 tons of manganese, used in munitions production, were shipped to Britain
from the deposits Kitson had found in the Gold Coast. Then in February 1919, together with his colleague E.O.Teale (formerly Thiele), he discovered on the Birrim River the first deposits of diamonds to be found in the Gold Coast. The diamonds were of small size but high quality. Kitson observed that they were good crystals showing octahedron and dodecahedron. This proved to be a particularly valuable source of diamonds and the exportation of diamonds grew spectacularly. In 1934 the 2172563 carats (434.5 kg) of diamonds exported from the Gold Coast accounted for 39% of the world's supply that year.
Kitson is also associated with the development of hydro-electric power in the Gold Coast/Ghana. In 1915 he was the first to recommend building a dam at Akosombo
on the Volta River
to generate hydro-electricity, hoping to use this to process the bauxite deposits which he had discovered in the Kwahu
plateau the previous year. It was not until 1965 that the idea of the dam was put into effect when Ghana's first black president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah
, decided to generate hydropower as a means of modernizing the economy. This development created Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world.
, Buckinghamshire, where he called his house 'Benalta' (a reference to the original name of Benalla)- as an indication of his enduring passion for Australia. Here he continued to be consulted on geological questions connected to Africa. In particular he reported on gold-fields in Kenya
during the so-called Kakamega
Gold Rush
of the early 1930s where gold-mining once again showed its disrepect for the rights of local communities and the environment. In his report for the Colonial Office Kitson suggested that possibly as much as half of the gold being prospected was wasted by amateur techniques. In an article for the magazine The Spectator, Kitson compared the influx of amateur gold-prospectors to a similar situation in Klondike
in Canada in 1897-8 : "The road to Kakamega now resembles a miniature 'trail of 98' without the snow. Old mining men, from ex-Klondyke Pioneers to Australian backwoodsmen, are hurrying to the spot". But it seems that Kitson's initial report had helped create the rush in the first place by highlighting the rich pickings available. As The Spectator noted "Since the publication of Sir Albert Kitson's report, the population of the Kakamega goldfields had doubled". Kitson's article in this magazine merely fueled the rush still further.
Numerous honours came Kitson's way in recognition of his work. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1922. In 1927 Kitson was knighted (KBE) for his services to geology. The Geological Society of London
elected him as a fellow in 1897, awarded him the Wollaston fund in 1918 before honouring him with the very prestigious Lyell Medal
in 1927, an annual award given to an outstanding Earth Scientist. In 1929 he was appointed as President of the Geology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
and, following his retirement, he became President of the Geologists' Association in 1934. Kitson was an official representative of the British Government at International Geological Congresses (4 times) and at World Power Conferences (4 times). One of the Buchan Caves
in Victoria Australia is named after him, as are a fossil mollusk, a fossil eucalypt
and a living eucalypt
. The Eucalyptus tree Eucalyptus kitsoniana
bears his name. Kitson avenue in Takoradi in modern day Ghana is named in his honour as is Kitson Court in Benalla, Victoria, Australia and Kitson Place in the Florey
suburb of Canberra
, Australia.
For his obituary the journal Nature wrote: "SIR ALBERT KITSON, whose death occurred on 8 March, was a geologist of world-wide repute, and the discoveries which he made and which are now being exploited in many parts of the world entitle him to be classed as one of the foremost economic geologists of his time".
From his earliest age, Kitson took an interest in the natural world around him. Throughout his career he collected fossils which he would send to museums in Victoria and London. He was fascinated by the Victorian Lyrebird
, publishing an article on it for the Smithsonian Institution
. In the Australian bush he learnt a facility to handle snakes and this would later earn him a reputation on the Gold Coast
as a fetish priest
. He was also a keen photographer. By the end of his first three years in the Gold Coast he had taken around 450 photos of the colony. Many of these are preserved in Ghana's national archive (where they are wrongly attributed to E.A.Kitson). Kitson was also noted for his keen amateur interest in archeology, finding numerous artefacts which he made available to Museums in Africa and England.
Nicknamed 'Kittie', Kitson was a very religious serious-minded man and a teetotaler. He was quite strict as J.N.F. Green makes clear: "Lifelong self-discipline gave Kitson exceptional powers of endurance and concentration in difficult and trying conditions. Somewhat of a driver in the field, he never spared himself, taking the heaviest burden". L.J.Spencer, formerly keeper of minerals at the British Museum
, described Kitson as "a most energetic little man; his constant companion was a small prospecting pan". Spencer remembered "a journey with him in 1924 in the mining districts of northern Ontario; at every halt of the train he was out with his little pan in any ditch he could find".
