144 Obituary — Samuel Sharp. 



SAMUEL SHARP, F.S.A., F.G.S. 



Born July 18tli, 1814 ; Died January 28th, 1882. 

 Samuel Shakp was born at Eomsey in Hampshire, July IStli, 

 1814. He received his early education at a private school in 

 Southsea, but owing to his father's death while he was still a boy, 

 he removed with his family to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Mr. 

 Sharp's stepfather was the proprietor and editor of the Stamford 

 Mercury, the oldest and most widely circulated newspaper in the 

 Midland Counties, and for some years Mr. Sharp assisted him in 

 managing and editing this journal. From a very early age he 

 had shown a taste for the study of science, especially Astronomy 

 and Chemistry, and his attention appears to have been directed to 

 the subject of Geology by a lecture delivered at Stamford by 

 Mr. G. F. Kichardson. Subsequently he had the advantage of 

 studying the Oolitic districts around his home with Professor Morris, 

 and other geologists, and gradually accumulated a lai'ge and valuable 

 collection of fossils. In 1857, Mr. Sharp removed from Stamford, 

 and went to live in the neighbourhood of Northampton. There he 

 continued to collect largely from the Jurassic rocks, and his work 

 was facilitated by the excavations then being carried on in all 

 directions for raising the valuable iron-ore of the Northampton 

 Sand. The general results of his observations on the district in 

 which he lived were communicated to the Geological Society of 

 London in two valuable papers on the Oolites of Northamptonshire, 

 which were published in the Quarterly Journal. He wrote a little 

 text-book, " The Eudiments of Geology," which has passed through 

 two editions. As an Archaeologist, Mr. Sharp was not less widely 

 known than as a Geologist. On all questions of local antiquities he 

 was one of the highest authorities in the Midland district, and many 

 valuable papers relating to these subjects were contributed by him 

 to the local journals. But it was as a Numismatist that Mr. Sharp 

 especially distinguished himself. During the last thirty years he 

 by unwearied exertions succeeded in bringing together an unrivalled 

 collection illustrating the productions of the famous Stamford Mint. 

 His valuable memoir on these interesting coins, with its several 

 supplements, was published by the Numismatic Society, and con- 

 stitutes the best authority on the subject. He laboured energetically 

 to found a good provincial museum in the town of Northampton, 

 and placed therein valuable contributions from his own large 

 geological and antiquarian collections. Mr. Sharp was one of the 

 most genial and hospitable of men, and was never happier than 

 when contributing to the instruction and pleasure of others from the 

 stores of knowledge which he had gradually acquired concerning the 

 geology and antiquities of his adopted county. During his later 

 years Mr. Sharp was precluded from active exertions in the field 

 by feebleness and ill-health, but to the end he took a lively interest 

 in the advance of our science. He died at Great Harrowden Hall 

 on the 28th January, 1882, in his 68th year.— J. W. J. 



