William Smith (geologist)

William Smith
William Smith in 1837
Born	(1769-03-23)23 March 1769 Churchill, Oxfordshire
Died	28 August 1839(1839-08-28) (aged 70)
Nationality	English
Fields	Geology
Known for	Geological map of England and Wales
Notable awards	Wollaston Medal (1831)

William 'Strata' Smith (23 March 1769 – 28 August 1839) was an English geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geological map. At the time his map was first published he was overlooked by the scientific community; his relatively humble education and family connections prevented him from mixing easily in learned society. Consequently, his work was plagiarised; financially ruined, he spent time in debtors' prison. It was only much later in his life that Smith received recognition for his accomplishments, and became known as the "Father of English Geology".

Smith was born in the village of Churchill, Oxfordshire, the son of blacksmith John Smith, himself scion of a respectable farming family. His father died when Smith was just eight years old, and he was then raised by his uncle, also called William Smith. Although largely self-educated, Smith was highly intelligent and observant, read widely from an early age, and showed an aptitude for mathematics and drawing. In 1787, he met and found work as an assistant for Edward Webb of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a surveyor. He was quick to learn, and soon became proficient at the trade. In 1791, he travelled to Somerset to make a valuation survey of the Sutton Court estate, and building on earlier work in the same area by John Strachey. He stayed in the area for the next eight years, working first for Webb and later for the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company, living at Rugborne Farm in High Littleton. During this period, Smith inspected a number of coal mines in the area, where he first observed and recorded the various layers of rock and coal exposed by the mining; Smith's coal mine studies, combined with his subsequent observations of the strata exposed by canal excavations, proved crucial to the formation of his theories of stratigraphy.