The world’s first geological map which underpinned the Industrial Revolution and helped discover a more accurate age of the planet will go on show at the Yorkshire Museum in May, 200 years after its creation.

William “Strata” Smith, who had strong links to Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Museum, made the geological map of England and Wales in 1815.

At the time it was the most accurate depiction of the subterranean world ever made.

To mark the bi-centenary of its creation the Yorkshire Museum will display the recently conserved map, which is 1.8m by 2.6m in size and the only copy on public show in the north.

The display will also tell the story of Smith’s eventful life, which involved his work being plagiarised and a spell in prison, using his other original maps and books as well a selection of items from his own fossil collection, on loan from the Natural History Museum.

Sarah King, curator of natural science, said:

“William Smith was the first man to accurately depict what was literally beneath our feet. He understood that this knowledge would change our lives dramatically – from building canals and roads to finding underground reservoirs. His work was truly ground-breaking and underpinned many of the major changes which together became known as the Industrial Revolution.

“We are delighted to be able to display this newly conserved map at the Yorkshire Museum where Smith’s nephew, John Phillips, was the very first keeper from 1825 to 1844.”

Only 400 of the maps were ever made with around 150 still in existence, many of which are in private hands. The Yorkshire Museum bought its map in 1824 and it is probably one of the later editions, from around 1819.

Known in his day as ‘Strata’ Smith, William Smith had little education, was often shunned by the scientific establishment because of his humble origins, had his ideas stolen and his work plagiarised, and had to sell his beloved geological collection and his other assets to fund his work.

He became bankrupt and spent eight weeks in a debtors’ prison before re-establishing himself and his reputation. He is now recognised as the Father of English Geology for his work on strata and the fossils they contain.

The display looking at his life will be accompanied by a series of events and activities.

William Smith (1769 – 1839) – The Father of English Geology

Smith was born in 1769, in Churchill, Oxfordshire, the eldest son of the village blacksmith, who died when he was only seven. He then lived on his uncle’s farm and became fascinated with local fossils. He had only elementary education, but he was good at geometry.

He taught himself surveying and got a job with a Cotswolds master surveyor at the age of 18.

He had had the ability and courage to start his own business just four years later. By 1794 he was supervising the building of the Somerset Coal Canal, and was travelling around the country to visit other canal sites.

It was while doing this that he realised fossils of the same species were always in the same strata, that different species came in a specific order of the strata, and that this pattern was repeated in different parts of the country. With this idea he resolved to make a map of rock types based on fossils.

His map A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales with part of Scotland was eventually published in 1815.

Jealousy within the recently formed Geological Society of London, and plagiarised cheaper copies of his work, limited his own sales to 400 copies, sold at between five and twelve pounds.

The very high production costs were not met and Smith had to sell his prized geological collection for £700.

However, he continued to travel the country as an itinerant surveyor with his nephew John Phillips and produced a series of twenty one large scale county maps that formed his Geological Atlas of England and Wales.

To finance this, he was forced to sell his remaining assets, and in 1819 he even spent time in a debtors’ prison.

Fair recognition did not come until 1831, when the Geological Society of London awarded him the inaugural Wollaston Medal. In 1832, King William IV awarded him a pension of £100 pa.

He obtained a number of prestigious commissions, including being part of the team to select stone for the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament.

In 1835 he travelled with the British Association to Dublin, where he was awarded a totally unexpected honorary doctorate. Smith remained active until the age of 70, when he caught a sudden chill and died a few days later on 28 Aug 1839.

Links to Yorkshire

William Smith lived and worked in Scarborough for around 15 years doing various projects such as producing a county map and working on the Scarborough water system.

He designed the Rotunda Museum which opened in 1829 and originally described the geology of the Yorkshire coast. It now houses his own later collection and demonstrates the scientific principles he developed.

In 1824-25, Smith gave a successful series of lectures to the newly formed Yorkshire Philosophical Society in York – this also launched the career of his nephew John Phillips who was the first keeper of the Yorkshire Museum.

The YPS were sufficiently impressed to increase his fee from £50 to £60, and make him an honorary member.

Generously Supported by the Yorkshire Philisophical Society