At the award of his Lyell medal, Ormsby-Gore spoke of "his tireless energy, but his attractive and stimulating personality".
In 1910 he married Margaret Legge, née Walker (1870–1920). After her death he married Elinore Almond Ramage (1892–1963) in 1927. Like his mother she was the daughter of a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, although she herself was born in Victoria, Australia. Despite their advancing years (the couple had a combined age of around 100) they had two children: (Ernest) Neil (1928–2009) and David (1935-2011). Albert Kitson died in Beaconsfield on 8 March 1937 of broncho-pneumonia and influenza.
Sir Albert Kitson is sometimes wrongly referred to as Sir Arthur Kitson or Sir Alfred Kitson. He is also sometimes confused with his contemporary Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airdale
(1863–1944) who does not appear to be related.
H. Service & J. A. Dunn, The Geology of the Nsuta Manganese Ore Deposits, GCGS, Kensington printer, 1943; "A Special Correspondent", 'The Volta River Project', 'African Affairs, Vol. 55, No. 221 (Oct. 1956), pp. 287-293; Ann Brower Stahl, 'Innovation, diffusion, and culture contact: The holocene archaeology of Ghana', Journal of World Prehistory, Volume 8, Number 1, March 1994, pp. 51–112.
A.E. Kitson, 'Proposed reservation of limestone caves in the Buchan District, Eastern Gippland', Rec. geol. Surv. Vict., 1907, II(I) :37-44;
Leonard Darwin, Tempest Anderson, A. E. Kitson, E. O. Thiele, 'Some New Zealand Volcanoes: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jul. 1912), pp. 23–25;
Major Darwin, Walter Egerton
, Dr. Falconer & A. E. Kitson, 'Southern Nigeria: Some Considerations of Its Structure, People, and Natural History: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan. 1913), pp. 34–38;
A. E. Kitson, 'The Economic Minerals and Rocks of Victoria.', Department of Mines, Special Report, Melbourne; J. Kemp, Acting Government Printer; 1906. pp. 517–536;
Percy Cox, K. S. Sandford, Vaughan Cornish, L. J. Spencer, Albert E. Kitson, R. A. Bagnold, 'The Movement of Desert Sand: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 85, No. 4 (Apr. 1935), pp. 365–369;
A.Kitson, 'First Report on Kakamega Goldfield, Kenya',Mining Journal, London, 12 November 1932, p. 757-8;
A. E. Kitson, 'Notes on the Victoria Lyre-Bird'. Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report, 1906, 363-374;
Percy Cox, H. H. Austin, Albert E. Kitson, W. Campbell Smith, E. B. Worthington, 'Teleki's Volcano and the Lava Fields at the Southern End of Lake Rudolf: Discussion',The Geographical Journal, Vol. 85, No. 4 (Apr. 1935), pp. 336–341
Prof. Myres, R. H. Curtis, W. P. Rutter, J. Wrigley, A. E. Kitson, J. F. Unstead, 'The Climatic Limits of Wheat Cultivation, with Special Reference to North America: Discussion',
The Geographical Journal, Vol. 39, No. 5 (May 1912), pp. 441–446
A.E. Kitson, 'The possibility of Bui Gorge as the site of hydro-electric station'. Gold Coast. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 1. Accra, Gold Coast, 1925;
Albert Kitson, Memorandum On the Operations of the Geological Survey Department of the Gold Coast, 1913-30. Gold Coast, No. XXII of 1930-31. Accra: Printed by the Government Printer at the Government Printing Office, 1930;
A.E.Kitson, 'Observations on the geology of Mount Mary and the lower Werribee Valley'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 14, 1902 pp. 153–165;
John Dennant
, & A.E. Kitson, 'Catalogue of the described species of fossils (except Bryozoa and Foraminifera) in the Cainozoic fauna of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania'. Records of the Geological Survey of Victoria 1, 1903, pp. 89–147;
A. E. Kitson, Report on the Discovery of Diamonds at Abomosa, Northwest of Kibbi, Eastern Province, Gold Coast, Govt. Press, Accra, Gold Coast, 1919;
A.E. Kitson & E.O.Thiele, 'The Geography of the Upper Waitaki Basin, New Zealand', Geographical Journal, vol. 36, 1910, p. 431.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(21 March 1868 – 8 March 1937) was a British/Australian geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, winner of the Lyell Medal
Lyell Medal
The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal, awarded on the basis of research to an Earth Scientist of exceptional quality...
in 1927.
