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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.[1]
Biography
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.[2] Like many in his day he used his wealth to pursue his study of geology both in Britain and in Europe.
On November 15, 1818, He married Caroline Forbes who was the eldest daughter of the eighteenth Lord Forbes and granddaughter of the sixth Duke of Atholl.[3] They lived in Perth; Greenknowe; Berne, Switzerland; Brussels; Ramsgate, Kent; and many other locations in Europe.[4] They had five children, William, James, George, Charles and a daughter.
George died on November 1846 in Royal Leamington Spa, willing homes, paintings and nearly 3000 pounds to each child.[5][6]
Writings
During the formative era of geology in the early 1800s, Fairholme wrote two books on geology[7] and published articles on coal, Niagaga Falls, and human fossils.
- General View of the Geology of Scripture (1833)
- The Mosaic Deluge (1837).[8]
Like other Scriptural geologists, Fairholme was not ignorant of geology. His first book (1833) was prepared with reference to Lyell’s Principles of Geology whom he acknowledged as superior to earlier theorists. But like Hutton and 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).[9] 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. Yet, proponents of the new geologist chose to represent scriptural geology as a fulminating, fanatical protest movement.[10]
Notes
- ^ Sir John Bernard Burke, Burke's Landed Gentry (1965-72), III:315-16.
- ^ 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.
- ^ George and Elizabeth Fairholme's contract of marriage.
- ^ Susanna Evans, Historic Brisbane and Its Early Artists (1982), 24.
- ^ Death Notices, Leamington Spa Courier, Vol. XIX, No. 963 (21 Nov. 1846), 3
- ^ Gentlemen's Magazine, N.S. Vol. XXVII (1847), 108.
- ^ Kölbl-Ebert, Martina (2009). Geology and religion: a history of harmony and hostility. Geological Society of London. p. 164.
- ^ Livingstone, Hart & Noll 1999, pp. 178–179
- ^ Millhauser 1954, pp. 72–74
- ^ O’Connor 2007, pp. 368–369
References
- Livingstone, David; Hart, Darryl G.; Noll, Mark A. (1999). Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195115570.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Millhauser, Milton (1954). "The Scriptural Geologists: An Episode in the History of Opinion". Osiris. 11. Saint Catherines Press: 65–86. doi:10.1086/368571. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - O’Connor, Ralph (2007). "Young-Earth Creationists in Early Nineteenth-century Britain? Towards a reassessment of 'Scriptural Geology'" (PDF). History of Science. 45 (150). Science History Publications Ltd: 357–403. ISSN 0073-2753.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
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