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Thomas Hawkins (22 July 1810 – 15 October 1889) was an English
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
collector and dealer, especially of
Ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, alth ...
s and
Plesiosaurs The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared ...
. He lived in
Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
,
Somerset Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...
. Hawkins paid for fossils exposed by erosion at
Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...
on the
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
Coast, and quarrymen at inland quarries at
Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...
and Edgarley in Somerset. He also collected geological specimens on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isl ...
. His early collection was sold to the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleon ...
for £3,000. Hawkins published a number of texts between the 1830s and 1850s. The two best known are ''Memoirs of Icthyosaurii and Plesiosaurii'' (1835) and ''The Book of the Great Sea Dragons'' – full title ''The book of the great sea-dragons, Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri, edolim taninimgedolim taninim, of Moses. Extinct monsters of the ancient earth. With thirty plates, copied from skeletons in the author's collection of fossil organic remains, (deposited in the British museum.)'' (London, W. Pickering, 1840). He is buried in
Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the se ...
on the Isle of Wight. His grave can be seen at Ventnor Cemetery. Hawkins was a
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher educatio ...
of the
Geological Society of London 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 ...
.


References

*O'Connor, R. 2003. Thomas Hawkins and geological spectacle. ''Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association'', 114, 227–241


External links


The Book of the Great Sea Dragons
Complete text all plates. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Thomas 19th-century British geologists 1810 births 1889 deaths People from Glastonbury