>Alistair1978 at 15:18, 8 June 2020

2020-06-08T15:18:17Z

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'''David Hiram Williams''' (1812–1848) was a Welsh geological surveyor who created the first maps credited to the [[Geological Survey of India]].<ref>[https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/September-2013/Welsh-roots ''Geoscientist'', Sep 2013]</ref>

David H. Williams{{efn|David was the only name given at baptism, and was not expanded in his signature. Indeed, use of 'Hiram' has led to confusion with a younger brother of that name.}} was born in [[Llangyfelach]], Swansea, on 5 October 1812, the second son of David William and Hannah.<ref>Native Talent - a Williams Family of Early Victorian Swansea ''The Swansea History Journal'', No.23,pp.111-127 (2015)</ref> His father had progressed from being a labourer to mineral surveying, and the help father and his son gave [[William Edmond Logan|William Logan]] with mapping coal in the Swansea area was probably a large factor in [[Henry de la Beche]]'s decision in 1839 to make D.H.Williams his first employee for the [[British Geological Survey|Ordnance Geological Survey]].<ref>[http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/archives/pioneers/pioneers.cfc?method=viewRecord&personId=40 Pioneers of the British Geological Survey]</ref> D.H.Williams is acknowledged as sole or joint surveyor on numerous 1st edition geological maps and sections of England and Wales, from Pembrokeshire to Somerset, and Flintshire to Shropshire.

At the end of 1845, Williams was engaged by the [[East India Company]] as 'Surveyor of coal districts and superintendent of coal works, Bengal' (between [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] and [[Varanasi|Benares]]).<ref>The Geological Survey of India, 1846 to 1947, ''Nature'' (1947), No.4078, pp.889-891</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buK1Jt4CZyE A short video about Williams' work in India in the 1840s]</ref> In 1847 he introduced [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Joseph Hooker]] to travelling in India.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/himalayanjourna00hookgoog#page/n29 ''Himalayan Journals''] (1854), Vol.1 p.2,4,6,9,25,27,53</ref>

On 4 February 1848, Williams was appointed the "Geological Surveyor of the Geological Survey of India". He died of fever at [[Hazaribagh|Hazareebaugh]] on 15 November 1848.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081881819;view=1up;seq=55 ''Allen's Indian Mail'' Vol VII No 117 London Monday, 22 January 1849 p41]</ref>

Williams published a map, plus horizontal and vertical sections, of the Damoodah coalfield in December 1847.<ref>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0007/bsb00079409/images/ map in Bavarian State Library]</ref><ref>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0008/bsb00084611/images/ (horizontal) sections 1 & 2 in BSL]</ref>
<ref>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0008/bsb00084610/images (horizontal) sections 3 & 4 in BSL]</ref><ref>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0008/bsb00084612/images/ (vertical) section 5 in BSL]</ref> Detailed reports of his work in India, with recommendations for introducing iron works, were published posthumously in London <ref>[http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000005ECBC#?#loaded&c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=4&z=-386.031%2C0%2C5927.0621%2C2568 ''A geological report on the Damoodah Valley'' J & H Cox (1850)]</ref> and then Calcutta.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lCE-AAAAcAAJ ''A geological report on the Kymore Mountains, the Ramghur coal fields and on the manufacture of iron &c.'' Bengal Military Orphan Press, (1852)]</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, David Hiram}}
[[Category:1812 births]]
[[Category:1848 deaths]]
[[Category:Welsh geologists]]

David Hiram Williams - Revision history

>Alistair1978 at 15:18, 8 June 2020