Sir (Cyril) James Stubblefield FRS (1901–1999) was a British geologist. Stubblefield was president 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 ...

from 1958 to 1960 and was

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the

Geological Survey of Great Britain The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS head ...

from 1960 until 1966.

Early life

Stubblefield was born 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 ...

, the only son of a gardener and his wife. He gained a scholarship to

The Perse School The Perse School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Day school, day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded i ...

, Cambridge.

Education

After work as a junior factory chemist, Stubblefield moved to London to continue his education in evening classes at the South-Western Polytechnic (later Chelsea College). He gained a scholarship to

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, where he gained an ARCS and BSc in geology in 1923, with first class honours. Stubblefield was a member of the Links Club of the

City and Guilds College The Faculty of Engineering is one of four faculties of Imperial College London, in London, England. Imperial's Faculty of Engineering was formed in 2001, from two of the universities constituent colleges - the Royal School of Mines (established ...

whilst at

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

Career

In 1923, Stubblefield was appointed demonstrator in geology at Imperial and began research into the early

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...

rocks of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, in parallel with Oliver Bulman. His work was supported by the Daniel Pidgeon fund 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 ...

, and he gained his PhD in 1925. In 1929 he published the ''Handbook of the Geology of Great Britain'' with J. W. Evans. In 1928 Stubblefield joined the palaeontology department of the Geological Survey, at the

Museum of Practical Geology The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology) was a museum of geology in London. It started in 1835, making it one of the oldest public single science collections in the world. It transfe ...

. Here he worked on the Lower Palaeozoic fossils of Shrewsbury, the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

of the coalfields of

south Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. Stubblefield became chief palaeontologist of the survey in 1947, assistant director in 1953 and director in 1960. As director, Stubblefield oversaw the reorganisation of the British and Overseas surveys, and the Museum of Practical Geology into the Institute of Geological Sciences. He retired in 1966.

Honours

Stubblefield was secretary of the

Palaeontographical Society The Palaeontographical Society is a learned society, established in 1847, and is the oldest extant Society devoted to the advancement of palaeontological knowledge. The Society publishes monographs that further its primary purpose, which is to pro ...

from 1934 to 1948, and subsequently president and compiler of the

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

section of

Zoological Record ''The Zoological Record'' (''ZR'') is an electronic index of zoological literature that also serves as the unofficial register of scientific names in zoology. It was started as a print publication in 1864 by the Zoological Society of London, ...

. He was president of the Geological Society (1958–60), receiving the

Murchison Fund The Murchison Fund is an award given by the Geological Society of London to researchers under the age of 40 who have contributed substantially to the study of hard rock and tectonic geology. It is named in honour of Prof. Roderick Impey Murchison ...

, the

Bigsby medal The Bigsby Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established by John Jeremiah Bigsby. Recipients SourcThe Geological Society See also * List of geology awards * Prizes named after people This is a list of awards that are na ...

(1945), and the

Murchison Medal The Murchison Medal is an academic award established by Roderick Murchison, who died in 1871. First awarded in 1873, it is normally given to people who have made a significant contribution to geology by means of a substantial body of research an ...

(1951). He received his London DSc in 1942, and was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) in 1944. Stubblefield was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the '' Lo ...

. He was president of the Sixth International Congress of Carboniferous Geology and Stratigraphy in 1967, and president of the Palaeontographical Society from 1966 to 1970. A trilobite genus, ''Stubblefieldia'', was named in his honour, as were many other species.

Private life

Stubblefield married Muriel Yakchee in 1932. They had two sons Rodney and Peter. He died in 1999 and was cremated in Ruislip.

References

External links

British Geological Survey Archive Catalogue - C J Stubblefield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubblefield, Cyril James 20th-century British geologists British palaeontologists 1901 births 1999 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Science Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor People educated at The Perse School Directors of the British Geological Survey Presidents of the Geological Society of London