Joshua Trimmer (11 July 1795 – 16 September 1857) 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, ...

born at

North Cray North Cray is an area in South East Greater London, London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Sidcup and south of Bexleyheath and is south-east of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London in the Metropo ...

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 ...

. He was the son of Joshua Kirby Trimmer of

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, and grandson of Sarah Trimmer (1741–1810), author of the ''Story of the Robins'' (1786).

Life

At the age of nineteen he was sent to

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 ...

to manage a

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

mine for his father; subsequently he was placed in charge of a farm in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, where he acquired a knowledge of and an interest in

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s; in 1825 he became manager (for his father) of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarries near Bangor and Carnarvon, and in this district he remained for many years. He discovered the marine shells in the drift of Moel Tryfaen. During the years 1850 to 1854 he was engaged on the Geological Survey, and surveyed parts of the New Forest in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He died in

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 ...

. He published memoirs on the ''Origin of the Soils which cover the Chalk of Kent''; ''On the Geology of Norfolk, as Illustrating the Laws of the Distribution of Soils'' (1847); and ''Proposals for a Geological Survey, specially directed to Agricultural Objects'' (1850); in this respect he was a pioneer in

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

. He was also the author of another useful work ''Practical Geology and Mineralogy'' (1841).

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trimmer, Joshua 1795 births 1857 deaths People from North Cray English geologists