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Authorised form of nameWatts; William Whitehead (1860 - 1947); geologist and educationist
Dates1860 - 1947
NationalityBritish
Place of birthBroseley, Shropshire, England
Date of birth07 June 1860
Place of deathKingslea Nursing Home, Mulgrave Road, Sutton, Surrey, England
Date of death30/07/1947
DatesAndPlacesCremation: Church Stretton, Shropshire, England
Occupationgeologist and educationist
Research fieldGeology
ActivityEducation:
Bitterley grammar school (1869–70); Shifnal grammar school (1871–3); Denstone College, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire (1873–8); Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge MA (Cantab); MSc (Birmingham)
Career:
University extension lecturer for Cambridge (1882-1891); deputy professor of geology at Oxford (1888); petrographer to the British Geological Survey (1891); resumed teaching and appointed deputy professor under Charles Lapworth at Mason College, Birmingham (1897); became professor and head of the geology department of the Royal School of Mines (RSM) in London (1906); introduced courses in engineering geology (1910) and mining geology (1918) to the RSM; retired from the RSM (1930).
Memberships:
FGS (President 1910-1912)
British Academy (President 1935)
Awards/Medals:
Wollaston fund 1895
Murchison medal 1915
Wollaston medal 1927
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election05/05/1904
ProposerJ J H Teall; T G Bonney; John Evans; T McKenny Hughes; A Harker; J E Marr; J Horne; B N Peach; H B Woodward; C Reid; A Strahan; R Kidston; E T Newton; W T Blanford; H Woodward; F H Neville
RSActivityCouncil: (1913–14; 1917–19; 1929–31)
RelationshipsParents: Isaac Watts, music teacher, and Maria, née Whitehead.
Spouse: 1) Louisa Adelaide Atchison (d. 1891), descended by the female line through the Turnour (Winterton) and Richardson families from Robert the Bruce (1889); 2) Rachel Atchison, widow of Arthur Turnour Atchison (secretary of the British Association and a civil engineer), daughter of Ebenezer Rogers, mining engineer and geologist in Monmouthshire (1894).
Children: Beatrix Mary Adelaide (from first marriage); One daughter from second marriage.
PublishedWorksRCN 16248
RCN 16247
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
Image

Watts W W, IM Maull 004820.jpg

SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1948-1949 vol 6 pp 263-279, plate, by P G H Boswell
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/49588388
CodeNA1328
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/Maull/004820Watts, William Whiteheadnd
MC/30/219Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]24 July 1915
IM/004821Watts, William Whiteheadcirca 1938
NLB/1/39Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to William Whitehead Watts30 December 1885
NLB/13/579Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to William Whitehead Watts, Corndon, Worcester Road, Sutton, Surrey10 October 1896
NLB/46/156Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society19 June 1912
NLB/12/101Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to William Whitehead Watts, Geological Museum, Jermyn Street6 December 1895
NLB/13/237Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to William Whitehead Watts, Geological Museum, Jermyn Street, S.W. 8 July 1896
NLB/13/295Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to William Whitehead Watts, [Fellow of the Royal Society], Geological Survey Office22 July 1896
NLB/12/99Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to William Whitehead Watts, Geological Museum, Jermyn Street6 December 1895
NLB/12/100Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to William Whitehead Watts, Secretary to the Coral Reef Committee, Geological Museum, Jermyn Street6 December 1895
NLB/12/102Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to William Whitehead Watts, Secretary to the Coral Reef Committee, Geological Museum, Jermyn Street6 December 1895
NLB/15/62Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to William Whitehead Watts, Geological Survey Office, 28 Jermyn Street, S.W.17 June 1897
NLB/16/835Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor W W Watts, Birmingham17 June 1898
NLB/16/521Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to W W Watts25 April 1898
NLB/34/395Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Whitehead Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal College of Science, South Kensington, S.W.14 January 1907
NLB/40/573Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor W [William] W [Whitehead] Watts FRS 29 June 1909
NLB/50/644Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society2 October 1914
NLB/42/485Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr Whitehead FRS, 11 Cranmer Road, Cambridge20th June 1910
NLB/46/222Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Whitehead Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society27 June 1912
NLB/46/635Copy letter from Henry George Lyons, to Dr Charles William Andrews, Alfred Harker, Dr George Jennings Hinde, Clement Reid, Professor Albert Charles Seward, Professor William Whitehead Watts, Captain Thomas Henry Tizard, Professor John Walter Gregory7 October 1912
NLB/47/761Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor W [William] W [Whitehead] Watts FRS8 April 1913
NLB/51/386Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor W W Watts8 March 1915
NLB/51/367Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS25 February 1915
MC/30/213Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]2 March 1915
NLB/50/624Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society, Chairman of the Geology Committee29 September 1914
NLB/52/25Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS20 July 1915
NLB/52/112Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS24 August 1915
NLB/52/462Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor William Whitehead Watts, FRS14 December 1915
NLB/53/76Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS4 April 1916
NLB/59/726Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS5 November 1920
NLB/58/745Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS14 June 1920
NLB/58/58Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS6 March 1920
NLB/59/908Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS27 November 1920
NLB/57/501Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor WW [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS19 November 1919
NLB/58/164Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS22 March 1920
NLB/58/340Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS22 April 1920
NLB/58/840Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS24 June 1920
NLB/58/899Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS30 June 1920
NLB/59/124Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of the Geology Committee and FRS 19 July 1920
NLB/60/135Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS13 December 1920
NLB/64/572Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS05 May 1923
NLB/60/667Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS11 March 1921
NLB/61/500Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS12 July 1921
NLB/60/724Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS19 March 1921
NLB/61/711Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, Chairman of Government Grant Committee, Board D, FRS14 October 1921
NLB/57/772Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor WW [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS, Chairman of the Geology Sectional Committee2 February 1920
NLB/64/217Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS23 February 1923
