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BUCKLAND, WILLIAM (b. Axminster, England, 12
March 1784; d. Islip, England, 14 August 1856),
geology, paleontology.
Buckland's father, Charles, was rector of Templeton
and Trusham; his mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter
of a landed proprietor established in Devon since the
seventeenth century. Buckland became interested in
rocks and fossil shells by playing among them in the
valley of the River Axe, in local quarries, and at the
seashore around Lyme Regis. He went on collecting
rambles with his father, who had a taste for ammonites
and related shells. He also collected birds'
eggs and observed the habits of fishes. At Winchester
School, Buckland was a good Latin student and
became familiar with chalk formations through the
common practice of digging for field mice in nearby
chalk pits. Environment, family, church, and school
experiences had fixed his interest on natural history
by the time he entered Oxford.
Buckland won a competitive examination for a
scholarship at Corpus Christi College in 1801. He
graduated in 1804 with a very good examination and
continued in residence, supporting himself on his
scholarship and by taking pupils. He was elected
fellow of his college and admitted to holy orders in
1809.
Around this period some people at Oxford, partly
stimulated by John Kidd's lectures, were showing an
interest in geology. Among the members of this group,
besides Buckland, were J. J. and W. D. Conybeare,
Charles Daubeny, John and Philip Duncan, and
W. J. Broderip. The latter introduced Buckland to
fieldwork, and Buckland considered the younger man
to be his tutor in geology. Broderip was knowledgeable
in conchology; he had been instructed by Joseph
Townsend, a friend of William Smith. Buckland was
thus initiated into the new fossil geology at the beginning
of his career. Broderip remained a close friend
and scientific adviser; and Buckland sought out
Townsend and Benjamin Richardson, another friend
of Smith's, on his trips from Oxford to Axminster.
Other early geological friends were Henry De la
Beche, who grew up at Lyme Regis, and George
Greenough.
In 1813 Buckland was elected reader in mineralogy
to succeed Kidd, and became a fellow of the Geological
Society of London; his first publication, of
sorts, was in 1814. His lectures included geology, and
were well received. He was appointed to a new readership
(not professorship) in geology in 1818; the motives
and politics of this endowment have not been
satisfactorily explained. Thereafter Buckland usually
styled himself “professor” on matter published in
London and “reader” on matter published in Oxford.
He gave two sets of lectures yearly until 1849, and
usually prepared new lecture notes each year. Apparently
he emphasized causal explanations of the
visible phenomena. Buckland was an active participant
in town affairs; among other matters, he was
instrumental in introducing gas lighting in 1818, and
became chairman of the Oxford gas company.
From 1808 to 1815 Buckland made geological tours
of England and other parts of the British Isles. In
1816, with Greenough and W. D. Conybeare, he
began his European tours, which eventually took him
to Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and
France. Cuvier visited him at Oxford in 1818, and
he visited Cuvier at Paris several times.
Buckland was awarded the Copley Medal of the
Royal Society for his cavern researches published in
1822. He was president of the Geological Society of
London in 1824-1825 and again in 1840-1841, and
was a member of the Council of the Royal Society
from 1827 to 1849. In 1825 he accepted a country
parsonage in the gift of his college, presumably so
that he could marry, but was then appointed a canon
of Christ Church, Oxford. These canonries were
among the richest governmental rewards for academic
distinction without serious administrative responsibilities.
Buckland married Mary Morland, of Sheepstead
House, near Abingdon, Berkshire, the same year; they
had five children who survived. Mary Buckland assisted
her husband with his writing, and by drawing
illustrations and reconstructing fossils according
to his instructions.
Buckland's Continental trips, especially those of
1826 and 1827, made him aware of German attempts
