White Watson
Encyclopedia
White Watson was an early English
geologist
, sculptor, stonemason and carver, marble-worker and mineral dealer. In common with many learned people of his time, he was skilled in a number of artistic and scientific areas, becoming a writer, poet, journalist, teacher, botanist and gardener as well as geologist and mineralogist. He kept extensive diaries and sketchbooks of his observations on geology, fossils and minerals, flora and fauna, and published a small but significant and influential number of geological papers and catalogues. As an artist he was well known locally for his silhouettes, both on paper and as marble inlays.
, near Sheffield, on 10 April 1760. His father was Samuel Watson, a millstone manufacturer of Baslow
, Derbyshire
, his mother Martha White (which is from where his unusual first name derives). Watson's great-grandfather, Samuel Watson, and his grandfather, also Samuel Watson, had been sculptors and stonemasons engaged on the re-building of Chatsworth House
between 1687 and 1706. Continuing the family tradition, in later years White Watson would also work for the Chatsworth Estate.
Whilst still a child, Watson became interested in minerals and fossils, and began his own collection as well as providing specimens for sale in his uncle's shop. His uncle, Henry Watson, had been a marble sculptor in Bakewell
and Ashford-in-the-Water
since the early 1750s, and he built and owned the water-powered marble mill in Ashford-in-the-Water. Henry Watson was largely responsible for founding the trade in the local Blue John fluorite and Ashford Black Marble
, and provided the magnificent black and white marble flooring for the Great Hall at Chatsworth House in 1779. On leaving Sheffield School at the age of 14, White Watson went to live with his uncle, and was apprenticed to him on 31 May 1774. According to his own catalogue, now preserved in Sheffield Library, he formally began his collection of fossils and marbles the same year. By 1782 he was advertising his trade as a sculptor and engraver, and helping his uncle to run the business.
Possibly inspired by geologist John Whitehurst
's 1782 diagrams of statigraphic section
s in the Matlock area of Derbyshire, in 1785 Watson presented Whitehurst with a diagrammatic 'Tablet', 'A Section of a Mountain in Derbyshire', made from samples of the rocks themselves. This innovative method of display not only showed an early understanding of the new science of geological strata but also formed the first attempt at documenting the stratigraphical structure of Derbyshire as a whole as opposed to the structure of specific localities as Whitehurst had. Over the course of his life, Watson would produce about 100 such tablets, accompanied with explanatory leaflets, and his papers contain sketches for considerably more. Unfortunately most of these tablets are now untraceable, although around fifteen are known to still survive.
Henry Watson died in 1786, and the Ashford-in-the-Water business was then sold. From here on, White Watson became a finisher of marble - for many years a considerable part of his business continued to be gravestones and monumental church marbles - and a fossil and mineral specimen dealer from his own premises in Bakewell which he maintained as a shop and museum for his collection until his death. It was White Watson who was chiefly responsible for the popular commercialisation of works produced in Ashford Marble – a limestone
impregnated with bitumen to give it its sleek blackness.
In the early 1790s Watson collaborated with William Martin
(1767–1810) on an illustrated catalogue of Derbyshire's Carboniferous Limestone
fossil
s. Watson had been unsuccessfully attempting to raise funding for such a publication since 1790, and produced a one-page ' Prospectus of a Catalogue and Description of Derbyshire Fossils ' outlining the proposal (now in Sheffield Central Library
) that year (a second prospectus on the theme, in conjunction with Martin, dates from 1792). However, after they began working together on the project and managed to raise the necessary funds to publish, Martin began to produce installments on his own from 1793, using Watson's text contributions and his accompanying plates with virtually no credit given. As a result, the pair eventually fell out, and Martin re-published the series under his own name as Volume I of Petrificata Derbiensia in 1809 without giving any credit to Watson at all.
Watson was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society. in 1795, and remained a member until his death. He was also a member of the Derby Philosophical Society
from 1800, nominated by Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire
, and a member of the British Mineralogical Society.