NLB/56/214Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [William Whitehead Watts, FRS] the Secretary of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies17 December 1918
NLB/61/839Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS3 November 1921
NLB/55/547Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [William Whitehead] Watts, Esq., FRS, Honourable Secretary of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies29 May 1918
NLB/57/825Copy letter from Sir William Bate Hardy, FRS, Secretary of the Royal Society;to Professor WW [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS14 February 1920
NLB/62/95Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [William Whitehead Watts] the Secretary of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies1 December 1921
NLB/62/263Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS14 January 1922
NLB/62/719Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS12 April 1922
NLB/57/691Copy letter from John M [Millar] Thomson, Chairman of the Library Committee of the Royal Society; to Professor JW [John William] Nicholson, FRS, Chairman of the Sectional Committee of Mathematics16 January 1920
NLB/66/479Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS16 May 1924
NLB/63/750Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS09 December 1922
NLB/65/742Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS15 December 1923
NLB/67/469Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [John] Horne, FRS5 January 1925
NLB/57/897Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor WW [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS28 February 1920
NLB/68/404Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS9 July 1925
NLB/69/6Copy letter from Henry Hallett Dale, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS10 December 1925
NLB/69/232Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS10 February 1926
NLB/65/853Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS18 January 1924
NLB/69/117Copy letter from Henry Hallett Dale, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS14 January 1926
NLB/73/8Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS8 October 1930
NLB/72/528Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS3 December 1929
NLB/72/372Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Gerald Lenox-Conyngham, FRS29 August 1929
NLB/73/205Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS27 February 1931
NLB/73/196Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to A. D. C. Parsons Esq., SW119 February 1931
NLB/73/366Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Secretary, Royal Society of South Africa, Cape Town, [South Africa]7 July 1931
EC/1904/17Watts, William Whitehead: certificate of election to the Royal Society
NLB/60/838Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS14 April 1921
IM/004822Watts, William Whiteheadnd
NLB/13/192Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to William Whitehead Watts, [Fellow of the Royal Society]29 June 1896
NLB/58New Letter Book volume 58, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration28 February 1920-9 July 1920
NLB/59New Letter Book volume 59, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration9 July 1920-2 December 1920
NLB/52New Letter Book volume 52, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration9 July 1915-8 March 1916
NLB/57New Letter Book volume 57, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration27 June 1919-27 February 1920
MDA/C/6/4Papers relating to an award from the Darwin Research Fund to Sir Arthur Hill, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew1939-1940
RR/33/6Referee's report by William Whitehead Watts on a paper 'The coraIlian rocks of Oxford, Berks and North Wilts' by William Joscelyn Arkell8 January 1926
MC/16/297Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Geological Survey Office, 28 Jermyn Street, London, to Sir [John] Evans13 March 1896
MC/16Volume 16 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1893-1896
MC/24/205Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Royal College of Science, South Kensington, London, SW, to Mr [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]13 October 1909
NLB/41/114Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Whitehead Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society15 October 1909
NLB/41/246Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor William Whitehead Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society8 November 1909
MC/30/212Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]21 February 1915
MC/30/216Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to Sir William [Crookes], [President of the Royal Soicety]7 March 1915
MC/30/220Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]10 December 1915
MC/30/217Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]18 March 1915
MC/30/214Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]7 March 1915
MC/30/218Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]3 July 1915
NLB/51/355Copy letter from P D Rogers [Royal Society administrative staff] of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS22 February 1915
NLB/51/376Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS3 March 1915
NLB/51/431Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS19 March 1915
NLB/52/4Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor William Whitehead Watts FRS14 July 1915
MC/30/215Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to The Secretaries of the Royal Society7 March 1915
MC/21/620Letter from William [Augustus] Tilden, Royal College of Science, London, South Kensington, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison13 January [1906]
MC/32/113Letter from [John Walter] Gregory, Whitehall Hotel, Bloomsbury Square, W.C 1, to Mr [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]4 October 1917
MC/32/273Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, The Royal Overseas Officers Club, At the R.A.C., Pall Mall, London, S.W.1., to Mr [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]29 November 1917
MC/32/271Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to Mr [Robert] Harrison, [Royal Society]23 August 1917
NLB/54/726Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS24 August 1917
MC/32/272Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Imperiall College of Science and Technology (Royal School of Mines), South Kensington, London, S.W., to Professor [Arthur] Schuster, [Royal Society]21 November 1917
MC/33/31Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Honorary Secretary, Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, Burlington House, London, W.1, to The Secretary, The Royal Society15 May 1918
MC/33/33Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, Burlington House, London, W.1, to The Treasurer, The Royal Society25 October 1918
MC/33/32Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Honorary Secretary, Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, Burlington House, London, W.1, to The Secretary, The Royal Society17 May 1918
MC/34/39Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, Burlington House, London, W.1., to The Secretaries, The Royal Society30 January 1919
MC/33/172Letter from [William Whitehead] Watts, Hillside, Langley Park, Sutton, Surrey, to Professor [Arthur] Schuster, [Royal Society]15 December 1918
NLB/56/242Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [William Whitehead] Watts, FRS20 December 1918
MC/21Volume 21 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1906
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