John-Clay Purves

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John-Clay Purves
Born30 January 1825
Coldstream, Scotland
Died26 July 1903(1903-07-26) (aged 78)
NationalityBritish
OccupationGeologist and Curator

John-Clay Purves MD (30 January 1825–26 July 1903) was a British geologist and museum curator.[1][2]

Biography[]

Purves initially qualified in medicine at the University of Edinburgh before joining the army and travelling as an army doctor.[1] He had spent a couple of years working for the Geological Survey in Scotland before joining the Yorkshire Museum in 1878. He was initially employed as a temporary assistant to the museum before being made permanent Keeper following the death of the sub-curator Henry Baines.[3] He resigned this post in 1880 following his appointment to the Geological Survey of Belgium.

In his subsequent geological career he is attributed with naming the Namurian; a stage in the regional stratigraphy of northwest Europe with an age between roughly 326 and 313 Ma (million years ago).[1]

Publications[]

  • PURVES, J.C., 1881. 'Sur la délimitation et la constitution de l’étage houiller inférieur de la Belgique'. Bulletin de l’Académie royale de Belgique, Classe des Sciences, 3° série, 2: 514–568.
  • PURVES, J.C., 1883. 'Terrain houiller'. In: Dupont, E. ; Mourlon, M. & Purves, J.C., Explication de la feuille de Natoye. Musée royal d’Histoire naturelle, Explication de la Carte géologique du Royaume: 1–50

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Pyrah, B. (1988). The History of the Yorkshire Museum and its Geological Collections. North Yorkshire County Council. p. 104.
  2. ^ Biographie Nationale publiée par L'académie Royale Des Sciences, Des Lettres et Des Beaux-Arts De Belgique (in French). Fascicule 2. 1972. pp. 659–665.
  3. ^ "Report of the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society". Yorkshire Philosophical Society Annual Report for 1878. 1879. p. 17.
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