In 1798 he remodelled a grotto in the Chatsworth House grounds into a crystal cave studded with fossils, at a cost of £110 19s. (Note: the current grotto is a later construction from the 1830’s and not Watson’s work). Following this, he continued to work for the Chatsworth Estate. Originally contracted for five weeks between April and June 1799 to catalogue and arrange the important mineral collection begun by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, then partly housed in Chiswick, he also arranged the mineral collection of Lady Henrietta of Bessborough
(Georgiana's sister) in Cavendish Square at the same time.
, Erasmus Darwin
and James Sowerby
, as well as the notable French mineralogist Alexandre Brongniart
.
In 1808 Watson married Ann Thorpe, aged 29, from Buckminster
, Leicestershire
, who was a relative of Sir Isaac Newton
. Earlier the same year he produced a tablet showing a detailed cross-section of the stratigraphy of Derbyshire on a line from Buxton
to Bolsover
, which he presented to the Duke of Devonshire on 20 February 1808. From 1810 Watson made a number of tablets of this section, largely on a scale of 1/2 inch to a mile or one inch to a mile, and based on these published an important early work on the geology of Derbyshire 'The Delineation of the Strata of Derbyshire' in 1811. Despite being designed during an early and somewhat primitive stage of the science of geology, it is remarkable how accurate these sections were, describing a sequence of 36 stratigraphical levels in Derbyshire rocks with a lengthy fold-out cross-section of almost the entire width of Derbyshire. By then, Watson's tablets, sketches and notes clearly show that Watson was aware of and in agreement with Abraham Werner's theories of geology and classification of rocks, and ' The Delineation ' includes some discussion on Werner's theories. Watson's personal papers from 1800 included ' A catalogue of a systematic collection of fossils arranged according to Mr Werner's system '.
A number of other sections along different lines across Derbyshire were published between 1813 and 1831, together with numerous localised geological sections of Peaks and cliffs such as Mam Tor
. An 1813 pamphlet 'Section of Strata in the Vicinity of Matlock Bath', argued against John Farey
(1766–1826), a contemporary surveyor and geologist who had produced a geological map, ' A General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire ' early in 1811 (prior to Watson's ' Delineation' ). Working independently and with little other information other than what they themselves had observed, Watson and Farey disagreed considerably over the details of the geological structure of Derbyshire, and Watson correctly realised that the Derbyshire mountain landscapes were caused by underground volcanic action as opposed to Farey's assertion that they were formed by 'satellite attraction from above' . However, any friction over personal theories or accusations by Farey of appropriation of ideas did not preclude their discussing their findings during a number of meetings in Bakewell around 1811.
In 1825, the year of Ann's death, Watson's business card stated he ' executes monuments, tombs etc., gives lessons in geology and mineralogy and furnishes collections, affords information to antiquaries and amusement to Botanists' . Probably in the same year, Watson produced an unusual circular stratigraphical diagram ' A DELINEATION of the ten deepest STRATA as yet discovered in the MINERAL DISTRICTS of DERBYSHIRE' . In this the geological strata are arranged in near concentric circles outwards from the oldest rocks towards the centre to youngest rocks at points around the edge marked with the different place names in Derbyshire where the strata had been noted. These points lay at different distances from the centre according to the complexity of the stratification at that point.
Later in his life, Watson designed improvements for Bakewell Baths, his residence, for the Duke of Rutland
, who wanted to establish Bakewell as a fashionable spa town. Although this project ultimately failed, Watson was responsible for the Bath Gardens which were laid out in the town as part of the scheme, and these layouts largely survive today.
Despite all his works, Watson was always in debt, and he died still struggling to pay his bills by selling much of his fossil collection. As Ford notes of his still-surviving cash ledger from 1796-1833 ' if the entries really are a complete record of his income and expenditure he was often close to bankruptcy! '.
