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Timeline of the Geological Survey of Scotland

1 April 1845 The Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland comes into existence by Act of Parliament. Henry De la Beche is the first Director.
1854–1867 Geologists are based in London and visit Scotland for field work, with a small temporary store for maps and specimens at the Industrial Museum of Scotland.
August 1854 Nature of the Geological Survey of Scotland is decided between De La Beche, Jukes and Ramsay. Mapping to proceed at a scale of six inches to one mile.
Autumn 1854 Ramsay begins mapping Old Red Sandstone and carboniferous around Dunbar.
1855 H.H. Howell and Archibald Geikie map Berwickshire, Lothians and Fife.
1855 Murchison succeeds De La Beche as Director General.
1858 J.W. Salter the Palaeontologist from London visits East Lothian to study the fossils and help with the correlation of the Carboniferous strata.
1859 First one-inch geological map is published. Sheet 32 Edinburgh.
1861 First sheet memoir is published for Edinburgh District, includes a list of Silurian and Carboniferous fossils compiled by J.W. Salter.
1861 Geikie shows James (Paraffin) Young the outcrop of the oil-shales - this is the basis of the new oil-shale industry.
1861 Decision made to start mapping the superficial deposits - sands, gravels and clays deposited by former glaciers.
1861 Howells replaced by James Geikie and John Young.
1862 Ben Peach joins the Survey.
1867 Geological Survey of Scotland gets its new Identity - Offices open in Edinburgh. A Geikie is Director, Edward Hull is Deputy.
1867–1869 Geological Survey of Scotland is housed in Argyle Square at the Museum of Science and Art (formerly Industrial Museum of Scotland).
1867–1870 New recruits: J. Horne, D.I. Irvine, R.L. Jack, H.M. Skae, J. Croll, C.R. Campbell.
1869 James Geikie becomes Assistant Director.
1869–1879 Geological Survey of Scotland housed at No. 1 India buildings, Victoria Street.
1871 R. Etheridge, Jun. Is the first Palaeontologist to be appointed to the Survey in Scotland. Previously Scottish palaeontological work was undertaken in London.
1875 Mapping attention turns to the Highlands.
1875 New recruits - J.S. Grant Wilson, J. Linn.
1879–1905 Peach now undertakes all the Palaeontological work in Scotland.
1879–1906 Geological Survey of Scotland is now located on the other side of George IV Bridge in the Sherriff Court Buildings.
1882 A. Geikie becomes Director General.
1882–1899 J.H.H. Howells Director in Scotland.
1884 G. Barrow, C.T. Clough, E.H. Cunningham-Craig, J.R. Dakyns, W. Gunn and H. Miller are transferred from England to speed up mapping of Scotland.
1860–1884 Highland Controversy about the nature of the succession in the North-west Highlands.
1884 Highland Controversy resolved, following detailed mapping by Peach and Horne and in conjunction with Charles Lapworth.
1888–1898 Resurvey of the Southern Uplands by Peach and Horne.
1891 Geological photography started by the Survey. R. Lunn, who started in the Survey in 1874 as a boy porter, undertakes the photography using plate cameras and glass negatives.
1890s A. Harker begins mapping of volcanic rocks of south Skye, and H.B. Woodward from the English survey is sent to map the Jurassic rocks of Skye and Raasay.
1899 The Silurian Rocks of Scotland - the famous memoir coving the Southern Uplands is published.
1901 A. Geikie retires as Director General and J.J.H. Teall takes over, but under the title 'Director'.
1901–1911 John Horne now Assistant to the Director (Head of the Scottish Survey).
1902 Detailed revision of the coalfield begins.
1905 Ben Peach retires after 43 years service.
1906 Geological Survey moves to 33 George Square, former home of Sir Noel Paton, a famous Scottish artist.
1906 First edition of the oil-shale memoir is published.
1908 The North West Highlands of Scotland - the famous and historic memoir elucidating the geology of the area is published.
1909 Last hand-coloured sheets 36 Kilmartin [Solid] and Kilmartin [Drift].
1910 Colour printed one-inch maps from this date. Revised map of Edinburgh (32), Geological map of Arran (Special sheet), Haddington (33) and Glenelg (71).
Hutton field: well correlation diagram.
Small scale (non-series) maps
Hydrogeology
Small scale (non-series) maps
See also