Daniel Sharpe FRS (6 April 1806 – 31 May 1856) was an English

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. He was born at Nottingham Place,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, Middlesex. He studied a number of mountainous formations in Great Britain and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

and arrived at important conclusions about

cleavage Cleavage may refer to: Science * Cleavage (crystal), the way in which a crystal or mineral tends to split * Cleavage (embryo), the division of cells in an early embryo * Cleavage (geology), foliation of rock perpendicular to stress, a result of ...

in rocks.

Life

Orphaned before his first birthday, he was looked after by a half-sister. His mother's family owned a bank in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, and his uncle was Samuel Rogers, the poet and literary figure, so Daniel was not abandoned. At the age of 16 he entered the

counting house Counting is the process of determining the number of Element (mathematics), elements of a finite set of objects; that is, determining the size (mathematics), size of a set. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (men ...

of a Portuguese merchant in London. At the age of 25, after spending a year in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, he joined his elder brother as a partner in a Portuguese mercantile business. As a geologist he first became known by his researches (1832–1840) on the geological structure of the neighbourhood of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. He studied the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

rocks of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

and

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

(1842–1844), and afterwards investigated the structure of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

(1854–1855). He was elected to 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 1850. He published several essays on cleavage (1847–1852), and showed from the evidence of distortion of organic remains that the direction of the pressure producing contortions in the rocks was perpendicular to the planes of cleavage. Most of his papers were published in the ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'', but one "On the Arrangement of the Foliation and Cleavage of the Rocks of the North of Scotland," was printed in the ''

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

'' in 1852. He was author also of a ''Monograph on the Cephalopoda of the Chalk'', published by the Palaeontographical Society (1853–1857). In 1856 he was elected 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 ...

, but he died in London, from the effects of a riding accident, on 31 May that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Daniel 1806 births 1856 deaths People from Marylebone Scientists from London English geologists Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Geological Society of London