White Watson died in Bakewell on 8 August 1835, and is buried in Bakewell Churchyard. There were no children.
family at Bakewell Church, a plaque at St George's Chapel
, Windsor for George III from 1789 and the known remaining geological tablets. His tablets of 'A Section of a Mountain in Derbyshire' and 'A Section of the curious curvilinear Strata at Ecton Hill' are now in Derby Museum
, as are a number of others.
Other surviving tablets, including contemporaneous copies of the ones in Derby Museum, are in the British Museum
(Natural History), London, Oxford University Museum, Chatsworth House, Manchester Museum
and Leicester Museum. Watson's manuscript catalogue of the Chatsworth Mineral Collection is still kept at Chatsworth House, together with many of the specimens he provided for the collection. Despite years of neglect, the collection itself, including many of Watson's own specimens, has been largely restored at Chatsworth House after over 10 years of painstaking restoration by the Russell Society. A Catalogue of the External Characters of Fossils, by White Watson F.L.S. Bakewell, Derbyshire. 1798 ', found during this restoration work, is also held by Chatsworth House. His diaries from 1780-1831 are in the Bagshawe Collection in Sheffield City Library, together with his fossil catalogues. Other private papers, notes and sketches, together with much material for but extra to published volumes, are held in Sheffield Library and Derby Library, and an album of preparatory silhouettes from 1806 is also in Derby Library.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, sculptor, stonemason and carver, marble-worker and mineral dealer. In common with many learned people of his time, he was skilled in a number of artistic and scientific areas, becoming a writer, poet, journalist, teacher, botanist and gardener as well as geologist and mineralogist. He kept extensive diaries and sketchbooks of his observations on geology, fossils and minerals, flora and fauna, and published a small but significant and influential number of geological papers and catalogues. As an artist he was well known locally for his silhouettes, both on paper and as marble inlays.
Life 1760-1800
Watson was born at Whitely Wood Hall, Whiteley WoodsBingham Park and Whiteley Woods
Bingham Park is a park near Ecclesall and Ranmoor, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.Bingham Park is a grassy area high on a hillside with views across the valley, to Ranmoor. A footpath, leaving Rustlings Road serpents the valley bottom towards Whiteley Woods. The footpath ends at Forge Dam...
, near Sheffield, on 10 April 1760. His father was Samuel Watson, a millstone manufacturer of Baslow
Baslow
Baslow is a village in Derbyshire, England, in the Peak District, lying between Sheffield and Bakewell. It is situated on the River Derwent just north of Chatsworth House. A seventeenth century bridge spans the river in the village, alongside which is a contemporary toll house...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, his mother Martha White (which is from where his unusual first name derives). Watson's great-grandfather, Samuel Watson, and his grandfather, also Samuel Watson, had been sculptors and stonemasons engaged on the re-building of Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
between 1687 and 1706. Continuing the family tradition, in later years White Watson would also work for the Chatsworth Estate.
Whilst still a child, Watson became interested in minerals and fossils, and began his own collection as well as providing specimens for sale in his uncle's shop. His uncle, Henry Watson, had been a marble sculptor in Bakewell
Bakewell
Bakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...
and Ashford-in-the-Water
Ashford-in-the-Water
Ashford-in-the-Water is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, England, and on the River Wye. It is known for the quarrying of Ashford Black Marble , and for the Maiden's Garlands made to mark the deaths of virgins in the village until 1801. Some of these are preserved in the parish church...
since the early 1750s, and he built and owned the water-powered marble mill in Ashford-in-the-Water. Henry Watson was largely responsible for founding the trade in the local Blue John fluorite and Ashford Black Marble
Ashford Black Marble
Ashford Black Marble is the name given to a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, England. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface is highly decorative. Ashford Black Marble is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock, and is not a true marble in...
, and provided the magnificent black and white marble flooring for the Great Hall at Chatsworth House in 1779. On leaving Sheffield School at the age of 14, White Watson went to live with his uncle, and was apprenticed to him on 31 May 1774. According to his own catalogue, now preserved in Sheffield Library, he formally began his collection of fossils and marbles the same year. By 1782 he was advertising his trade as a sculptor and engraver, and helping his uncle to run the business.
