William George Fearnsides

William George Fearnsides FRS

Early life Fearnsides, who was later known as 'Bones' by his contemporaries, was born in Horbury, Yorkshire. He was the eldest son of Joshua and Maria Fearnsides, and he had two younger siblings who pre-deceased him; Edwin Greaves who died in 1919 in a boating accident, and Marguerite, who died in 1904.

Awards and recognition Fearnsides was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1932, and elected Fellow of the Royal Society in the same year. He served as President of the Geological Society of London from 1943 to 1945, and was elected to honorary fellowship of Sidney Sussex college in 1946.

Key publications In addition to his academic publications, Fearnsides published a popular Pelican book with Oliver Bulman in 1944, 'Geology in the service of man'; this went through several reprints and revised editions.

Family In 1911, Fearnsides married Beatrix Mary Adelaide Watts, daughter of W W Watts. They had two daughters, Marguerite and Elizabeth. Elizabeth served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in North Africa and Italy, and died in a road traffic accident near Genoa in 1945.