John Ward
John Ward was a primary benefactor of material for the Mining Collection.
For the earliest year that the Mining Archive holds a copy of the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club Annual Report, 1876, Ward was the retiring president and at the AGM of that year gave the presidential address. This was the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Club and Ward alludes to some of the major debates of the time: ”I shall not attempt to solve any of the scientific enigmas which of late years have created so much sensation in the scientific world, such as “Origin of Species”, “Progressive Development”…….nor shall I attempt to give even a panoramic view of the many interesting questions which have engaged the world of science during my year of office.”
In his address Ward took a retrospective look at the work done by the club, which encompassed “the practical study of natural history in all its branches and the cultivation of a fuller knowledge of the antiquities in the neighbourhood….” He goes on to say “the field for our research is a vast and varied one; let us notice some few of its more accessible attractions, that we may see how many are the objects for our choice, and subjects for our study.”
“Beginning with geology, there is no science that offers so many attractions and none more exhilarating than this. Who, we ask, is there amongst us that would not wish to know something of the history of the earth we inhabit, to learn what it was and how it became what it is?...”
He makes a further point “closely allied to geology is palaeontology, the science which treats of extinct animals and plants which have existed during the different geological epochs…...our own district [Staffordshire] affords many facilities for study. Though not abounding in fossiliferous formations, nevertheless there is a rich field for the palaeontologist. The coal measures are filled with remains of animal and vegetable life. Fishes, have left their remains entombed in the rocks……Up to the present time [1870s], there has been collected about 20 genera and upward 40 species of ganoid fishes, and about 15 genera and 20 species of placoid fishes. In addition, a large number of mollusca have been collected, together with the remains of 4 or 5 species of crustacea and reptiles ……”.
The following year the Annual Report of the Club records that the members of the Geological Section held their first meeting at the Potteries Mechanics’ Institution, Hanley on the 6th April, 1876. A list of excursions for the season was drawn up. Mr John Ward, Fellow of the Geological Society [F.G.S], was appointed leader. The excursions included the gravel pits at Trentham Park, the Endon Valley, Hampton’s Marl Pit, Hanley and Swynnerton Park.
At the eighteenth annual meeting in 1883, as usual a large collection of objects was laid out for members to see. Amongst these Mr John Ward lent four volumes of “Faune du Calcaire Carbonifere de la Belgique,” [Fauna of the Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium] which had been presented to him by the Natural History Society of Belgium. These were substantial volumes and each was accompanied by a volume of lavishly illustrated plates. The volumes covered Poissons; Gyroceras and Orthoceras; Gasteropodes; Lamellibraches; and Brachiopodes. These volumes are held in the Mining Archive. An example of one of the plates is shown below (FDCC TOME II Poissons Plate 2 Benedenius Deneensis).
Figure 1 - Fossil Fish plate from the Poissons volume.
John Ward was a leading light amongst the Staffordshire scientific community and a key figure in the North Staffordshire Field Club (he was present at the meeting which inaugurated the Society in 1865) and amongst the many papers he produced for the Society was “On The Organic Remains of the Coal-Measures Of North Staffordshire, Their Range and Distribution, With A Catalogue Of The Fossils And Their Mode Of Occurrence” (1878).
This was the first attempt to catalogue the Flora and Fauna of the North Staffordshire coal-measures. Ward says “To the palaeontologist, the coal-measures of North Staffordshire are full of interest from the character and extent of their organic remains…….the fauna have for many years occupied the attention of several observers, special consideration has been given to the fossil fishes, and a large series has been collected which compare favourably both in variety and extent with those from any of our British coalfields”.
Typically, coal-measure fossils are often thought of as belonging to the multitude of plant and mollusc species. For Ward though fishes held a great interest and his introduction states “Fishes of strange forms, very different from those we are accustomed to see at the present day, peopled the waters of that remote period”. In the “PISCES” [FISH] section of the catalogue Ward says “The North Staffordshire coal-field has long been celebrated for yielding an abundance of rare fossil fishes. As far back as the year 1835, Sir Philip Egerton communicated to the Geological Society of London the discovery of numerous remains of fossil fishes in the coal shales of Silverdale. These consisted of bones, teeth and scales of fishes which furnished Professor Agassiz with specimens for the illustration of his great work “Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles.” [an epoch-making work on fossil fish published in sections between 1833 and 1843]. Subsequently Mr Garner, in his “Natural History of Staffordshire,” mentions several species in addition to those previously discovered…..The fish remains of these coal measures are of an interesting character, not only as regards their variety, but on account of the excellent state of preservation in which many of them are found.”