Early life
Kitson was born in North Street, AudenshawAudenshaw
Audenshaw is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the east side of the River Tame, along the course of both the M60 motorway and the Ashton Canal, southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of the city of Manchester...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England, the son of John Kitson from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Margaret, née Neil, from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. On his father's side the family had been stonemasons whilst his maternal grandfather was a Scottish Presbyterian minister. Albert's early childhood was spent in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
in the Central Provinces of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
where his family moved when he was a year old. Around 1876 they emigrated to Victoria (Australia)
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. Here John and Margaret taught at a State School in the gold-mining settlement of Enoch's Point in the Victorian Alps before John was appointed as head teacher of the, recently created, North Winton State School near Benalla. John died of angina in 1879 and so until her death in 1898 Margaret took over the running of the school which was attended by both her surviving children - Albert and his younger brother (John) Sidney.
Career
Albert Kitson joined the Public Service in Victoria in 1886 as a clerk. Whilst still employed in this function he also carried out geological field work. This fired a passion and encouraged him to take up part-time studies in geology at the Working Men's College (now the Royal Melbourne Institute of TechnologyRMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
) and subsequently at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. By 1903, he had risen to become second-in-command of the Geological Survey of Victoria of which he subsequently became senior geologist and for a time acting director. He contributed a number of studies on the mineral resources of Victoria and the Glacial beds of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. In 1907, Albert Kitson recommended that the Buchan Caves
Buchan Caves
The Buchan Caves are a group of caves that include Royal Cave and Fairy Cave, located in Buchan, Victoria, with limestone formations created by underground rivers cutting through limestone rock almost 400 million years ago...
in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, Victoria be set aside as a reservation to protect them from vandalism.
After his initial work in Victoria, Kitson spent much of his subsequent professional life in Africa. Recognising his geological talents Professor J. W. Gregory recommended him for a post as Principal mineral surveyor in Southern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
where he went on to discover coal and lignite.
In 1909 he discovered black bituminous coal along the Enugu-Udi escarpment in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and high hopes were placed in such a potenitally important coal deposit. The town of Port Harcourt was built in 1912 as an outlet for this Nigerian coal and was linked with Enugu
Enugu
Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the Igbo ethnic group. The city has a population of 722,664 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words Enu Ugwu...
via a railway line that extended northwards to Kaduna
Kaduna
Kaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
. The Enugu
Enugu
Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the Igbo ethnic group. The city has a population of 722,664 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words Enu Ugwu...
coal fields went into production in 1915 and caused an important immigration of population to Enugu earning the town the nickname of the 'Coal City'. The Nigerian coal turned out to be of poor quality and was used mainly for domestic consumption within the colonies, providing an important power resource for the railways and electricity.
Although Kitson's mission was to discover mineral deposits which might be exploited by the British Colonial authority he always combined this with a paternalistic concern to improve the material situation of the local populations. In 1912, after hearing a lecture by J.P. Unstead about the climatic conditions for wheat cultivation in North America, Kitson's response was to ask whether Unstead's findings might be applied to Nigeria. Kitson argued: "Could a wheat-growing industry be established it would be a great boon to the people of West Africa". In paternalistic tones he went on: "It might in Northern Nigeria replace to a large extent the less valuable millet now grown there, while in Southern Nigeria it could materially supplement the staple foods- cassava, yams and maize".
After Nigeria, Kitson continued his explorations in Africa, along with Edmund Thiele
Edmund Thiele
Edmund Oswald Thiele , later known as Sir Edmund Oswald Teale KBE was a prominent geologist from Doncaster, Victoria, Australia.-Career:...
