- Sidney William Wooldridge
Infobox Person
name = Sidney William Wooldridge
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = Birth date|1900|11|16
birth_place =Hornsey
death_date = Death date|1963|4|25
death_place =London
occupation =Geographer Professor Sidney William Wooldridge
CBE , FRS, FGS (1900–1963),geologist , geomorphologist andgeographer , was a pioneer in the study of the geomorphology of south-east England and the first professor of geography atKing's College London . He collaborated with Dudley Stamp and with David Linton.Early life and education
Sidney Wooldridge was born in
Hornsey ,North London in 1900, the younger son of a bank clerk. [1901 Census: RG13/1241, Folio 63 p.14. London: National Archives] His early childhood was spent inCheam ,Surrey , and his later schooling inWood Green , north London, where he also took evening classes ingeology . He read geology atKing's College London (1918-1921), graduating with a first-class degree. Research inpetrology led to anMSc (1923) andDSc (1927). His study of theTertiary andPleistocene deposits of theNorth Downs andChiltern Hills of southern England led to an interest in geomorphology.cite web |author=Elizabeth Baigent|title=Wooldridge, Sidney William (1900–1963)|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37017, accessdate=2008-03-16]Academic career
In the 1920s and 30s Wooldridge lectured at King's on a combined geography and geology course with the
London School of Economics (LSE). In the Joint School of Geography King's offered Geomorphology, Meteorology, Biogeography and the History of Geographical Discovery, while the LSE offered the Regional and Economic aspects, Historical Geography, and the Distribution of Man. [cite web |title=A Century of Geography at LSE (1895 to 1995) |author=Wise M. |coauthors=Estall R.|publisher=LSE |date=1995-07-07 |url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/geographyAndEnvironment/research/Researchpapers/rp60.pdf|accessdate=2008-03-16] DuringWorld War II this arrangement was disrupted by the evacuation of King's toBristol , requiring Wooldridge to teach human geography. His conversion to geography complete, he became professor of geography at Birkbeck College, London in 1944, returning to King's in 1947 as its first professor of geography and remaining until his death in 1963.Wooldridge was a founder-member of the
Institute of British Geographers (1933) for academics dissatisfied with theRoyal Geographical Society 's focus on amateur research and exploration; he was later IBG president (1949-50). He did not break completely with the RGS, serving on its council (1947–51). Wooldridge also served as president of the geography section of the British Association (1950) and chaired theField Studies Council in 1952.Research
Wooldridge's work concentrated mainly on the
London Basin and theWeald , his first (1921) paper being on folding within the London Basin. Other publications looked at theReading Beds ,Eocene andPliocene deposits and the structural and geomorphological evolution of the basin. Inspired by the theories of W.M.Davis on cycles of landscape evolution, Wooldridge employed detailed fieldwork to identify features such asriver terrace s and erosion surfaces, for example a presumed platform at 200 feet above modern sea level. In the later 1930s collaboration with colleague David Linton culminated in the 1939 classic "Structure, Surface and Drainage of South-East England".The 'Wooldridge and Linton Model' of landscape evolution was dependent on the identification of remnants of three widely developed erosion surfaces: a warped sub-Eocene surface; a high-level unwarped
Neogene peneplain and an unwarped Plio-Pleistocene marine platform. It explained both the concordant drainage [Concordant streams flow in patterns that would be expected based on the geology, for example cutting valleys following outcrops of soft rocks.] pattern of the central Weald (through long-term sub-aerial erosion), and the widespread discordant [Discordant streams cut across the grain of the geology, as for example the Medway cutting through the scarp of the North Downs.] features (as being related to a high-level marine shelf). Jones, D.K.C. (1980), The Tertiary evolution of south-east England with particular reference to the Weald, chapter 2 of Jones (Ed), "The Shaping of Southern England", Institute of British Geographers Special Publication, No 11, London: Academic Press]Wooldridge also collaborated with fellow King's alumnus Dudley Stamp. Wooldridge had provided petrological input to a paper with Stamp on the
Silurian ofWales as early as 1923 and, like Stamp, moved from geology towards human geography. Wooldridge's interest lay in relating early human settlement and land use to the physical landscape. In 1951 Stamp at LSE and Wooldridge at King's jointly edited "London Essays in Geography".Personal life
Like Dudley Stamp, Wooldridge married a King's geography student, Edith Stephens. Wooldridge was a keen golfer and cricketer, a
Congregationalist lay preacher (converting later to theChurch of England ) and an amateuroperetta enthusiast. He continued to work after astroke in 1954, dying in 1963.Legacy
In 1980 the Institute of British Geographers marked the fortieth anniversary of "Structure, Surface and Drainage in South-East England" by the publication of "The Shaping of Southern England" (Jones D.K.C. (Ed) (1980), "The Shaping of Southern England", Institute of British Geographers Special Publication, No 11, London: Academic Press] , a collection of papers which both emphasised the importance of the work, and showed how dated it had become. Fundamentally, the 'Wooldridge and Linton Model' was based on the view that the south-east region had been tectonically stable except for two brief periods, in the Upper Cretaceous and the mid-Tertiary. Subsequent work has shown that this view is far too simplistic, throwing much of the interpretation of cycles of landscape evolution into doubt.