The Geological Survey’s 1905 publication “The Geology of the North Staffordshire Coalfields” by Walcot Gibson includes chapters by Ward: PALEONTOLOGY OF THE POTTERY COALFIELD; THE FAUNA AND FLORA; DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORGANIC REMAINS. The first sentence states “No coalfield in Great Britain, of equal size, possesses a richer and more varied series of organic remains than the Potteries………The Pottery Coalfield has long been recognised as an unrivalled field for the study of Carboniferous fishes……..it is the richness of its fossil fish-fauna that has given it a special interest to the student of Palaeozoic ichthyology.”
Below is an extract from Ward’s LIST OF FOSSILS FROM THE POTTERY COAFIELD showing the start of the PISCES [FISH] index.
Figure 2 - Fossils of the Potteries Coalfield table
The Geological Magazine Volume 4 Issue 3 (March 1907) published an obituary which started with:
“Mr. Ward devoted the leisure of his busy life to a detailed study of the North Staffordshire Coalfield and its fossils. He was a pioneer in the collection of fossils to illustrate accurately their zonal distribution; and he met with great success not only in unravelling the stratigraphy of the Coal-measures, but also in the discovery of a large number of well-preserved fossil fishes, which were new to science and contributed to a great advance in our knowledge of Palaeozoic Icthyology.”
The obituary concluded with a list of papers and other publications by Ward:
- 1861. "Fenton Park: its Ichthyolite Remains": Potteries Mechanics' Mag., vol. ii, p. 137. 1865. Letters on "Marine Fossils in Coal-measures": GEOL. MAG., Dec. I, Vol. II, pp. 234, 286.
- "The Distribution of the Organic Remains of the North Staffordshire Coal- field" : Trans. Dudley and Midland Geol. Soc, vol. ii, p. 21. 1870.
- "Notes on the Fossil Trees in Messrs. Hampton's Marl Pit at Joiners' Square, Hauler " : Rep. N. Staffs. Nat. Field Club.
- " The Fossil Fishes of the North Staffordshire Coalfield " : Trans. Midland Sci. Assoc, pt. ii. 1875.
- "Notes on the Fossil Trees in a Marl Pit at Hanley " : Addresses and Papers N. Staffs. Nat. Field Club, pp. 80-86. '
- “On the Organic Remains of the Coal-measures of North Staffordshire, their Range and Distribution, with a Catalogue of the Fossils and their Mode of Occurrence" : loc. cit., pp. 184-251, with plate. 1878.
- "Notes on some Fossil Trees in a Marl Pit at Joiners' Square, near Hanley" : Rep. N. Staffs. Nat. Field Club. 1880. The same, with further notes : loc. cit. 1889.
- "The Lower Coal-measures of the Cheadle Coalfield, with Special Reference to the Recent Boring for Ironstone at the Park Hall Collier)-, Cheadle " : loc. cit., pp. 88-91. 1890.
- "The Geological Features of the North Staffordshire Coalfields; their Organic Remains, their Range and Distribution, with a Catalogue of the Fossils of the Carboniferous System of North Staffordshire '' : Trans. N. Staffs. Inst. Mining Engineers, vol. x, pp. 1-189, pis. i-ix. 1893.
- "The Progress of Geological and Palicontological Research in North Stafford- shire, with Summary of Literature relating to the Geology, Mineralogy, and Palaeontology of North Staffordshire" : Trans. N. Staffs. Nat. Field Club, vol. xxvii, pp. 67-107 (continued in vol. xxix, 1895, pp. 105, 106). 1895.
- "On the Occurrence of Marine Fossils in the Coal-measures of North Staffordshire": loc. cit., vol. xxix, pp. 129-138. 1900,
- "On a newly-discovered Marine Bed in the Coal-measures of North Staffordshire" : loc. cit., vol. xxxiv, pp. 87-92. 1905.
- "Paleontology of the Pottery Coalfield" in “The Geology of the North Staffordshire Coalfields," Mem. Geol. Surv.
William Molyneux
At the meeting of 1883 North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club mentioned above Ward also gave an obituary for William Molyneux, F.G.S., a past president of the Society (indeed, Molyneux had given the President’s Address at the Society’s Annual Meeting of 1877). Extracts from Wards tribute are given below.
Mr Molyneux was born in Oxfordshire in 1824 and in 1854 came to Trentham Park seeking employment. For a short time he worked in the gardens there and then obtained employment as a porter, a post which he held for over six years. Archaeology was his initial interest. In 1857 he published a small “Guide to Trentham and its Gardens”. Molyneux then turned his attention to geology: “Almost within sight of the porter’s lodge are the gravel pits of Trentham Park…..where he spent many happy hours…..the gravel pits are fairly charged with fossils…. Mr Molineux collected a large series of these fossils, which he submitted for examination to Mr A. Slater, Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey….which resulted in a paper “On the Gravel Beds of Trentham Park”.