, working particularly in the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
(now Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
) between 1913-30 where he was first Principal of the Mineral Survey and afterwards Director of the Geological Survey. Kitson travelled round the colony by train and bicycle and discovered sizeable mineral deposits including bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
and manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
. The first manganese ore which he discovered was in May 1914 when he found occurrences near the Sekondi-Kumassi Railway about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Tarkwa. These deposits were important to Britain's war effort, as supplies of these minerals from other locations had become difficult. During the last year of the war 32 000 tons of manganese, used in munitions production, were shipped to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from the deposits Kitson had found in the Gold Coast. Then in February 1919, together with his colleague E.O.Teale (formerly Thiele), he discovered on the Birrim River the first deposits of diamonds to be found in the Gold Coast. The diamonds were of small size but high quality. Kitson observed that they were good crystals showing octahedron and dodecahedron. This proved to be a particularly valuable source of diamonds and the exportation of diamonds grew spectacularly. In 1934 the 2172563 carats (434.5 kg) of diamonds exported from the Gold Coast accounted for 39% of the world's supply that year.
Kitson is also associated with the development of hydro-electric power in the Gold Coast/Ghana. In 1915 he was the first to recommend building a dam at Akosombo
Akosombo
Akosombo is a town in the east of Ghana in the Eastern Region. It is the site of the Akosombo Dam. Close to Akosombo is the Adomi Bridge at Atimpoku.- External links :*...
on the Volta River
Volta River
The Volta is a river in western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. It has three main tributaries—the Black Volta, White Volta and Red Volta...
to generate hydro-electricity, hoping to use this to process the bauxite deposits which he had discovered in the Kwahu
Kwahu
Kwahu is a region in south-central Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. There are two common spellings, Kwawu and Kwahu. The "w" spelling is the official spelling from the African Studies Centre, University of Ghana, and more resembles the pronunciation...
plateau the previous year. It was not until 1965 that the idea of the dam was put into effect when Ghana's first black president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...
, decided to generate hydropower as a means of modernizing the economy. This development created Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world.
Late life
After his retirement from the Gold Coast in 1930 Kitson moved to BeaconsfieldBeaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
, Buckinghamshire, where he called his house 'Benalta' (a reference to the original name of Benalla)- as an indication of his enduring passion for Australia. Here he continued to be consulted on geological questions connected to Africa. In particular he reported on gold-fields in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
during the so-called Kakamega
Kakamega
Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of . The town has a population of 73,607 ....
Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
of the early 1930s where gold-mining once again showed its disrepect for the rights of local communities and the environment. In his report for the Colonial Office Kitson suggested that possibly as much as half of the gold being prospected was wasted by amateur techniques. In an article for the magazine The Spectator, Kitson compared the influx of amateur gold-prospectors to a similar situation in Klondike
Klondike, Yukon
The Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....
in Canada in 1897-8 : "The road to Kakamega now resembles a miniature 'trail of 98' without the snow. Old mining men, from ex-Klondyke Pioneers to Australian backwoodsmen, are hurrying to the spot". But it seems that Kitson's initial report had helped create the rush in the first place by highlighting the rich pickings available. As The Spectator noted "Since the publication of Sir Albert Kitson's report, the population of the Kakamega goldfields had doubled". Kitson's article in this magazine merely fueled the rush still further.
Numerous honours came Kitson's way in recognition of his work. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1922. In 1927 Kitson was knighted (KBE) for his services to geology. The Geological Society of London
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
elected him as a fellow in 1897, awarded him the Wollaston fund in 1918 before honouring him with the very prestigious Lyell Medal
Lyell Medal
The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal, awarded on the basis of research to an Earth Scientist of exceptional quality...
in 1927, an annual award given to an outstanding Earth Scientist. In 1929 he was appointed as President of the Geology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
and, following his retirement, he became President of the Geologists' Association in 1934. Kitson was an official representative of the British Government at International Geological Congresses (4 times) and at World Power Conferences (4 times). One of the Buchan Caves
Buchan Caves
The Buchan Caves are a group of caves that include Royal Cave and Fairy Cave, located in Buchan, Victoria, with limestone formations created by underground rivers cutting through limestone rock almost 400 million years ago...
in Victoria Australia is named after him, as are a fossil mollusk, a fossil eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
and a living eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
. The Eucalyptus tree Eucalyptus kitsoniana
Eucalyptus kitsoniana
Eucalyptus kitsoniana, also known as the Gippsland Mallee or Bog Gum, is a species of native Australian tree. It is known for its adaptability and rapidity of growth. It is grown as a single or multi-trunked specimen....
bears his name. Kitson avenue in Takoradi in modern day Ghana is named in his honour as is Kitson Court in Benalla, Victoria, Australia and Kitson Place in the Florey
Florey
Florey may refer to several people:* Howard Walter Florey, Nobel Prize-winning Australian pharmacologist** Electoral district of Florey, is a state electoral district in South Australia named after Florey....
suburb of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia.
