OBITUARIES. 



WILLIAM GUYBON ATHERSTONE. 

 Born 1813; Died 26th June 1898. 



The Hon. William Guybon Atherstone, M.D., F.R.C.S., F.G.S., and Hon. Vice- 

 President of the Geological Society of South Africa, died in the 85th year of 

 his age, at his residence in Beaufort Street, Grahamstown. Cape Colony. In 

 1839, after settling in medical practice at Grahamstown, Dr. Atherstone met 

 Staff-Surgeon Jameson, who was studying local geology, and he became in- 

 terested in the science. A year or two afterwards Mr. A. G. Bain brought his 

 wonderful reptilian fossils to Grahamstown, and Dr. Atherstone took up the 

 subject earnestly. Bain states, in a lecture at that city in 1856 (reprinted in 

 the Trans. Geo/. Soc. S. Africa, vol. ii. part 5, 1897, p. 66) — "He said he was 

 now determined to study geology, and should begin forthwith ; and well has he 

 kept his word, for I never met with one who made such astonishing progress in 

 such a short time. From that day an intimacy began between us, which soon 

 ripened into a friendship which, I trust, may never cease while we live." He 

 goes on to say — " My friend Bochards [of Fort Beaufort] and myself had now 

 added to our ranks the transcendent talents of Dr. Atherstone, wdiich soon 

 imbued our minds with elevated ideas, and gave fresh vigour and stimulus to 

 our pursuits." 



Grahamstown also supplied, in Mr. W. Ogilvie, another friendly sympathiser 

 for Mr. Bain ; and indeed this city has been termed the birthplace of South 

 African geology ; for the hearty recognition given to Mr. Bain's geological 

 researches by the Geological Society of London stimulated others to collect 

 fossils and examine sections throughout the country. Thus one geological 

 society was started at Grahamstown by Dr. Atherstone, and one at Graaf- 

 Reynet by Dr. R. N. Rubidge (afterwards of Port Elizabeth). For many 

 years, both in the prime of life and in old age, when afflicted with blindness, Dr. 

 Atherstone not only willingly, but enthusiastically, gave all the help he could 

 to the establishment and well-being of the Albany Natural History Museum 

 and the Public Gardens in Grahamstown. 



Soon after their first meeting, Atherstone joined Bain in a geological visit to 

 the Gamtoos, Bushman, Sunday, and Zwartkop Rivers, where Jurassic and Tertiary 

 fossils were found in plenty. Interesting notes of the journey appeared in the 

 Eastern Province Monthly Magazine, and the fossils have been described in 

 the Transactions and Journal Geo/. Soc. London. Further, a systematic account 

 of the Uitenhage series of strata and their fossils in the district traversed by 

 the above-mentioned rivers was published in the Quart. Journ. Geo/. Soc. vol. 

 xxiii. (1867), pages 149-171. He became a Fellow of the Geological Society 

 of London in 1864. 



Atherstone and Rubidge visited Namaqualand to examine the copper- 

 bearing rocks, and reported on them in 1857. The Kasonga and the Alum Caves 

 in the Eastern Province were also visited by Atherstone in or about 1858. In 



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