324 
WILLIAM SIMPSON, F.G.S. 
(1859—1915.) 
'HE death of William Simpson, of Catteial Hall, Settle, was a serious 
A loss to the Society of which he was so active a member, as well 
as to his numerous personal and geological friends. 
Born on December 18th, 1859, Mr. Simpson was son of the late 
Thomas Simpson, of Halifax, and was for many years associated 
with the firm of Simpson & Sons, Ltd., cabimet makers, of Halifax 
and Blackburn, a business which had been established in the early 
days of the nineteenth century by his gTandfather, John Simpson, 
a native of Kudston, near Bridlington. 
Beside acting as managing director of this business, Mr. Simpson 
was a director of the Calder and Hebble Navigation Company, and of 
Messrs. J. W. & C. Ward, Ltd., textile manufacturers. 
Until middle life he lived in Halifax, and in his youth came under 
the influence of the local group of naturalists who have left so 
strong a mark in Yorkshire scientific history. For many years he 
took a prominent part in the affairs of the Halifax Scientific Society, 
which body he served as president, and to which he gave several 
lectures, his special interest being the local geology of the Millstone 
Grit. He was a member of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, and 
served for som.e years on the committee for observing and recording 
glacial boulders. He studied glaciology in Switzerland and Norway, 
and in some of his addresses turned the knowledge thus acquired to 
good account in the interpretation of the glacial geology of Yorkshire. 
He was elected a member of the Yorkshire Geological Society in 
1892, and as a Fellow of the Geological Society of London a few 
months later. Having served the Yorkshire Society for some years 
as local secretary for the Halifax District, and as auditor, he was in 
1906 elected as hon. treasurer, which office he held till 1911. His 
services in these capacities were invaluable to the Society, and were 
recognised, on his retirement, by his election as a vice-president. 
He gave his time ungrudgingly, not only to financial affairs, but 
to the work of the Society generally. 
