Blanford, W. T. (William Thomas), 1832-1905

William Thomas Blanford was born on October 7, 1832, in London, England.

He was an English geologist and naturalist, educated in private schools in Brighton (until 1846) and Paris (1848). He joined his family business in carving and gilding and studied at the School of Design in Somerset House. In 1851, he was induced to enter the newly established Royal School of Mines. He then spent a year in the mining school (Bergakademie) at Freiberg, Saxony, and in 1854, he obtained a post on the Geological Survey of India where he remained for twenty-seven years. Between 1857 and 1860 he was involved in a survey of the Rajniganj coalfields and in 1860, he went to Burma to study an extinct volcano Puppadoung. In 1867, he joined an expedition to Abyssinia. His extensive travels gave him exceptional opportunities for studying the natural history of various regions. After his retirement in 1882, he became an editor of “The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma” series.
For his many contributions to geological science, Blanford was in 1883 awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London. For his labours on the zoology and geology of British India he received in 1901 a royal medal from the Royal Society. He had been elected F.R.S. in 1874 and was chosen president of the Geological Society in 1888. His principal publications were: “Observations on the Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia” (1870), “Manual of the Geology of India”, with H. B. Medlicott (1879) and the third volume in “Birds” following the work of E. W. Oates in “The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma” series.

In 1883, he married Ida Gertrude Bellhouse. He died on June 23, 1905, in London, England.