Smith, William (1769–1839)

English geologist. He produced the first geological maps of England and Wales, setting the pattern for geological cartography. Often called the founder of stratigraphical geology, he determined the succession of English strata across the whole country, from the Carboniferous up to the Cretaceous. He also established their fossil specimens.

Working as a canal engineer, he observed while supervising excavations that different beds of rock could be identified by their fossils, and so established the basis of stratigraphy.

Smith was born in Churchill, Oxfordshire, and became a drainage expert, a canal surveyor, and a mining prospector.

He was not the first geologist to recognize the principles of stratigraphy nor the usefulness of type fossils. His primary accomplishment lay in mapping. He began in 1799 but it was not until 1815 that he published A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, a geological map using a scale of five miles to the inch. Between 1816 and 1824 he published Strata Identified by Organized Fossils and Stratigraphical System of Organized Fossils, a descriptive catalogue. He also issued various charts and sections, and geological maps of 21 counties.

Smith, William (Loughton) (1758–1812)

US representative and ambassador. He became a Federal congressman for South Carolina 1787–97, speculating in government scrip and supporting the federal bank. He was ambassador to Portugal 1797–1801.

He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. Orphaned at age 12, he was sent to school in London where he became a lawyer in 1774, returning to the USA in 1783. After his ambassadorial career he returned to his law practice and wrote political letters, ‘The Numbers of Phocion’, for the Charleston Daily Courier.