John Kaye Charlesworth (3 January 1889 – 26 January 1972) was a British geologist and academic author. He was an expert in the geology of Northern Ireland.

Life

He was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on 3 January 1889, the son of George Charlesworth. He graduated BSc from

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

in 1910. He began lecturing in Geology in 1914 at

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, but then undertook postgraduate studies, first in London, then travelling to what was then Breslau in Germany (now Wrocław in Poland) where he obtained a PhD in Geology. Back in Leeds he was awarded a DSc in 1921 and then briefly transferred to

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

as a Senior Lecturer, before returning to Queen’s University in Belfast as a full Professor. He held the latter role from 1921 until 1954. He was elected a 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 1950 and was awarded their Neill Prize for the period 1951-53. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

1957 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1957 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 ''Lon ...

for his services to Northern Ireland with particular reference to the field of geology. He died in

Ballycastle, County Antrim Ballycastle () is a small seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is on the north-easternmost coastal tip of Ireland, in the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Ballycastle lies at roughly the midpoint of the ...

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 ...

Family

He married Janet Cumming Gibson in 1922 and had two children - Marian Louise Kaye who marrie
Derek Lyddon
an
Henry Alexander Kaye Charlesworth
who married Jacqueline Davidson and was also a geologist.

Publications

Charlesworthy was a regular contributor of articles to the Journal of the Geological Society. He also published the following: *''The Glacial Retreat of Iar Connacht'' (1929) *''Geological Observations on the Origins of Irish Flora and Fauna'' (1930) *''Geology of Ireland'' (1953) *''The Quaternary Era'' (1957) *''Geology Around the University Towns: North-East Ireland'' (1960) *''A Historical Geology of Ireland'' (1963)

References

1889 births 1972 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century British geologists Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society {{UK-geologist-stub