Possibly inspired by geologist John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst FRS , of Cheshire, England, was a clockmaker and scientist, and made significant early contributions to geology. He was an influential member of the Lunar Society.- Life and work :...
's 1782 diagrams of statigraphic section
Statigraphic section
A stratigraphic section is a sequence of layers of rocks in the order they were deposited....
s in the Matlock area of Derbyshire, in 1785 Watson presented Whitehurst with a diagrammatic 'Tablet', 'A Section of a Mountain in Derbyshire', made from samples of the rocks themselves. This innovative method of display not only showed an early understanding of the new science of geological strata but also formed the first attempt at documenting the stratigraphical structure of Derbyshire as a whole as opposed to the structure of specific localities as Whitehurst had. Over the course of his life, Watson would produce about 100 such tablets, accompanied with explanatory leaflets, and his papers contain sketches for considerably more. Unfortunately most of these tablets are now untraceable, although around fifteen are known to still survive.
Henry Watson died in 1786, and the Ashford-in-the-Water business was then sold. From here on, White Watson became a finisher of marble - for many years a considerable part of his business continued to be gravestones and monumental church marbles - and a fossil and mineral specimen dealer from his own premises in Bakewell which he maintained as a shop and museum for his collection until his death. It was White Watson who was chiefly responsible for the popular commercialisation of works produced in Ashford Marble – a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
impregnated with bitumen to give it its sleek blackness.
In the early 1790s Watson collaborated with William Martin
William Martin (naturalist)
William Martin was an English naturalist and palaeontologist who proposed that science should use fossils as evidence to support the study of natural history. Martin published the first colour pictures of fossils and the first scientific study of fossils in English.-Biography:Martin was born in...
(1767–1810) on an illustrated catalogue of Derbyshire's Carboniferous Limestone
Carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. Watson had been unsuccessfully attempting to raise funding for such a publication since 1790, and produced a one-page ' Prospectus of a Catalogue and Description of Derbyshire Fossils ' outlining the proposal (now in Sheffield Central Library
Sheffield Central Library
Sheffield Central Library and Graves Art Gallery is a public library in Sheffield. It houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection, as well as hosting an art gallery on the third floor, and a theatre in the basement....
) that year (a second prospectus on the theme, in conjunction with Martin, dates from 1792). However, after they began working together on the project and managed to raise the necessary funds to publish, Martin began to produce installments on his own from 1793, using Watson's text contributions and his accompanying plates with virtually no credit given. As a result, the pair eventually fell out, and Martin re-published the series under his own name as Volume I of Petrificata Derbiensia in 1809 without giving any credit to Watson at all.
Watson was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society. in 1795, and remained a member until his death. He was also a member of the Derby Philosophical Society
Derby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentleman in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public.-History:...
from 1800, nominated by Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire , formerly Lady Georgiana Spencer, was the first wife of the 5th Duke of Devonshire, and mother of the 6th Duke of Devonshire. Her father, the 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her niece was Lady Caroline Lamb...
, and a member of the British Mineralogical Society.
In 1798 he remodelled a grotto in the Chatsworth House grounds into a crystal cave studded with fossils, at a cost of £110 19s. (Note: the current grotto is a later construction from the 1830’s and not Watson’s work). Following this, he continued to work for the Chatsworth Estate. Originally contracted for five weeks between April and June 1799 to catalogue and arrange the important mineral collection begun by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, then partly housed in Chiswick, he also arranged the mineral collection of Lady Henrietta of Bessborough
Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough
Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough , born Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer , was the wife of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough and mother of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb. Her father, John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough...
(Georgiana's sister) in Cavendish Square at the same time.
