Joseph Tyrrell

Joseph Burr Tyrrell (November 1, 1858 Weston, Ontario – August 26, 1957) was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur (Albertosaurus) bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 1884.

Tyrrell was the third child of William and Elizabeth Tyrrell. He was a student at Weston Grammar School before graduating from Upper Canada College in 1876 and receiving a law degree from the University of Toronto in 1880. However, after articling for a law firm in Toronto, his doctor advised him to work outdoors due to his health.

He joined the Geological Survey of Ottawa in 1881, participating or leading numerous explorations. He lead the 1893 and 1894 expeditions into the Northern Barren Lands - the first visit to the Kivalliq Region Barrenlands by a European since the explortions of Samuel Hearne in the 1770s. Younger brother, James W. Tyrrell accompanied Tyrrell on the expeditions, which included first European contact with the Ihalmiut, an Inuit people, now almost extinct.

Tyrrell married Mary Edith Carey in 1894 and they had three children, Mary (1896), George (1900), and Thomas (1906). [cite web |url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1337887 |title=Joseph Burr Tyrrell |publisher=everything2.com |accessdate=2008-01-27] Mary Edith was founder and first president in 1921 of the Women's Association of the Mining Industry of Canada. [cite web |url=http://www.mining.ca/halloffame/english/bios/tyrrell.html |title=Hall of Fame Inductee |pubisher=mining.ca |accessdate=2008-01-27]

In 1894, Tyrrell stumbled upon biographical recollections (11 books of field notes, 39 journals, maps and a narrative) of Canadian overland explorer, cartographer and fur trader David Thompson (explorer) and, in 1916, published them as "David Thompson's Narrative". [cite web |url=http://www.davidthompsonthings.com/geog1.html |title=A short history |accessdate=2008-01-27]

Tyrrell went into the gold-mining business in 1898, a career that would last more than 50 years. He was mine manager of the Kirkland Lake Gold Mine in northern Ontario for many years.

Tyrrell retired to northeast Scarborough on the Rouge River,where he established substantial apple orchards and interested in grafting and breeding, developed the Golden Delicious. The expanded orchards, later managed by his son George, are now the site of the Toronto zoo.

Awards

* 1918, Murchison Medal, Geological Society of London
* 1933, Flavelle Medal, Royal Society of Canada
* 1947, Wollaston Medal, Geological Society of London
* Back Award, Royal Geographic Society
* Daly Medal from the American Geographical Society
* Professional Engineer's Medal from the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario
* Canadian Mining Hall of Fame

Honors

* Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta
* J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal, Royal Society of Canada
* Tyrrell Sea (prehistoric Hudson Bay)
* "Tyrrell Arm", the east section of Yathkyed Lake, Nunavut [cite web |url=http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/Kazan/Kazan-F_e.htm#3 |title=Kazan River |publisher=chrs.ca |accessdate=2007-12-25]

References

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* [http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10181 Historica minute]
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*A biography by Heather Robertson, 2007, Measuring Mother Earth: How Joe the Kid became Tyrrell of the North, McClelland & Stewart Inc. ISBN 0771075391

External links

* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008186 Joseph Burr Tyrrell] at The Canadian Encyclopedia
* [http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/ Royal Tyrrell Museum website]
* [http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10181 Historica’s Heritage Minute video docudrama about Joseph Tyrrell.] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash_Player (Adobe Flash Player.)]