Mr Molyneux next turned his attention to the fossil fauna and flora of the North Staffordshire coal-field. Over the course of a few years he accumulated a large and valuable series of fossil fishes, plants, mollusca and crustacea. The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland [owners of Trentham Estate and Trentham Hall] frequently visited the collection to see the latest “new find”. Mr Molyneux visited one or more fossiliferous locations in North Staffordshire every week, securing valuable prizes.
“Being a frequent visitor to the shale mounds at Fenton Park, he became well-known to the workmen. They had some difficulty pronouncing his name correctly; he was better known by the cognomen of “the Curiosity Man” than by his proper name. On my enquiring of them whether Mr Molineux had been to see the shale mounds during my absence they generally asked if “I meant the Curiosity Man from Trentham?”.
In 1864 Mr Molyneux was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and in 1865 became a member of the British Association.
After taking up positions in Stafford and Burton, Mr Molineux, in the early 1880s, looked further afield and took up job opportunities in South Africa to report on the geology of specific areas to ascertain their mineral deposits.
The Geological Magazine of 1883 (Geological Magazine (Decade II)(1883), 10: pp 430-43) published a fine obituary for Mr Molyneux which included a list of his publications and papers:
- On the Coal Strata of North Staffordshire, with reference particularly to their Organic Remains. British Assoc. Reports, 1859. (Joint paper with R. Garner.)
- Remarks on Fossil Fish from the North Staffordshire Coal-Fields, Brit. Assoc. Reports, 1860.
- Report on the Distribution of the Organic Remains of the North Staffordshire Coal-Field. Brit. Assoc. Reports, vol. xxxiv. 1864 ; and 1865, vol. xxxv.
- On the Gravel Beds of Trentham Park. Geol. Mag. Vol. IV. 1867, pp. 173-174.
- On the Occurrence of Copper and Lead-Ores in the Bunter Conglomerates of Cannock Chase. Brit, Assoc. Reports, vol. xlii. 1872. (Proc. Sects, pp. 116-117.)
- On the Occurrence of Aviculopecten and other Marine Shells in deposits associated with Seams of Coal containing Salt-water in the Ashby Coal-Field. Brit. Assoc. Reports, 1877.
- The Cheadle Coal-Field (History of Cheadle), 1881.
Papers read before the North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club:
- "On the Gravel Beds of Trentham Park" (1866).
- "Notes on Connemara" (1868).
- "The Geology of Lilleshall," etc. (1872).
- "The Rhaetic Beds of Needwood Forest" (1874).
- "The Water Supply of Staffordshire" (1876).
- Presidential Address (1879).
- "The Pre-Norman History of Repton" (1877).
- "The Geology of Dovedale" (1878).
- "On the Bunter Conglomerate of Cannock Chase" (1878).
- "Bosworth Field" (1880).
Papers read before the Midland Scientific Association:
- "On the Fossils of the Lower Coal-Measures of North Staffordshire."
- "On the Calcareous Haematite of the Churnet Valley."
- "Notes on the Fossils and Antiquities in the History of Burton-on-Trent."
- Separate works:—
- "Burton-on-Trent: its History, its Waters, and its Breweries." By William Molyneux, F.G.S. (London, 1869. 8vo. pp. 268. Trübner & Co.)
- "Report on the Geology of the Karoo and Stormberg." By Wm. Molyneux, F.G.S. Presented to the Cape Legislature, and ordered to be printed. Cape Town, 1881.
- A pamphlet on the "Conservancy of Rivers," (8vo. 1879, Bellamy : Burton-on-Trent.)
Wheelton Hind
Another pioneering figure in the area was Wheelton Hind (M.D., B.S.D, F.R.C.S., F.G.S.).
Like Ward and Molyneux, Hind was also President of the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club and in the Annual Report of the Club for 1894 he gave the Presidential Address. the theme of which was “the Value of Scientific and Natural History pursuits as a factor in Education, and to try to indicate the far reaching effects on the intellect and conduct which results from such studies in which the desire for absolute Truth must be above all things.
And when I speak of the Educational value of Science I do not intend merely to allude to those elementary studies which, at last, are now, towards the end of the 19th century being almost universally considered as a necessary part of modern School studies, and rightly so, as I hope to abundantly prove before I have done; but I take a far wider and higher view of Education, a view more in accordance with the derivation of the word, and to which there is no end.”
