

SMITH. Ill 



on the 1st of August, 1815, being dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks, 

 and he received from the Society of Arts the premium of 50J., which 

 had long been offered for a work of this description. The fame of its 

 author as a great original discoverer in English geology was now 

 secured, but it brought Mr. Smith little pecuniary benefit. Geology 

 had kept him poor all his life by consuming his professional gains; 

 and an unfortunate speculation, which he at this time entered into, 

 entirely failed, and compelled him to sell the property at Bath which 

 he had purchased in 1798. A load of debt still remained to be dis- 

 charged, and in order to liquidate this he proposed selling the 

 valuable geological collection he had been making during his past 

 life. This collection, of which the number of species was 693, and 

 of specimens 2657, was purchased by Government for the British 

 Museum for a total sum of 700Z. In 1818 Mr. Smith's claims on 

 public notice were fairly and fully advocated by Dr. Fitton, and it 

 was chiefly from the favourable light in which this gentleman placed 

 his long and solitary labours, that public interest for him was stimu- 

 lated, and the Geological Society, who had hitherto passed him 

 over, was at length roused to an impartial estimate of the value of 

 his works. This resulted in the passing of a resolution in February, 

 1831, " That the first Wollaston medal be given to Mr. William 

 Smith, in consideration of his being 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 imbedded 

 fossils." The following year he received from the Crown a pension 

 of 100. a-year. Previous to this, however, the state of Mr. Smith's 

 finances compelled him to be unceasingly occupied in various pro- 

 fessional engagements ; and on one of these occasions, being en- 

 gaged by Colonel Braddyll to make a general mining survey of 

 some estates belonging to that gentleman, he drew the Colonel's 

 attention to the great probability of there being coal at an attain- 

 able depth on part of his property situated at Haswell, in Durham. 

 This ultimately led to the foundation of the magnificent works, 

 called the South Hetton Colliery, which rival the greatest establish- 

 ments of the Lambtons, Vanes, and Russels. 



During the last few years of his life Mr. Smith lived principally 

 at Scarborough, where, unfettered by any but temporary engage- 

 ments, he devoted his mind to a review of the circumstances of his 

 life, and the arrangement of his observations and opinions. In 

 1835 he received the degree of LL.D., which was conferred on him 

 by the members of Trinity College, Dublin. Between the years 

 1837 and 1838 he was appointed by Government to join Sir Charles 

 Barry and Sir Henry De la Beche in making a tour through a great 

 part of England and Wales, to select the most suitable stone for 

 building the Houses of Parliament. The stone ultimately selected 

 for this purpose was the firm yellow granular magnesian limestone, 