For his obituary the journal Nature wrote: "SIR ALBERT KITSON, whose death occurred on 8 March, was a geologist of world-wide repute, and the discoveries which he made and which are now being exploited in many parts of the world entitle him to be classed as one of the foremost economic geologists of his time".
From his earliest age, Kitson took an interest in the natural world around him. Throughout his career he collected fossils which he would send to museums in Victoria and London. He was fascinated by the Victorian Lyrebird
Lyrebird
A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, that form the genus, Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured...
, publishing an article on it for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. In the Australian bush he learnt a facility to handle snakes and this would later earn him a reputation on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
as a fetish priest
Fetish priest
In Ghana, Togo, and Benin and other parts of West Africa a fetish priest serves a spirit associated with an image or object that is usually kept in an enclosed place called a fetish shrine, often a simple mud hut with some kind of enclosure or fence around it. He performs rituals to consult and...
. He was also a keen photographer. By the end of his first three years in the Gold Coast he had taken around 450 photos of the colony. Many of these are preserved in Ghana's national archive (where they are wrongly attributed to E.A.Kitson). Kitson was also noted for his keen amateur interest in archeology, finding numerous artefacts which he made available to Museums in Africa and England.
Nicknamed 'Kittie', Kitson was a very religious serious-minded man and a teetotaler. He was quite strict as J.N.F. Green makes clear: "Lifelong self-discipline gave Kitson exceptional powers of endurance and concentration in difficult and trying conditions. Somewhat of a driver in the field, he never spared himself, taking the heaviest burden". L.J.Spencer, formerly keeper of minerals at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, described Kitson as "a most energetic little man; his constant companion was a small prospecting pan". Spencer remembered "a journey with him in 1924 in the mining districts of northern Ontario; at every halt of the train he was out with his little pan in any ditch he could find".
At the award of his Lyell medal, Ormsby-Gore spoke of "his tireless energy, but his attractive and stimulating personality".
In 1910 he married Margaret Legge, née Walker (1870–1920). After her death he married Elinore Almond Ramage (1892–1963) in 1927. Like his mother she was the daughter of a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, although she herself was born in Victoria, Australia. Despite their advancing years (the couple had a combined age of around 100) they had two children: (Ernest) Neil (1928–2009) and David (1935-2011). Albert Kitson died in Beaconsfield on 8 March 1937 of broncho-pneumonia and influenza.
Sir Albert Kitson is sometimes wrongly referred to as Sir Arthur Kitson or Sir Alfred Kitson. He is also sometimes confused with his contemporary Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airdale
Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airdale
Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, BA, 2nd Baron Airedale was a British peer, the son of Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale.He succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Airedale, of Gledhow, and 2nd Baronet Kitson on 16 March 1911....
(1863–1944) who does not appear to be related.
Sources
The Times, 9 March 1937; Proceedings of the Geological Society, Vol LXXXIII, 1927, pp XLVI- XLVII; John Frederick Norman Green, 'Obituary: Albert Ernest Kitson', Quarterly Journal, Geological Society no 94, 1938, pp. CXXV—CXXVII; L.J.Spencer, 'Biographical notes of mineralogists recently deceased', The Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society, no 165, June 1939, Vol XXV; John M. Saul, Arthur J. Boucot, Robert M. Finks 'Fauna of the Accraian Series (Devonian of Ghana) including a Revision of the Gastropod Plectonotus', Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 37, No. 5 (Sep. 1963), pp. 1042–1053; N. R. Junner & F. A. Bannister, The Diamond Deposits of the Gold Coast with Notes on Other Diamond Deposits in West Africa, GCGS, Gold Coast, 1943;H. Service & J. A. Dunn, The Geology of the Nsuta Manganese Ore Deposits, GCGS, Kensington printer, 1943; "A Special Correspondent", 'The Volta River Project', 'African Affairs, Vol. 55, No. 221 (Oct. 1956), pp. 287-293; Ann Brower Stahl, 'Innovation, diffusion, and culture contact: The holocene archaeology of Ghana', Journal of World Prehistory, Volume 8, Number 1, March 1994, pp. 51–112.
