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'''George Fairholme''' (1789–1846) was a wealth land owner, banker, traveler and naturalist born in Lugate, Midlothian, Scotland, January 15, 1789.<ref>[[Bernard Burke|Sir John Bernard Burke]], ''[[Burke's Landed Gentry]]'' (1965-72), III:315-16.</ref> |
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==Biography== |
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His father, William Fairholme (mother Elizabeth) made his living from banking and was a serious art collector. Nothing is known of George's childhood years and there is no record of his attending any university. But he was probably tutored at home and self-taught in keeping with his family’s wealthy financial situation. In 1800 an uncle bequeathed to him the Greenknowe estate (5000 plus acres) near Gordon, Berwickshire.<ref>George Fairholme, ''Notes on the Family of Greenknowe and on the History of the estate from 1470 to the present time'' (1838), unnumbered page of the preface to this unpublished manuscript in the possession of Mrs. Waveney Jenkins of the Isle of Man.</ref> Like many in his day he used his wealth to pursue his study of geology both in Britain and in Europe. |
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On November 15, 1818, He married Caroline Forbes who was the eldest daughter of the |
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[[Walter Forbes, 18th Lord Forbes|eighteenth Lord Forbes]] and granddaughter of the [[George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl|sixth Duke of Atholl]].<ref>George and Elizabeth Fairholme's contract of marriage.</ref> They lived in Perth; Greenknowe; Berne, Switzerland; Brussels; Ramsgate, Kent; and many other locations in Europe.<ref>Susanna Evans, ''Historic Brisbane and Its Early Artists'' (1982), 24.</ref> They had five children, William, James, George, Charles and a daughter. |
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George died on November 1846 in [[Royal Leamington Spa]], willing homes, paintings and nearly 3000 pounds to each child.<ref>Death Notices, ''Leamington Spa Courier'', Vol. XIX, No. 963 (21 Nov. 1846), 3</ref><ref>Gentlemen's Magazine, N.S. Vol. XXVII (1847), 108.</ref> |
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==Writings== |
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During the formative era of geology in the early 1800s, Fairholme wrote two books on geology<ref>{{cite book|last=Kölbl-Ebert|first=Martina|title=Geology and religion: a history of harmony and hostility|year=2009|publisher=[[Geological Society of London]]|page=164}}</ref> and published articles on coal, Niagaga Falls, and human fossils. |
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* ''General View of the Geology of Scripture'' (1833) |
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* ''The Mosaic Deluge'' (1837).<ref>{{harvnb|Livingstone|Hart|Noll|1999|pp=178–179}}</ref> |
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Like other [[Scriptural geologists]], Fairholme was not ignorant of geology. His first book (1833) was prepared with reference to [[Charles Lyell|Lyell]]’s ''Principles of Geology'' whom he acknowledged as superior to earlier theorists. But like [[James Hutton|Hutton]] and [[Abraham Gottlob Werner|Werner]], Lyell was wrong to have departed from a Biblical basis. He noted that even some of the most educated theologians, who were ignorant of geology, submitted to the dictates of philosophy while translating and explaining the Bible thereby aiding skepticism and disbelief. Conservative [[William Buckland]]’s defection to the moderate party was lamented in Fairholme’s second book (1837).<ref>{{harvnb|Millhauser|1954|pp=72–74}}</ref> Arguments presented by scriptural geologists against the new geology ranged from the courteous ruminations of Fairholme and [[Granville Penn]] to the apoplectic splutterings of [[Henry Cole (minister)|Henry Cole]]. Yet, proponents of the new geologist chose to represent scriptural geology as a fulminating, fanatical protest movement.<ref>{{harvnb|O’Connor|2007|pp=368–369}}</ref> |
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Scientific Work and Geological Competence |
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Together, these articles reflect skill in recording careful observations of nature, wide research in relevant scientific literature, personal correspondence or conversation with other naturalists, the use of museum and zoo collections, the application of appropriate experimentation, and a caution so as not to over-generalize from the stated observations. |
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He apparently attended the BAAS meeting in Bristol in 1836 and he read a paper on the nature of valleys to the 1834 meeting of the Deutscher Naturforscher Versammlung (BAAS equivalent) in Stuttgard, Germany.25 |
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The fact that he was invited to make field-trips with several German scientists after that 1834 meeting is an indication of the level of respect they had for his geological knowledge. |
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His writing style, vocabulary and evident literary research skills reflect a high level of education. |
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“I have always felt an ardent desire to study, and endeavour to follow up, the theories which, from time to time, have been formed by philosophy, respecting the original formation and subsequent changes of the globe which sustains us; and for many years of my life I have regularly studied almost every thing that has been advanced on those important subjects. In the course of repeated travels over a great part of Europe, I have also had many opportunities of practically forming a judgment of the more visible and tangible evidences adduced in support of those theories." |
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As part of these field studies he referred to a long journey across the greater part of the longitudinal extent of the UK, which included descent into several mines. 31 |
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He also studied fossils in Buckland's Oxford collection and during his extended residence in Switzerland in 1829 he engaged in much geological and geographical fieldwork.32 |
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Other evidence of his geological field research is reflected in the fact that he spent several months exploring the valley system of the French table-lands, about which he said, |
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Having myself lately traversed that country, for the express purpose of tracing out the systems of valleys, and of examining their phenomena, I may, the more confidently, present the reader with the following reflections on the subject.35 |
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On another occasion, while in Germany for the 1834 scientific meeting at Stuttgard, he described his observations of the winding Neckar river valley: "But having, myself, just completed an examination of the whole course of the Neckar, from its very source, down to Heidelberg, and having seen many hundreds of such windings, both above and below Canstatt . . . "36 |
