Edward William Binney

Edward William Binney FRS (1812 - 1882) was an English geologist.

Edward William Binney was born at Morton, in Nottinghamshire in 1812. He was articled to a solicitor in Chesterfield, and in 1836 settled at Manchester. He retired soon afterwards from legal practice and gave his chief attention to geological pursuits. [Anon.] (1911)]

He assisted in 1838 in founding the Manchester Geological Society, of which he was then chosen one of the honorary secretaries; he was elected president in 1857, and again in 1865. He was also successively secretary and president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Working especially at the Carboniferous and Permian rocks of the north of England, he studied also the Drift deposits of Lancashire, and made himself familiar with the geology of the country around Manchester. On the Coal Measures in particular he became an acknowledged authority, and his "Observations on the Structure of Fossil Plants found in the Carboniferous Strata" (1868–1875) formed one of the monographs of the Palaeontographical Society. His large collection of fossils was placed in Owens College.

Binney was part of a close Manchester social circle that included James Prescott Joule, William Sturgeon, John Davies and John Leigh. [Kargon (1977) "pp" 39-40]

He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1856 and died at Manchester.

References

Further reading

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* Secord, A. " [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2420 Binney, Edward William (1812–1881)] ", "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, accessed 10 August 2007 ODNBsub

* [Anon.] (1911) " [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Edward_William_Binney Edward William Binney] ", "Encyclopaedia Britannica"

*Obituaries:
**"Manchester Examiner and Times", 21 December 1881
**"Manchester Guardian", 22 December 1881
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