John Walter Gregory
Encyclopedia
John Walter Gregory, FRS, (27 January 1864 – 2 June 1932) was a British geologist
and explorer, known principally for his work on glacial geology and on the geography
and geology of Australia
and East Africa
.
, the only son of a John James Gregory, a wool merchant, and his wife Jane, née Lewis. Gregory was educated at Stepney Grammar School and at 15 became a clerk at wool sales in London
. He later took evening classes at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (now Birkbeck, University of London
). He matriculated in 1886, graduated B.Sc.
with first-class honours in 1891 and D. Sc.
(London) in 1893. In 1887 he was appointed an assistant in the geological department of the Natural History Museum
, London
.
in three volumes (1896, 1899 and 1909), and a monograph on the Jurassic Corals of Cutch (1900). He obtained leave at various times to travel in Europe, the West Indies, North America, and East Africa. The Great Rift Valley (1896), is an interesting account of a journey to Mount Kenya
and Lake Baringo
made in 1892-3. Gregory was the first to mount a specifically scientific expedition to the mountain. He made some key observations about the geology which still stand. In 1896 he did excellent work as naturalist to Sir Marten Conway's expedition across Spitsbergen
. His well-known memoir on glacial geology
written in collaboration with Edmund J. Garwood belongs to this period.
Gregory's polar and glaciological work led to his brief selection and service in 1900-1 as director of the civilian scientific staff of the Discovery Expedition
. The expedition was in planning during this period, and had not yet set sail for Antarctica when Gregory was compelled to resign from his position upon learning that he was outranked by the expedition's commander, Robert Falcon Scott
.
had created new chair in geology and mineralogy created after the death of Frederick McCoy
; on 11 December 1899 Gregory was appointed professor of geology and began his duties in the following February. Gregory was less than five years in Australia but his influence lasted for many years after he left. He succeeded in doing a large amount of work, his teaching was most successful, and he was personally popular. But he came to the university when it was in great financial trouble, there was no laboratory worthy of the name, and the council could not promise any immediate improvement. In 1904 he accepted the chair of geology at Glasgow
, and he was back in Great Britain in October of that year. Besides carrying out his professional work he had many other activities during his stay in Australia; during the summer of 1901-2 he had spent his vacation in Central Australia
and made a journey around Lake Eyre
. An account of this, The Dead Heart of Australia, was published in 1906, dedicated to the geologists of Australia. He also published a popular book on The Foundation of British East Africa (1901), The Austral Geography (1902 and 1903), for school use, and The Geography of Victoria (1903). Another volume, The Climate of Australasia (1904), was expanded from his presidential address to the geographical section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science which met at Dunedin
in January 1904. The Mount Lyell Mining Field, Tasmania, was published in 1905. This does not give a complete impression of Gregory's activities in Australia, for he was director of the Geological Survey of Victoria from 1901, in which year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society
, London, and he was able also to find time for university extension lecturing.
(Glasgow chair in geology 1929-1937). He made several expeditions including one to Cyrenaica
in North Africa
in 1908, where he showed the same interest in archaeology as in his own subjects; another was to southern Angola
in 1912. His journey to Tibet
with his son is recorded in To the Alps of Chinese Tibet by J. W. and C. J. Gregory (1923). His other books on geology and geography include:
He wrote books in other subjects as well, such as The Story of the Road (1931), and he dabbled in eugenics
with The Menace of Colour (1925) and Human Migration and the Future (1928).
In January 1932 Gregory went on an expedition to South America
to explore and study the volcanic
and earthquake
centres of the Andes
. His boat overturned and he was drowned in the Urubamba River
in southern Peru
on 2 June 1932.
from 1928 to 1930, and was awarded many scientific honours including the Bigsby Medal
in 1905. Apart from his books he also wrote about 300 papers on geological geographical, and sociological subjects.
Gregory was a modest man, sincere, with wide interests. A fast thinker who did an extraordinary amount of work, it is possible that as a geologist he sometimes generalized from insufficient data; his last work Dalradian Geology was adversely reviewed in the Geological Magazine. Nevertheless he was one of the most prominent geologists of his period, widely recognized outside his own country. Most of his books could be read with interest by both men of science and the general public, and as scientist, teacher, traveller, and man of letters, he had much influence on the knowledge of his time.
.
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and explorer, known principally for his work on glacial geology and on the geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and geology of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
.
Early life
Gregory was born in Bow, LondonBow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
, the only son of a John James Gregory, a wool merchant, and his wife Jane, née Lewis. Gregory was educated at Stepney Grammar School and at 15 became a clerk at wool sales in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He later took evening classes at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (now Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
). He matriculated in 1886, graduated B.Sc.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
with first-class honours in 1891 and D. Sc.
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
(London) in 1893. In 1887 he was appointed an assistant in the geological department of the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Career
Gregory remained at the museum until 1900 and was responsible for a Catalogue of the Fossil BryozoaBryozoa
The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals, are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia...
in three volumes (1896, 1899 and 1909), and a monograph on the Jurassic Corals of Cutch (1900). He obtained leave at various times to travel in Europe, the West Indies, North America, and East Africa. The Great Rift Valley (1896), is an interesting account of a journey to Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
and Lake Baringo
Lake Baringo
Lake Baringo is, after Lake Turkana, the most northern of the Great Rift Valley lakes of Kenya, with a surface area of about and an elevation of about . The lake is fed by several rivers, El Molo, Perkerra and Ol Arabel, and has no obvious outlet; the waters are assumed to seep through lake...
made in 1892-3. Gregory was the first to mount a specifically scientific expedition to the mountain. He made some key observations about the geology which still stand. In 1896 he did excellent work as naturalist to Sir Marten Conway's expedition across Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
. His well-known memoir on glacial geology
Glaciology
Glaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
written in collaboration with Edmund J. Garwood belongs to this period.