More serious are criticisms of Wooldridge's overemphasis on form over process. However, his role as a pioneer geomorphologist, and emphasis on historical perspective and regional focus remained important.
elected published works
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1921), Evidence of folding in the Tertiary and Cretaceous rocks near South mimms and Ridge Hill. "Proceedings of the Geologists' Association of London" 32: 227-231.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Berdinner, H.C. (1922), Notes on the geology of the Langdon Hills, Essex. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 33: 320-323.
* Wells A.K. & Wooldridge, S.W. (1923a), The mechanism of Sedimentation cycles. "Geological Mag." 60: 545-60.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1923), Minor structures of the London Basin. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 34: 175-193.
* Wells A.K. & Wooldridge, S.W. (1923b), Notes on the geology of Epping Forest. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 34: 244-252.
* Stamp, L.D. & Wooldridge, S.W. (1923), The Igneous and Associated Rocks of Llanwrtyd (Brecon), "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society" 79 issue.1-4, p. 16-46
* Cornes, H.W. & Wooldridge, S.W. (1923), A system of basic intrusions at the northern end of the island of Sark. "Geol. Mag." 60: 500-505.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1924), The Bagshot Beds of Essex. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 35: 359-383.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Gill, D.M.C. (1925), TheReading Beds of Lane End, Bucks, and their bearing on some unsolved problems of London geology. "Proceedings of the Geologists' Association", 36, 146-173.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Stockley, G.M. (1925), The petrology of Sark. "Geol. Mag." 62: 241-252.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1925), The tectonics of the southern Midlands. "Geol. Mag." 62: 559-60-252.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1926), The structural evolution of the London Basin. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 37 No. 2, 162–196.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1927), The Pliocene period in the London Basin. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 38, 49-132.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1928), The 200-foot platform in the London Basin. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 39, 1-26.
* Wells A.K. & Wooldridge S.W. (1931), The rock groups of Jersey, with special reference to intrusive phenomena at Ronez. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." XIII: 178 215.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1932), The Physiographic Evolution of the London Basin. "Geography" 17, 99-116.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1933), The Loam-Terrains of Southeast England and their relation to its Early History. "Antiquity" Vol. 7 No. 27, 297–310.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Ewing, C.J.C. (1935), The Eocene and Pliocene deposits of Lane End, Buckinghamshire. "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society", London, 91, 293-317.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Morgan, R.S. (1937), "The Physical Basis of Geography. An Outline of Geomorphology". London: Longmans, Green.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1938a), Influence of the Pliocene transgression on the geomorphology of south-east England. "Journal of Geomorphology" 1, 40-54.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1938b), Some episodes in the structural evolution of south-east England. "Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association" 49, 264–291.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1939), "Structure, Surface and Drainage in South-east England". Institute of British Geographers, Publication, 10. (Reissued 1955 London: George Philip.)
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1945), Yorkshire (North Riding) in "The Land of Britain - The Report of The Land Utilisation Survey of Britain" (Ed. Stamp, L.D.)
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1949), Geomorphology and soil science. "Journal of Soil Science" 1, 31–34.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Beaver, S.H. (1950) 'The working of sand and gravel in Britain: a problem in land use', Geographical . 115: 42-57
* Stamp, L.D. & Wooldridge S.W., eds (1951) "London Essays in Geography". London: Longmans, Green & Co., for London School of Economics.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1951), 'The progress of geomorphology', in G. Taylor (ed.) "Geography in the Twentieth Century", London, ch. 7.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & East, W.G. (1951), "The Spirit & Purpose of Geography". London: Hutchinson.
* Wooldridge, S.W. & Goldring, F. (1953), "The Weald".New Naturalist series, London: Collins.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1955) The status of geography and the role of fieldwork. "Geography" 40, 73-83.
* O'Dell A.C., East, W.G. & Wooldridge S.W. (1956), "Railways and Geography". London: Hutchinson's University Library
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1956). "The Geographer as Scientist: Essays on the Scope and Nature of Geography". London: Nelson. Contains Wooldridge's 1946 Birkbeck College inaugural lecture, "The geographer as scientist".
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1957), Some Aspects of the Physiography of the Thames Valley in Relation to the Ice Age and Early Man. "Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society", Vol. 23 pp1-19.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1958), The trend of geomorphology. "Transactions Institute of British Geographers" 25, 29–35.
* Wooldridge, S.W. (1960), The Pleistocene succession in the London Basin. "Proc. Geol. Assoc." 71, 113–129.Awards
Wooldridge received a number of awards to fund fieldwork, including the Royal Geographical Society's
Murchison Award with David Linton in 1942. He was made CBE in 1954 in recognition of his work on the Sand and Gravel Council. In 1957 he received the Royal Geographical Society's Victoria Medal and in 1959 was elected aFellow of the Royal Society , a rare honour among geographers.References
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