| Description | Roderick Impey Murchison, fieldbooks & diaries: Notes on Directorship of the Museum of Practical Geology, 1855, 1859-1862. Most of the entries in 1855 are day to day records of answering letters and general duties, but also reference his preparation for council meetings of the other scientific organisations which Murchison was a member. After this the notes become more sporadic or are compiled retrospectively. Notable entries include:
6 May 1855 - Writing to Jukes about the Survey of Ireland; Andrew Crombie Ramsay and the present state and further advancement of fieldwork; Colonel James, RE, and the Map of Ayrshire (p175-176)
7 May 1855 - Professor Huxley and Professor Smyth (p3)
11 May 1855 - interview with Prince Albert at Buckingham Palace who compliments Murchison on his new appointment. Albert's views on the organisation of science, the 'Brompton Boiler' and reference to HRH's visit to the Royal Academy which has recently moved to Burlington House (pp6-7)
12 May 1855 - inspecting museum collections (p12)
17 May 1855 - George Bellas Greenough's funeral at Kensal Green Cemetery; looking for the resting place of his brother but directed to the wrong grave by a drunk clerk. Thumbnail sketch of where the grave is. (p14)
16 July 1855 - finds the new role agreeable and is excited to lecture to crowds and lists his achievements including: altering the lettering and colours of the Survey maps; redrawing the duties of the curator; renaming publications to be now called 'Memoirs of the Geological Survey'; standing up to Playfair, Secretary of the Department at the Board of Trade; reducing the accumulation of Survey publications by distributing them to foreign organisations (p17-22)
7 Aug 1855 - [Last day in office] Approaching government ministers to look at the geological structures of India and the other colonies which have been neglected (p24)
4 Oct 1855 - [First day back] Glasgow Meeting of the BA
1856-1858 - retrospective, brief notes on Murchison's activities (pp28-30)
1859 - reference to his researches in Sutherland and the Reptile Beds of Moray; lecture at Aberdeen and the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (p31)
11 Oct 1860 - Reflects on his achievements after five years at Survey, including: research with Archibald Geikie on the crystalline rocks of Highlands; geological work in NW Highlands; proposed geological map of Scotland with Geikie; appointments of new geological surveyors; Hunt's testimonial (pp32-33 & 36) |
| Administrative History | Roderick Murchison entered his duties as Director of the Geological Survey on 5 May 1855. |