8 
In 1824 Mr. Smith was invited to deliver a course of eleven 
lectures on Geology before the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, 
then just founded in York. From the Syllabus of these Lectures, 
which has been preserved, we may gather how wide was the grasp 
of geology to which Smith had attained. 
In 1826, while studying the geology of the coast at Scarborough 
and Whitby, Mr. Smith became acquainted with Mr. (afterwards 
Sir Roderick) Murchison, and was able, for the first time, to 
explain his views of the succession of the rocks to this eminent 
geologist. 
In 1828 he accepted the post of Resident Land-Steward to 
Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bart., of Hackness; here he made a 
beautiful map of the Hackness Estate, but he could not be per- 
suaded to write out a detailed memoir of his life and experiences 
as a Geologist and Surveyor, which was the earnest hope of his 
friend and patron. 
In 1831 the Council of the Geological Society of London 
awarded to William Smith the first Wollaston Gold Medal and 
Fund “as a great original discoverer in English Geology, and 
especially for his having been the first, in this country, to discover 
and to teach the identification of strata, and to determine their 
succession by means of their embedded fossils.” 
Professor Sedgwick (the Woodwardian Professor of Geology 
in Cambridge), who, as President of the Geological Society, 
occupied the chair, sketched a brief but satisfactory history 
of Mr. Smith’s career, and demonstrated the propriety of 
the award. Professor Sedgwick spoke as follows :—‘‘ The 
men who have led the way in useful discoveries have ever 
held the first place of honour in the estimation of all who in after 
times have understood their works or trodden in their steps. . . . 
. ... I, for one, can speak with gratitude of the practical lessons 
I have received from Mr. Smith: It was by tracking his footsteps 
with his maps in my hand through Wiltshire and the neighbouring 
counties, where he had trodden nearly 30 years before, that I first 