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Such observations led him to reject the burst-lake theory for the formation of the valley explained by the geology professor at the meeting, who had taken him and others on a field trip to the valley. Fairholme also gave very detailed descriptions of well-known Scottish valleys which reflected first-hand observation.' |
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One of the major reasons that nineteenth century catastrophists did not believe that the Biblical flood caused the sedimentary strata, even if they believed it deposited the surface diluvium, was that there were no proven examples of human fossils in the secondary strata.38 |
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One of the reasons that Fairholme believed that most of the sedimentary rock record was produced during the year-long Noachian Flood was the gradual, "insensible transitions" (or conformity) between the strata. |
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After first having been alerted to this fact by a French professor of geology in Paris, who because of this fact had rejected Cuvier's theory of multiple catastrophes each separated by long stretches of time, Fairholme said that |
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In addition to his field research, he studied fossils in the possession of others, |
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Such as at the Dublin Museum, |
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in Buckland's Oxford collection and |
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in the private collections of several German geologists, |
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as well as fossils and rock specimens which he had collected from various places in England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, and even Australia. |
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But in addition to these articles, Fairholme also read and interacted with |
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Cuvier's Ossemens Fossiles, |
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Lye11's Principles of Geology, |
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DeLuc's Lettres Geologique, J |
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ohn Phillips' Outlines of Geology, |
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Buckland's Reliquiae Diluvianae, |
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and others, |
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as well as a number of works on animal natural history written by respected explorers.54 |
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In Mosaic Deluge (1837) he showed familiarity with Hutton and Werner's theories and discussed at some length the work of the chemist, John Murray, whose experimental research raised serious objections to the Playfair/Hutton theory.' |
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He constantly interacted with the arguments in Buckland's and Lye11's most recent works. |
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But he also referred to the well-known writings of British geologists |
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Adam Sedgwick, |
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John Macculloch, |
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Robert Bakewell and |
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Henry De la Beche. |
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He cited the works of English scientists |
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William Whewell, |
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William Prout, |
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Sir Humphrey Davy, |
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Sir John Herschel, |
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William Kirby, |
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William Wood and |
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Henry S. Boase. |
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And he evidently read books by French scientists such as |
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Georges Cuvier, |
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Alexandre Brongniart and |
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Claude A. Rozet, |
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Furthermore, he read |
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English and foreign scientific journals' and |
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gleaned pertinent information from more popular magazines and newspapers, 58 |
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as well as the travel journals of experienced explorers, such as |
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Captain Basil Hall and |
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Bishop Heber of India.' |
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In most cases he quoted liberally from his sources (often a page or more), |
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especially of those with whom he disagreed, which reflects his desire to properly represent their views before he contested their conclusions. |
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In spite of all this evidence of geological competence, three scathing reviews of his writings stated that Fairholme, like the other Scriptural geologists, knew nothing about geology. |
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One said that he knew "scarcely an atom of geology as now taught" or Knew "that atom imperfectly," that he was "actually (or wilfully) ignorant of the simplest data of the science [geology]" and that he had a brain with an opening like "a diluvial chaotic |
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Another said he had "little real knowledge of geology" 61 |
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and a third spoke of Fairholme's "want of practical acquaintance" with geology. 62 |
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Yet neither of these latter two critics cited a single example of such ignorance, and of the two errors cited by the first critic, at least one is questionable. |
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After quoting James Hutton's famous statement that he found "no traces of a beginning, no prospect of an end," which had provoked the angry charge of atheism from many others, Fairholme refrained from character assassination and simply, but firmly, criticized his conclusions by saying, |
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But Hutton, intent only on proving the vast antiquity of the earth, carried his sweeping conclusions far beyond the limits prescribed by his premises; and was thus amongst the first to mislead the scientific world into that tangled labyrinth, which most men now perceive, and which some regard without much hope of ultimate extrication.° |
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and he concurred with the 1837 president of the Geological Society [Lye11] in giving "a high and well merited eulogium on the descriptive parts of[Buckland's] Bridgewater Geological Treatise," |
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even though he also rejected, but in ways different from Lyell, some of Buckland's theoretical interpretations of the facts. |
