William Whitaker, F.R.S., F.GS., ete. 51 
and A. J. Jukes-Browne. Although for many years he thus superin- 
tended the work of others, it was not until 1882 that he was appointed 
District Surveyor, a post which he held until he retired from the 
public service on October 22nd, 1896. During the later years of his 
official career he was stationed at Southampton, and surveyed some 
portions of South Hampshire, while at the same time he was superin- 
tending the re-surveys in progress in no less than seven other counties, 
Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Dorset, Northants, Oxford, and Wilts. 
It is on record among the anecdotage of the Survey hammerers, 
that upon one occasion Murchison (observing the exemplary industry 
and excellence of Whitaker’s work in the field) said to his heutenant, 
Professor (afterwards Sir) A. C. Ramsay, ‘‘ Don’t you think, Ramsay, 
that Whitaker has worked long enough in the Eastern Counties, 
where he gets nothing but soft squashy materials, and no good hard 
rocks to hammer? We might send him to the North or West, and give 
him some decent solid geology instead of this interminable Chalk, 
London Clay, and Drift”; to which Ramsay replied, ‘‘ But, Sir Roderick, 
T assure you Whitaker likes to work where he is.” ‘‘ If that is really 
the case,” said Sir Roderick, ‘‘ pray let him stay there, but I am sorry 
for him all the same.’’ And he stayed there and did very excellent 
geological work for very many more years. 
Whitaker was early in the field as an ardent student of subaérial 
denudation, and communicated an excellent paper on ‘‘ Cliffs and 
Escarpments of the Chalk and Tertiary Strata’ to the Geological 
Society on May 8th, 1867; the full text of which, not being regarded 
apparently as suitable for the Quarterly Journal, appeared in the 
Grotogica, Macazine in that year, p. 447, and Part Il, p. 488. It is 
now regarded as a geological classic.! 
As a corollary to Mr. Whitaker's geological labours in maps and 
memoirs, which by a reference to the annexed list of his published 
works will be seen to be very extensive, he has always had a strong 
passion for bibliographical research and the making of lists of 
references to the labours of all previous writers in whatever branch 
of geology upon which he, or his friends and colleagues, were 
specially engaged. One of his activities im this direction led him to 
edit a ‘‘ Geological Record,” which, owing in part to the arduous 
nature of his other work, but perhaps i im larger measure owing to the 
shortcomings of some of those who had promised to help and failed to 
produce their MSS. when required, he was compelled at length to 
relinquish, after carrying it on for six years. 
Another subject to which he has devoted much attention has been 
the accumulation of evidence connected with the sinking of wells, 
believing, like the ancients, that by seeking diligently in these places 
he would in time arrive at the home of 'Trurn. 
He retired from the Geological Survey in October, 1896, and has 
since resided at 38, Campden Road, Croydon. He has been for more 
than thirty years one of the leading authorities upon questions of 
1 See the very high commendation of this memoir by Charles Darwin in his work 
on ‘The formation of Vegetable Mould through the action of Earthworms,”’ 8vo, 
1883 ed., p. 284 (Murray). 
