De La Beche

De La Beche, Sir Henry Thomas (1796-1855), an English geologist. He was educated at Great Marlow, and joined the army in 1814. In 1817 he became a Fellow of the Geological Society, of which he was afterwards secretary and (1847) president. In 1820 he wrote a paper upon the depth and temperature of the Lake of Geneva, and in 1824 he wrote upon the geology of Jamaica. In 1831 appeared his Manual of Geology, in 1834 Researches in Geology, and in 1853 his Geological Observer. He was appointed chief of the Goverrment Geological Survey, and in 1848 he was knighted. He also received honours from the Danish and Belgian Governments, and was a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. His geological collection in Craig's Court was the nucleus of the present Jermyn Street Geological Museum and School of Mines.