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For example, Fairholme largely agreed with Buckland's theory of the mode of formation of the vast coal measures (i.e., transport and burial of plant debris by flood waters), |
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but presented his reasons from nature for rejecting the millions and millions of years postulated for their formation.69 |
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Scriptural geologists, to whom he made passing positive reference, were |
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Thomas Gisborne, |
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Sharon Turner, and |
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George Young.' |
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In Geology of Scripture (1833, pp. 431-38), he favoured Granville Penn's argument that Genesis 2:10-14 was a textual gloss. |
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In commenting on Buckland's recantation of his belief in the Flood, which Buckland felt obliged to make because of new geological evidence brought to his attention, Fairholme described himself in comparison saying, |
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So far from condemning these candid admissions of supposed error, I look upon them as in the highest degree praiseworthy; nor can there be the slightest doubt of their disinterested and honourable nature, when we consider that they voluntarily level with the ground, some theoretical structures which were once regarded with general delight and admiration. Nor could I, indeed, be justified in any such censure, as I shall, myself, have occasion, like so many other geological students, to recant, in the following Treatise, some opinions which I had adopted on the same independent grounds, but which a more mature study of facts had subsequently led me to abandon!' |
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In addition to analysing existing geological theories, Fairholme also attempted to add to the storehouse of geological facts by presenting new knowledge on the basis of his own field work. |
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From his reading of many contemporary and leading geologists, he felt confident in saying that no one had ever made these observations before. The new facts he claimed to present related to the formation of valley systems, sea cliffs and waterfalls. |
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His work on valleys was especially significant in his mind, because it was the arguments of Lyell, Scrope and Murchison, in the late 1820s (that valleys had been cut by the rivers now flowing in their bottoms), which had substantially increased doubts about the violent nature of the Noachian Flood and led to the recantations of Sedgwick, Buckland and Greenough. |
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After the presentation of his "new and conclusive" evidences regarding the time of the formation of the present land masses and the changes that have taken place on them since then to the present, |
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Fairholme went to some length to establish that they were, in fact, a totally new contribution to the advancement of geological knowledge. |
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Herschel was discussing the obscurity of geological knowledge about the commencement of and subsequent changes to the present superficial rock strata of the dry lands and the fact that, at the time, it was difficult to properly evaluate the effects of present causes in geology, such as the annual erosion rates of the continents or coastal erosion caused by the sea. |
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Herschel concluded that "much then, at present, must be left to opinion" and "every possible effort" should be made "to obtain accurate information on such points" in order for geology to move forward as a true science.78 |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==References== |
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*{{cite book | last1 = Livingstone | first1 = David | authorlink = David N. Livingstone | first2 = Darryl G. | last2 = Hart | first3 = Mark A. | last3 = Noll | title = Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 1999 | isbn = 0195115570| ref = harv |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_4K720YRj88C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Evangelicals+and+Science+in+Historical+Perspective&source=bl&ots=0SmrKgWsdx&sig=YQKO2P08rujrZlBw32q8wOczVP0&hl=en&ei=NwghTcKWH4r6sAOR5IybDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false}} |
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*{{cite journal |
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| last = Millhauser |
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| first = Milton |
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| title = The Scriptural Geologists: An Episode in the History of Opinion |
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| journal = Osiris |
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| volume = 11 |
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| pages = 65–86 |
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| publisher = Saint Catherines Press |
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| year = 1954 |
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| url = http://www.jstor.org/pss/301663 |
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| accessdate = 2009-08-25 |
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| doi = 10.1086/368571| ref = harv}} |
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*{{cite journal |
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| last1 = O’Connor |
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| first1 = Ralph |
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| year = 2007 |
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| title = Young-Earth Creationists in Early Nineteenth-century Britain? Towards a reassessment of ‘Scriptural Geology’ |
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| url = http://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/his221/young-earth-creationists.pdf |
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| journal = History of Science |
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| volume = 45 |
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| number = 150 |
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| pages = 357–403 |
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| publisher = Science History Publications Ltd |
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|issn = 0073-2753 |
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| ref = harv |
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}} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Fairholme, George |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 1789 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
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| DATE OF DEATH = 1846 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairholme, George}} |
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