298 
MARTIN SIMPSON AND HIS GEOLOGICAL MEMOIRS. 
BY T. SHEPPARD, M.SC, F.G.S. 
(Read December 12tli, 1917.) 
In part 1 of Yorkshire Type Ammonites, by Mr. S. S. Buckman, 
issued in 1909, occurs the tollowing : — " The works of Martin Simpson 
are very little known outside his native county, and are almost un- 
procurable. His ' Monograph of Lias Ammonites ' (London, 1843), 
is extremely rare ; and his ' Fossils of the Yorkshire Lias ' (London, 
1855) is very scarce. Yet these modest works are more important 
than those of the other authors so far as Ammonites are concerned : 
they contain careful and discriminative studies of many species, and 
their worth has not yet received due recognition. AVithout full illustra- 
tion of Simpson's types it is almost impossible to obtain due knowledge 
of Lias Ammonites, and certainly dangerous to describe or name 
species as new." 
As the present writer possesses copies of the books mentioned, as 
well as several others, and as Simpson's work certainly has not been 
recognised in the way it should, it seems desirable, while the opportunity 
occurs, to record what is known. He is urged to do so, as through the 
kind help of Mr. J. T. Sewell, J.P., and Mr. J. Woodhouse Parkinson, 
of the Whitby Museum, photographs of Simpson are available, as well 
as much useful information bearing upon his work in the AVhitby area. 
As will be seen from the pedigree kindly prepared by Mr. Sewell, 
Martin was the eldest son of John and Jane Simpson ; he was born in 
1800* and died in 1892, and thus, like many another Yorkshire 
naturalist, far outlived his three score years and ten. 
Simpson was born at Whitby, he served his apprenticeship to a 
cabinet maker there, and afterwards entered as a student at Edinburgh 
University. In 1836, he became second master at the Wakefield Gram- 
mar School, and frequently lectured on Geology in that neighbourhood. f 
The Eev. Gideon Smales, in his book on " Whitby Authors and their 
Publications " (1867, p. 168) writes, " Mr. Martin Simpson, the Curator 
of our Whitby Museum, studied in the University of Edinburgh, and 
* " C.D.S." in the Geological Magazine, 1893, (p. 144) says on 
November 20th, 1798, but this is apparently an error, as Mr. Parkinson 
has kindly examined the Parish Registers for me, and finds the date to 
be November 20th, 1800. 
t loc. cit. 