Kitson's publications include
A.E. Kitson, 'The Gold Coast', The Geographical Journal, vol XLVIII, no 5, November 1916, pp. 369–392;A.E. Kitson, 'Proposed reservation of limestone caves in the Buchan District, Eastern Gippland', Rec. geol. Surv. Vict., 1907, II(I) :37-44;
Leonard Darwin, Tempest Anderson, A. E. Kitson, E. O. Thiele, 'Some New Zealand Volcanoes: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jul. 1912), pp. 23–25;
Major Darwin, Walter Egerton
Walter Egerton
Walter Egerton had a long career in the administration of the British Empire, holding a number of senior positions including the Governorships of Lagos Colony Southern Nigeria and British Guiana .-Early career:...
, Dr. Falconer & A. E. Kitson, 'Southern Nigeria: Some Considerations of Its Structure, People, and Natural History: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan. 1913), pp. 34–38;
A. E. Kitson, 'The Economic Minerals and Rocks of Victoria.', Department of Mines, Special Report, Melbourne; J. Kemp, Acting Government Printer; 1906. pp. 517–536;
Percy Cox, K. S. Sandford, Vaughan Cornish, L. J. Spencer, Albert E. Kitson, R. A. Bagnold, 'The Movement of Desert Sand: Discussion', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 85, No. 4 (Apr. 1935), pp. 365–369;
A.Kitson, 'First Report on Kakamega Goldfield, Kenya',Mining Journal, London, 12 November 1932, p. 757-8;
A. E. Kitson, 'Notes on the Victoria Lyre-Bird'. Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report, 1906, 363-374;
Percy Cox, H. H. Austin, Albert E. Kitson, W. Campbell Smith, E. B. Worthington, 'Teleki's Volcano and the Lava Fields at the Southern End of Lake Rudolf: Discussion',The Geographical Journal, Vol. 85, No. 4 (Apr. 1935), pp. 336–341
Prof. Myres, R. H. Curtis, W. P. Rutter, J. Wrigley, A. E. Kitson, J. F. Unstead, 'The Climatic Limits of Wheat Cultivation, with Special Reference to North America: Discussion',
The Geographical Journal, Vol. 39, No. 5 (May 1912), pp. 441–446
A.E. Kitson, 'The possibility of Bui Gorge as the site of hydro-electric station'. Gold Coast. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 1. Accra, Gold Coast, 1925;
Albert Kitson, Memorandum On the Operations of the Geological Survey Department of the Gold Coast, 1913-30. Gold Coast, No. XXII of 1930-31. Accra: Printed by the Government Printer at the Government Printing Office, 1930;
A.E.Kitson, 'Observations on the geology of Mount Mary and the lower Werribee Valley'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 14, 1902 pp. 153–165;
John Dennant
John Dennant
John Dennant was an English-born educational administrator and geologist, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1903....
, & A.E. Kitson, 'Catalogue of the described species of fossils (except Bryozoa and Foraminifera) in the Cainozoic fauna of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania'. Records of the Geological Survey of Victoria 1, 1903, pp. 89–147;
A. E. Kitson, Report on the Discovery of Diamonds at Abomosa, Northwest of Kibbi, Eastern Province, Gold Coast, Govt. Press, Accra, Gold Coast, 1919;
A.E. Kitson & E.O.Thiele, 'The Geography of the Upper Waitaki Basin, New Zealand', Geographical Journal, vol. 36, 1910, p. 431.
External links
- http://www.beg.utexas.edu/energyecon/IDA/USAID/RC/Guide_to_Electric%20Power_in_Ghana.pdf
- http://www.lwr.kth.se/Publikationer/PDF_Files/LWR_EX_06_04.PDF
- History of Akosombo dam at www.ghanaweb.com
- The History - Volta River Authority at www.vra.com
- http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/FILES/word/ProjectDocuments/Volta/volta%20basin%20water%20balance.pdf
- More about Kete Krachi at pacodepgh.org
- http://waterandfood.org/fileadmin/CPWF_Documents/Documents/First_call_projects/PN6.pdf
- Ghana-VALCO Negotiations at www.ghanaweb.com
- Search the Heritage Register and Inventory at www.heritage.vic.gov.au
- http://www.nigerians-abroad.com/news/states/southeast/feature-the-changing-face-of-enugu/
- http://www.afriore.com/projects/kenya/
- http://www.loyokezie.com/tag/badagry-golf-course/
- Kitson, Sir Albert Ernest (1868 - 1937) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online at www.adb.online.anu.edu.au
- http://www.modernghana.com/news/201650/1/the-evolution-of-the-ghana-chamber-of-mines-from-1.html