David Thomas Ansted FRS (5 February 181413 May 1880) was an English professor of geology and author of numerous books on geology. His role as a teacher at

Addiscombe Military Seminary The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...

, where future

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

army officers were trained, had an influence on the study of geology in the colonies.

Youth, education

Ansted was born in London on 5 February 1814 to William Ansted. He was educated at Jesus College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and inspired by

Adam Sedgwick Adam Sedgwick (; 22 March 1785 – 27 January 1873) was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale. Based on work which he did on W ...

took an interest in geology. After taking an

M.A A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1839, he was elected to fellow of the college. He was appointed professor of geology at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

in 1840, holding the post until 1853. From 1845, he was also a lecturer at the

's Military Seminary at Addiscombe (until its closure in 1861), and professor of geology at the

College for Civil Engineers The College for Civil Engineers in Putney, Southwest London, was one of the earliest educational establishments to teach civil engineering. History A private college, it was founded in 1839 and initially based in Gordon House in Kentish Town but w ...

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

. His ''Elementary Course of Geology'' textbook was awarded as a prize to cadets at Addiscombe. The cadets themselves were posted to India and other colonies where some pursued geology. He became a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1844, and from that date until 1847 he was vice-secretary of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

. The practical side of geology now came to occupy his attention and he visited various parts of Europe as a consulting geologist and

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

. In 1868, Ansted became an Examiner in Physical Geography to the Science and Art Department of King's College. In 1870 he was awarded a

Telford Medal The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...

by the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

for his paper "On the Lagoons and Marshes of certain parts of the Shores of the Mediterranean".

Travel and writing

Ansted's ''Gold-Seekers Manual'' (1849) attempted to improve the prospects of emigrants to the California

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. His other published works include ''Geology, Introductory, Descriptive, & Practical'' (1844), ''The Geologist's Text-Book'' (1845), ''Syllabus of Lectures on Mineralogy, Geology, and Practical Geology'' (1848), ''An Elementary Course of Geology, Mineralogy, and Physical Geography'' (1850), ''The Great Stone Book of Nature'' (1853), ''The Applications of Geology to the Arts and Manufactures'' (1865). He was the

co-author Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

with

Robert Gordon Latham Robert Gordon Latham FRS (24 March 1812 – 9 March 1888) was an English ethnologist and philologist. Early life The eldest son of Thomas Latham, vicar of Billingborough, Lincolnshire, he was born there on 24 March 1812. He entered Eton College ...

of ''The Channel Islands'' (1862). By 1853, Ansted's reputation was sufficient that he was hired by potential investors to survey promising coal fields along the New River in southern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the United States, and he was one of the earlier geologists to identify the rich

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...

seams which lay there. His work set the stage for a mining boom in the area, where he invested in land along the

Midland Trail The Midland Trail, also called the Roosevelt Midland Trail, was a national auto trail spanning the United States from Washington, D.C. west to Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California ('' though the Lincoln Highway guide published i ...

in Fayette County in what became the new state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 1863 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(1861–65). A protégé of Ansted,

William Nelson Page William Nelson Page (January 6, 1854 – March 7, 1932) was an American civil engineer and industrialist. He was active in the Virginias following the U.S. Civil War. Page was widely known as a metallurgical expert by other industry leaders a ...

(1854–1932), became a leading

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and developer of iron furnaces, coal mines and railroads in the area, leading and managing such enterprises as the Victoria Furnace in

Goshen, Virginia Goshen is a town in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States. The population was 361 in the 2010 census. The town is known for hosting Goshen Scout Reservation, one of the largest Boy Scout camps in America. History Goshen was once inhabited ...

and the Gauley Mountain Coal Company for absentee investors, many of whom were based overseas in the United Kingdom. Ansted collaborated with numerous scientists of the period and like many others he entered into a correspondence with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

in about 1860.

Personal life

Ansted married Augusta Dorothea Hackett (1828-1897), daughter of Alexander Baillie on 24 June 1848 and they had six children. Ansted died at Melton near

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port and market town in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and forms part of the wider Ipswich built-up area. The town is c ...

, on 13 May 1880. He is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

, London.

Legacy

The town of

Ansted The Ansted was an American automobile; successor to the Lexington and the Ansted-Lexington, it was manufactured from 1926 to 1927. Following the sale of the Lexington plant in Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette Cou ...

in Fayette County, West Virginia, was named in his honour in 1873.

References

External links