Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007

Elkanah Billings (1820-1876) and Joseph F. Whiteaves (1835-1909): The First Two Paleontologists of The Geological Survey of Canada

Page Range: 107 – 110
DOI: 10.17704/eshi.12.2.c4311u418x01u11p
Save
Download PDF

Billings and Whiteaves, both self taught paleontologists, occupied the same position (at different times) within the Geological Survey of Canada but were at different ends of the paleontological spectrum. Together their paleontological careers span the last half of the 19th century. Both were prolific writers, but Billings was not primarily a field man and worked only on the lower Paleozoic fossils of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland and southern Ontario. Whiteaves was a field man par excellence, working from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Pacific coast and specializing in Mesozoic paleontology. Together, they complemented each other's studies and contributed greatly to the initiation, expansion and continuance of the science of paleontology within the Survey and Canada as a whole. They should be considered together as the "Fathers of Canadian Paleontology."

Ami, H. M. 1901. I-Brief biographical sketch of Elkanah Billings; The American Geologist, vol. XXVII, no. 5, pp. 265-281.

Anonymous. 1906. I-Eminent living geologists: Joseph Frederick Whiteaves, LL. D., F. G. S., F. R. S. (Canada); The Geological Magazine, new series, Decade V, vol. III, pp. 433-442.

Clark, T. H. 1971. Elkanah Billings (1820-1867)-Canada's first Paleontologist; The Geological Association of Canada, Proceedings volume 23, pp. 11-14.

Désilets, Andrée, and Pageau, Yvon. 1972. Billings, Elkanah; Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. X, (1871-1880), Editor Marc La Terreur, Univ. of Toronto Press.

Harrison, J. M., and Hall, E. 1963. William Edmond Logan; The Geological Association of Canada, Proceedings volume 15, pp. 33-42.

Lamue, L. M. 1909. J. F. Whiteaves, LL.D., F.G.S., R.R.S.C.; The Ottawa Naturalist, Proceedings vol. XXIII, pp. 118-120.

Morgan, H. J. 1867. Billings, Elkanah, R.G.S.; Bibliotheca Canadensis or a manual of Canadian literature; Ottawa, printed by G. S. Desbarats, pp. 31-35.

Report of Council 1901. 2. Deceased Members, (1.) J. F. Whiteaves, LL.D., F.G.S.; Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, series 3, vol. IV, p. IV-VII.

Walker, B. E. 1902. List of the published writings of Elkanah Billings, F.G.S., palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Canada, 1856-1876; The Canadian Record of Science, vol. VIII, pp. 266-288.

Whiteaves, J. F. 1867. Obituary notice of Elkanah Billings, F.G.S.; The Canadian Naturalist and Quarterly Journal of Science; new series, vol. VIII, number 5, pp. 251-261.

Whiteaves, J. F. 1877. Elkanah Billings, F.G.S.; The Geological Magazine, new series, Decade II, vol. IV, pp. 43-45.

  • Download PDF