ANNIVEKSA.KT ADDKESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 43 



at Caerleon Priory, Monmouth, and subsequently at Torquay. He 

 was elected a Fellow of this Society in 1859, and although he formed 

 a very fine collection of fossils, which in 1885 he presented to the 

 British Museum, and wrote several papers for the * Geological Maga- 

 zine,' he never contributed to our own Journal. He was very well 

 known for his antiquarian researches, through his own writings on 

 the subject, and his translations of Dr. Keller's, Conrad Merck's, 

 and Professor Roomer's works bearing on the antiquity of Man. 

 Mr. Lee, who had been in failing health for some years, died 

 August ] 8th, 1887, at the age of 79. 



Among those who by their labours and writings have endeavoured 

 to promote the cultivation of our science in districts lying remote 

 from the great centres of thought, few have been more indefatigable 

 or successful than the late Eev. William S. Symonks. He was born 

 in 1818 at Hereford and was educated at Cheltenham and at Christ's 

 College, Cambridge. Becoming curate of Offenham, near Evesham, 

 Mr. Symonds made the acquaintance of Hugh Strickland and was 

 by his influence led to devote much attention to the study of Natural 

 History. At a subsequent date he became rector of Pendock. 



Mr. Symonds took a very active part in the afl'airs of many of 

 the local societies of the west of England — the Woolhope Natura- 

 lists' Field Club, the Warwickshire Natural History Society, and the 

 Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club. In promoting the interests of 

 such societies he was always unsparing of his time and labour ; and 

 he was never so happy as when conducting geological friends over 

 the districts which he had studied so carefully and knew so well. 



Mr. Symonds became a Fellow of this Society in 1853, and con- 

 tributed several valuable papers on the geology of the West of 

 England to our publications ; he also wrote a number of geolo- 

 gical memoirs, which were published in other journals. He was 

 a very active member of the British Association, and his labours 

 in the cause of our science were held in the highest estimation by 

 Lyell, Murchison, and others among the last generation of geologists. 

 Mr. Symonds made frequent journeys abroad for the purposes of 

 geological study, and on these occasions was accompanied by Sir 

 William Guise, Mr. C. Lucy, or other geological friends. 



In 1857 he x^^^hlished a little work entitled ' Stones of the 

 VaUey ' ; and in 1859 took an important part in the discussions at 

 the Aberdeen meeting of the British Association upon the age of 

 the Eeptiliferous Sandstone of Elgin. Upon this question he was 



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