Life 1800-1835
Watson was then commissioned in 1804 on the rest of Georgiana's collection, the Chatsworth Mineral Collection, adding a considerable number of items during this time and further refining his understanding of the different types of rock and minerals and their relationships. By this time, Watson was something of a celebrity in natural history circles, and often received visitors to his collection at The Bath House in Bakewell, where he also lived and acted as superintendent for the Baths. One of these visitors, J. Hunter wrote of Watson in his Collectiana Hunteriana (1804) 'Mr Watson was rather below the middle stature with a pug face, is a bachelor and takes his glass of spirits and water at the Inn in Bakewell every evening' . Other notable visitors, correspondents and purchasers of specimens or collections over the years included Lord Denman, Sir Joseph Banks, William BucklandWilliam Buckland
The Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
, Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
and James Sowerby
James Sowerby
James Sowerby was an English naturalist and illustrator. Contributions to published works, such as A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland or English Botany, include his detailed and appealing plates...
, as well as the notable French mineralogist Alexandre Brongniart
Alexandre Brongniart
Alexandre Brongniart was a French chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris...
.
In 1808 Watson married Ann Thorpe, aged 29, from Buckminster
Buckminster
Buckminster is a village and civil parish within the Melton district of Leicestershire, England. It is on the B676 road, between Melton Mowbray and the A1....
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, who was a relative of Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
. Earlier the same year he produced a tablet showing a detailed cross-section of the stratigraphy of Derbyshire on a line from Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
to Bolsover
Bolsover
Bolsover is a town near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It is 145 miles from London, 18 miles from Sheffield, 26 miles from Nottingham and 54 miles from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.The civil parish for the town is called...
, which he presented to the Duke of Devonshire on 20 February 1808. From 1810 Watson made a number of tablets of this section, largely on a scale of 1/2 inch to a mile or one inch to a mile, and based on these published an important early work on the geology of Derbyshire 'The Delineation of the Strata of Derbyshire' in 1811. Despite being designed during an early and somewhat primitive stage of the science of geology, it is remarkable how accurate these sections were, describing a sequence of 36 stratigraphical levels in Derbyshire rocks with a lengthy fold-out cross-section of almost the entire width of Derbyshire. By then, Watson's tablets, sketches and notes clearly show that Watson was aware of and in agreement with Abraham Werner's theories of geology and classification of rocks, and ' The Delineation ' includes some discussion on Werner's theories. Watson's personal papers from 1800 included ' A catalogue of a systematic collection of fossils arranged according to Mr Werner's system '.
A number of other sections along different lines across Derbyshire were published between 1813 and 1831, together with numerous localised geological sections of Peaks and cliffs such as Mam Tor
Mam Tor
Mam Tor is a hill near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England. Its name literally translates as Heights of the Mother and it is also known as the Shivering Mountain on account of the instability of its lower shale layers...
. An 1813 pamphlet 'Section of Strata in the Vicinity of Matlock Bath', argued against John Farey
John Farey, Sr.
John Farey, Sr. was an English geologist and writer. However, he is better known for a mathematical construct, the Farey sequence named after him.-Biography:...
(1766–1826), a contemporary surveyor and geologist who had produced a geological map, ' A General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire ' early in 1811 (prior to Watson's ' Delineation' ). Working independently and with little other information other than what they themselves had observed, Watson and Farey disagreed considerably over the details of the geological structure of Derbyshire, and Watson correctly realised that the Derbyshire mountain landscapes were caused by underground volcanic action as opposed to Farey's assertion that they were formed by 'satellite attraction from above' . However, any friction over personal theories or accusations by Farey of appropriation of ideas did not preclude their discussing their findings during a number of meetings in Bakewell around 1811.
In 1825, the year of Ann's death, Watson's business card stated he ' executes monuments, tombs etc., gives lessons in geology and mineralogy and furnishes collections, affords information to antiquaries and amusement to Botanists' . Probably in the same year, Watson produced an unusual circular stratigraphical diagram ' A DELINEATION of the ten deepest STRATA as yet discovered in the MINERAL DISTRICTS of DERBYSHIRE' . In this the geological strata are arranged in near concentric circles outwards from the oldest rocks towards the centre to youngest rocks at points around the edge marked with the different place names in Derbyshire where the strata had been noted. These points lay at different distances from the centre according to the complexity of the stratification at that point.
