Cecil Edgar Tilley FRS, Hon

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, PGS (14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973) was an

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petrologist and geologist.

Life

He was born in

Unley Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullar ...

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, the youngest child of John Thomas Edward Tilley, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and his wife

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

-born wife, Catherine Jane Nicholas. Cecil was educated at

Adelaide High School Adelaide High School, originally named the Continuation School, is a state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Park Lands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government ...

, then studied Chemistry and Geology under William Rowan Browne at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating in 1915. In 1916, during 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 ...

, he went to

South Queensferry Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is now administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. It lies ten miles to the nor ...

near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to work as a chemist Department of Explosives Supply. He returned to Australia in December 1918. He won an Exhibition of 1851 scholarship to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1919, where he studied petrology under

Alfred Harker Alfred Harker Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (19 February 1859 – 28 July 1939) was an English geologist who specialised in petrology and interpretive petrography. He was lecturer in petrology at the University of Cambridge for many years, a ...

, and completed his PhD in 1922. From 1923 he was employed at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, first as demonstrator in petrology, and then lecturer in petrology in 1929. In 1931, following the retirement of Harker, he was appointed as the first Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology. Most of the remainder of his life was spent in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, though he spent 1938–9 in Australia and visited regularly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1929, while investigating a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

Scawt Hill Scawt Hill is a volcanic plug in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in the borough of Larne, 5 km from the village of Ballygally. It gets its name from the Ulster Scots "" meaning scaly, scabby or rugged. Alternatively, '' 'scawt' '' meaning ...

, near

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

for the

Mineralogical Magazine The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (now known as the Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland) was founded in 1876. Its main purpose is to disseminate scientific knowledge of the Mineral Sciences (mineralogy) as ...

he identified and named the new minerals

larnite Larnite is a calcium silicate mineral with the formula . It is the calcium member of the olivine group of minerals. It was first described from an occurrence at Scawt Hill, Larne, Northern Ireland in 1929 by Cecil Edgar Tilley and named for t ...

and scawtite. In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London 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, r ...

and served as their Vice President 1949/50. He won the Society's Royal Medal in 1967. From 1948 to 1951 he was President of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain. He was President 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 ...

1949/50. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1957. He died at home in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

on 24 January 1973 aged 78, and his body was cremated.

Family

In 1928 he married Irene Doris Marshall at Holy Trinity Church, Kingsway, London. They had one daughter.

Publications

* ''XXV.—Metamorphism in Relation to Structure in the Scottish Highlands'' (1931) co-written with

Gertrude Lilian Elles Gertrude Lilian Elles MBE (8 October 1872 – 18 November 1960) was a British geologist, known for her work on graptolites. Personal life Gertrude Elles was born on 8 October 1872. She was the youngest of six children and growing up was ...

*''

1859-1939'' (1940) co-written with

Albert Seward Sir Albert Charles Seward FRS (9 October 1863 – 11 April 1941) was a British botanist and geologist. Life Seward was born in Lancaster. His first education was at Lancaster Grammar School and he then went on to St John's College, Cambridg ...

*'' Waldemar Christofer Brogger 1851-1940'' (1941) *''Hawaiian Volcanoes'' (1961)
brief description, U.H. Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship
*''Origin of Basalt Magmas'' (1962) co-written with H. S. Yoder Jr.

References

External links

G. A. Chinner, ''Memorial of Cecil Edgar Tilley 14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973,'' American Mineralogist, Volume 59, pages 427-437, 1974
(with a full list of his published petrological work)

Australian Dictionary of Biography 1894 births 1973 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Wollaston Medal winners University of Adelaide alumni Scientists from Adelaide Royal Medal winners Presidents of the International Mineralogical Association Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences University of Sydney alumni Australian people of English descent People educated at Adelaide High School Professorship of Mineralogy and Petrology (Cambridge) Presidents of the Geological Society of London Earth scientists at the University of Cambridge {{geologist-stub