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WILLIAM GUYBON ATHERSTONE (1813-1898)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 845 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WILLIAM GUYBON See also:ATHERSTONE (1813-1898)  , See also:British geologist, one of the pioneers in See also:South See also:African See also:geology, was See also:born in 1813, in the See also:district of See also:Uitenhage, Cape See also:Colony . Having qualified as M.D. he settled in See also:early See also:life as a medical practitioner at Grahamstown, subsequently becoming F.R.C.S . In 1839 his See also:interest was aroused in geology, and from that date he " devoted the leisure of a See also:long and successful medical practice " to the pursuit of See also:geological See also:science . In 1857 he published an See also:account of the rocks and fossils of Uitenhage (the latter described more fully by R . See also:Tate, Quart . See also:Journal Geol . See also:Soc., 1867) . He also obtained many fossil reptilia from the See also:Karroo beds, and presented specimens to the British Museum . These were described by See also:Sir See also:Richard See also:Owen . See also:Atherstone's See also:identification in 1867 as a See also:diamond of a crystal found at De See also:Kalk near the junction of the Riet and See also:Vaal See also:rivers, led indirectly to the See also:establishment of the See also:great diamond See also:industry of South See also:Africa . He encouraged the workings at See also:Jagersfontein, and he also called See also:attention to the diamantiferous See also:neck at See also:Kimberley . He was one of the founders of the Geological Society of South Africa at See also:Johannesburg in 1895; and for some years previously he was a member of the Cape See also:parliament .

He died at Grahamstown, on the 26th of See also:

June 1898 . See the obituary by T . See also:Rupert See also:Jones, Natural Science, vol. xiv . (See also:January 1899) .

End of Article: WILLIAM GUYBON ATHERSTONE (1813-1898)
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