The Quarterley Journal of the Geological Society Vol. XLIX (Vol. 49, 1893, pp249-274) contains a paper by Hind “On the Affinities of Anthrocoptera and Anthracomya”.
Hind discusses the characteristics of these species of non-marine Lamellibranchs. As well as the informative biological discourse, also pertinent is the locality where many of the specific forms of the genus have been found as this extract shows:
Anthracoptera Observations. “I have been fortunate enough to obtain some weathered-out interiors of this genus from the Ten-Feet and Hard Mine seams of the North Staffordshire Coalfield, which possess a well-marked, striated hinge-plate, showing the close affinity of these shells with Myalina…”
Anthracopteria Modiolarus. Localities: North Staffordshire Coalfield: roof of Hard Mine, Banbury, and Holly Lane Coals, Moss Shale, Knowles Ironstone.
Anthracoptera Tumida. Localities: Hard Mine, Dividy Lane, Longton.
Anthracoptera Elongata. Localities: Knowles Ironstone, Fenton Park, North Staffs.
Anthracomya Adamsii. Localities: Little Mine Ironstone, Fenton, and Longton; New Mine Ironstone, Biddulph.
Anthracomya Phillipsii. Localities: The blackbands, ironstones, and shales of the North Staffordshire Coalfield, as far down as the Bassy Mine.
Anthracomya Lanceolata. Localities: Bowling Alley Seam, Middle Coal Measures, Whitfield Colliery, North Staffordshire.
Anthracomya Wardii. Localities: Holly Lane Coal Roof, Adderley Green, North Staffordshire.
The following ‘plate’ (Plate X) from the article shows some of the fossils referred to by Hind in his paper. The ‘plate’ is followed by an index of the shells shown.
Figure 3 - British Coal Measure Mollusca
Figure 4 - Index of Fossil Shells
Perhaps Hind’s greatest publications were his series monographs on the bi-valves of the Carboniferous era:
Figure 5 - scan of the front page of the Monograph Carbonicola Anthracomya Naiadites
The extract below from Hind’s Carbonicola Part 1 shows the prominence of North Staffordshire as a location for these particular types of fossils.
Figure 6 - Scan showing the British Carboniferous Series
The monographs are:
- HIND, W. 1894. A monograph of Carbonicola, Anthracomya and Naiadites, Pt 1. Palaeontographical Society Monograph, 1–80.
- HIND, W. 1895. A monograph of Carbonicola, Anthracomya and Naiadites, Pt 2. Palaeontographical Society Monograph, 81–170.
- HIND, W. 1896. A monograph of Carbonicola, Anthracomya and Naiadites, Pt 3. Palaeontographical Society Monograph, 171–182.
- HIND, W. 1896. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Part I): ibid., pp. 1-80, pis. i-ii
- HIND, W. 1897. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Part II): ibid., vol. li, pp. 81-208, pis. iii-
- HIND, W. 1898. A Monograph on the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Part III) : Palseont. Soc, vol. lii, pp. 209-76, pis. xvi-xw.
- HIND, W. 1899. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Part IV): Palaeont Soc, vol. liii, pp. 277-360, pis. xxvi-xx
- HIND, W. 1900. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellitranchiata (Part V) : ibid., vol. liv, pp 361-476, pis. x
- HIND, W. 1901. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Vol. II, Part I) : Palasont. Soc, vol. lv, pp. 1-34, pis. i
- HIND, W. 1903. A Monograph of the British Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata (Vol. II, Part II): Palaeont. Soc , vol. lvii, pp. 35-124, pis. vii-xx
A fine obituary for Dr Hind was printed in the Geological Magazine , Volume 57 , Issue 10 , October 1920 , pp. 476 - 480.
It states that after qualifying as an MD and a surgeon he began to practice in Stoke-on-Trent in 1884, where in the following thirty years he established himself as one of the foremost surgeons in the district. It goes on to say “So far as research work is concerned, Hind’s interest in geology practically dates from his arrival in Stoke, for very shortly thereafter he made the first of a long series of contributions on local geology to the Transactions of the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. As might be expected from his location in a coal-mining district, most of his work related to the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Carboniferous rocks, especially the lower members of that series……….
The basis of Hind’s stratigraphical work was the attempt to discover a series of life-zones by means of which the Carboniferous rocks could be subdivided and those different districts correlated. For several years he acted as secretary of the British Association Committee on ‘Life-zones in the British Carboniferous Rocks’, and not only collected assiduously himself but also identified much of the material collected by others.”
He was elected a member of the Geological Society of London in 1891 and received the Lyell award in 1902 and the Lyell medal in 1917.
The obituary gives a comprehensive list of his publications and papers between 1889 and 1920. They amounted to over eighty.