Later in his life, Watson designed improvements for Bakewell Baths, his residence, for the Duke of Rutland
Duke of Rutland
Earl of Rutland and Duke of Rutland are titles in the peerage of England, derived from Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. The Earl of Rutland was elevated to the status of Duke in 1703 and the titles were merged....
, who wanted to establish Bakewell as a fashionable spa town. Although this project ultimately failed, Watson was responsible for the Bath Gardens which were laid out in the town as part of the scheme, and these layouts largely survive today.
Despite all his works, Watson was always in debt, and he died still struggling to pay his bills by selling much of his fossil collection. As Ford notes of his still-surviving cash ledger from 1796-1833 ' if the entries really are a complete record of his income and expenditure he was often close to bankruptcy! '.
White Watson died in Bakewell on 8 August 1835, and is buried in Bakewell Churchyard. There were no children.
Surviving Works
His collections were broken up and sold on his death. However, examples of his marble and limestone work survive in the tomb of the FoljambeFoljambe Baronets
The Baronetcy of Foljambe of Walton was created in the Baronetage of England on 24 July 1622 for Francis Foljambe of Walton Hall, Walton, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, who was later Member of Parliament for Pontefract in 1626 and High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1633.The family seat at Walton Hall...
family at Bakewell Church, a plaque at St George's Chapel
St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
St George's Chapel is the place of worship at Windsor Castle in England, United Kingdom. It is both a royal peculiar and the chapel of the Order of the Garter...
, Windsor for George III from 1789 and the known remaining geological tablets. His tablets of 'A Section of a Mountain in Derbyshire' and 'A Section of the curious curvilinear Strata at Ecton Hill' are now in Derby Museum
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
, as are a number of others.
Other surviving tablets, including contemporaneous copies of the ones in Derby Museum, are in the British Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
(Natural History), London, Oxford University Museum, Chatsworth House, Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum
The Manchester Museum is owned by the University of Manchester. Sited on Oxford Road at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, it provides access to about six million items from every continent and serves both as a resource for academic research and teaching and as a regional...
and Leicester Museum. Watson's manuscript catalogue of the Chatsworth Mineral Collection is still kept at Chatsworth House, together with many of the specimens he provided for the collection. Despite years of neglect, the collection itself, including many of Watson's own specimens, has been largely restored at Chatsworth House after over 10 years of painstaking restoration by the Russell Society. A Catalogue of the External Characters of Fossils, by White Watson F.L.S. Bakewell, Derbyshire. 1798 ', found during this restoration work, is also held by Chatsworth House. His diaries from 1780-1831 are in the Bagshawe Collection in Sheffield City Library, together with his fossil catalogues. Other private papers, notes and sketches, together with much material for but extra to published volumes, are held in Sheffield Library and Derby Library, and an album of preparatory silhouettes from 1806 is also in Derby Library.
Publications
- an incomplete list of published work other than the accompanying explanations for sections and maps -- Observations on Bakewell, post-1798
- A Catalogue of a Collection of Limestones, 1803
- A Catalogue of a Collection of Limestones, 1805
- A Catalogue of a Collection of Limestones, 1805
- A Catalogue of a Collection of Fossils, 1805
- A Delineation of the Strata of Derbyshire, 1811. Republished, 1973. ISBN 0903485060
- A Collection of Poems, 1812 (intended to accompany the 'Delineation' above)
- A Section of the Strata forming the Surface in the Vicinity of Matlock Bath in Derbyshire, 1813
- On Entrochal Marble, one-page pamphlet, 1826
- A Theory on the Formation of Mineral Veins, one-page pamphlet, 1827
- A Description of Slickensides, one-page pamphlet, 1829
- Observations on Prismatic Gritstone, one-page pamphlet, 1833
External links
- History of and Russell Society work on the Chatsworth Collection, including details of the Watson catalogue and his work for Chatsworth http://www.blnz.com/news/2008/04/23/DEVONSHIRE_MINERAL_COLLECTION_Chatsworth_House_8972.html