Sir Aubrey Strahan

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

FRS (20 April 1852 – 4 March 1928) was a British geologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1903. He was Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain from 1914–1920. He won the

Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology and the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London, the oldest geological society in the world. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. I ...

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 ...

in 1919.

Personal life

Aubrey Strahan was born on 20 April 1852 in London. He was the fifth son of William Strahan and Anne Dorothea Strahan. He was raised at Blackmore Hall, near

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

, until he went to Eton at the age of 13. He then went to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

(his father's college) in 1870. In May 1875 (the year of his graduation) he was employed in a temporary capacity by the Geological Survey, then headed by Andrew Ramsay, as an assistant geologist. He was to remain with the Survey for the rest of his professional life. He married Fannie Roscoe in 1886. At this time he was mostly working in the south of England, but in 1901 became District Geologist with responsibility for South Wales. He was elected 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 1903, became President of the Geology Section of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...

in 1904, and was President of the

in 1913 and 1914. He was Director of the Survey from 1914 until his retirement in 1920. He lived in Goring-on-Thames until his death there in 1928.

Works

Strahan Geological Map Ingleborough 1910

During his long career Strahan contributed to over 30 memoirs of the Geological Survey, these mostly being detailed descriptions and explanations of the areas covered by individual sheets of the Geological Map. He also published many papers in academic journals. The work for which he is best known is the extensive series of surveys of the

South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...

. He was always attracted by the economic aspects of the study of geology, and this is well-reflected in the coalfield work. He was known for the high quality of his mapping work. His appointment as Director of the Survey coincided with the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and he was responsible for adapting the survey to meet wartime needs. These included preparation of maps for the war zones (particularly relevant for areas of

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...

); provision of staff, as geologists were needed in the field; and exploiting mineral resources for the raw materials and energy sources needed for war production. This work became the basis for a series of reports entitled ''Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain'', the first of which appeared in 1915 Full text of 3rd Edition (1923) available a
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References

Selected publications

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External links

Aubrey Strahan M.A., K.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strahan, Aubrey 1852 births 1928 deaths Wollaston Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Directors of the British Geological Survey Presidents of the Geological Society of London