Gregory's polar and glaciological work led to his brief selection and service in 1900-1 as director of the civilian scientific staff of the Discovery Expedition
Discovery Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
. The expedition was in planning during this period, and had not yet set sail for Antarctica when Gregory was compelled to resign from his position upon learning that he was outranked by the expedition's commander, Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
.
Australia
The University of MelbourneUniversity 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...
had created new chair in geology and mineralogy created after the death of Frederick McCoy
Frederick McCoy
Sir Frederick McCoy, KCMG, FRS was an Irish palaeontologist and museum administrator, active in Australia.-Early life:McCoy was the son of Dr Simon McCoy, M.D. and was born in Dublin; some sources have his year of birth as 1823, but 1817 is the most likely...
; on 11 December 1899 Gregory was appointed professor of geology and began his duties in the following February. Gregory was less than five years in Australia but his influence lasted for many years after he left. He succeeded in doing a large amount of work, his teaching was most successful, and he was personally popular. But he came to the university when it was in great financial trouble, there was no laboratory worthy of the name, and the council could not promise any immediate improvement. In 1904 he accepted the chair of geology at Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, and he was back in Great Britain in October of that year. Besides carrying out his professional work he had many other activities during his stay in Australia; during the summer of 1901-2 he had spent his vacation in Central Australia
Central Australia
Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
and made a journey around Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia and 18th largest in the world...
. An account of this, The Dead Heart of Australia, was published in 1906, dedicated to the geologists of Australia. He also published a popular book on The Foundation of British East Africa (1901), The Austral Geography (1902 and 1903), for school use, and The Geography of Victoria (1903). Another volume, The Climate of Australasia (1904), was expanded from his presidential address to the geographical section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science which met at Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
in January 1904. The Mount Lyell Mining Field, Tasmania, was published in 1905. This does not give a complete impression of Gregory's activities in Australia, for he was director of the Geological Survey of Victoria from 1901, in which year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, London, and he was able also to find time for university extension lecturing.
Glasgow
Gregory occupied his chair at Glasgow for 25 years and obtained a great reputation both as a teacher and as an administrator. After his retirement in 1929, he was succeeded by Sir Edward Battersby BaileyEdward Battersby Bailey
Sir Edward Battersby Bailey FRS was an English geologist.Bailey was born in Marsden, Kent, and educated at Kendal grammar school and Clare College, Cambridge. He gained first-class honours in both parts one and two of the natural sciences tripos...
(Glasgow chair in geology 1929-1937). He made several expeditions including one to Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
in 1908, where he showed the same interest in archaeology as in his own subjects; another was to southern Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
in 1912. His journey to Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
with his son is recorded in To the Alps of Chinese Tibet by J. W. and C. J. Gregory (1923). His other books on geology and geography include:
- Geography: Structural Physical and Compartitive (1908)
- Geology (Scientific Primers Series) (1910)
- The Nature and Origin of Fiords (1913)
- Geology of To-Day (1915), in the Cambridge manuals of science and literature
- Rift Valleys and Geology of East Africa (1921), a continuation of the studies contained in his volume published in 1896
- The Elements of Economic Geology (1928)
- General Stratigraphy (in collaboration with B. H. Barrett) (1931)
- Dalradian Geology (1931)
He wrote books in other subjects as well, such as The Story of the Road (1931), and he dabbled in eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
with The Menace of Colour (1925) and Human Migration and the Future (1928).
In January 1932 Gregory went on an expedition to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to explore and study the volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
and earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
centres of the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
. His boat overturned and he was drowned in the Urubamba River
Urubamba River
The Urubamba River is a river in Peru. A partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River, it rises in the Andes to the south-east of Cuzco near the Puno Region border, where it is called the Vilcanota River . In the Sacred Valley, between Písac and Ollantaytambo, it is also called the Wilcamayu...
in southern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
on 2 June 1932.
Legacy
Gregory married Audrey, daughter of the Rev. Ayrton Chaplin, and had a son and a daughter. He was president of the Geological Society of LondonGeological 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"...
from 1928 to 1930, and was awarded many scientific honours including the Bigsby Medal
Bigsby Medal
The Bigsby Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established by John Jeremiah Bigsby. It is awarded for the study of American geology and recipients must be under 45 years of age.-Bigsby Medalists:List of Medallists...
in 1905. Apart from his books he also wrote about 300 papers on geological geographical, and sociological subjects.
Gregory was a modest man, sincere, with wide interests. A fast thinker who did an extraordinary amount of work, it is possible that as a geologist he sometimes generalized from insufficient data; his last work Dalradian Geology was adversely reviewed in the Geological Magazine. Nevertheless he was one of the most prominent geologists of his period, widely recognized outside his own country. Most of his books could be read with interest by both men of science and the general public, and as scientist, teacher, traveller, and man of letters, he had much influence on the knowledge of his time.
Selected works
- Gregory, J.W. 1911. The terms "Denudation," "Erosion," "Corrosion," and "Corrasion". The Geographical Journal 37(2):189-195.
- Gregory, J.W. 1914. The lake system of Westralia. The Geographical Journal 43(6):656-664.
- Gregory, J.W., Evans, J.W., Lamplugh, Mr. and Freshfield, D. 1917. Erosion and resulting land forms in sub-arid Western Australia, including the origin and growth of dry lakes: discussion. The Geographical Journal 50(6):434-437.
Archives
The archives for John Walter Gregory are maintained by the Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS)Archives of the University of Glasgow
The Archives of the University of Glasgow maintain the historical records of the University of Glasgow back to its foundation in 1451. Its earliest record is a charter dating from 1304 for the lands of the earliest mention of record-keeping in the University is in 1490 when it is recorded in...
.