Kenneth St Joseph
| John Kenneth Sinclair St Joseph | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 November 1912 Cookley, Worcestershire |
| Died | 11 March 1994 (aged 81) Cambridge |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Known for | Aerial photography pioneer |
John Kenneth Sinclair St Joseph, CBE (13 November 1912 – 11 March 1994) was a British archaeologist, geologist and Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran who pioneered the use of aerial photography as a method of archaeological research in Britain and Ireland.
Kenneth St Joseph was born in Cookley, Worcestershire, on 13 November 1912 and attended school at Bromsgrove. He studied geology at Cambridge University and graduated in 1934. He was appointed as a lecturer in geology at Cambridge in 1937 after completing his post graduate degree. During the Second World War he served as an intelligence analyst with the RAF looking at photographs of bombing operations to judge their effectiveness.
As a school boy, St Joseph had been interested in Roman Britain and, in the 1930s, he was able to exploit a family connection to take part in an excavation at Hadrian's Wall where he met O G S Crawford. From this meeting, St Joseph developed an interest in aerial photography. St Joseph's subsequent war time experience convinced him that aerial photography had a potentially vital role in discovering and analyzing archaeological sites. In 1948, he was appointed curator (and subsequently, director) of aerial photography at Cambridge University. Initially, he was able to persuade the RAF to take photographs for him without charge. When the RAF became unwilling to continue this programme, the university authorities hired an aircraft. In 1965, they bought a Cessna Skymaster 337 and employed a pilot, allowing for a systematic and extensive programme of aerial archaeology. This aircraft remained in use for forty years.
Numerous new and important sites were discovered as a result of these surveys including Mucking, which was photographed on 16 June 1959. This discovery resulted in a major excavation lasting 13 years. His interest in Roman Britain continued, and the aerial survey work discovered more than 200 previously unknown Roman forts.
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