Colonial Despatches

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison joined the Geological Society of London in 1825 and was elected as their president in 1831.1 For the next decade or so, Murchison researched geology in South Wales, southwestern England, the Rhineland, and Russia.2 As an active researcher, he made significant contributions to the field of geology.3

Before his time as a geologist, Murchison was in the military and fought in the Peninsula War.4

Murchison has several published works, including The Silurian System (1839) and The Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains (1845), the latter of which he wrote with several colleagues.5 He became Director-General of the Geological Survey in 1855, the most important official post in British geology.6

• 1. Encyclopædia Britannica, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Sir Roderick Impey Murchison Navigational Aids for the History of Science, Technology and the Environment.
• 5. Encyclopædia Britannica, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
• 6. Sir Roderick Impey Murchison Navigational Aids for the History of Science, Technology and the Environment.