Humberside Geologist no 5
published 1986
Thomas Sheppard was one of he most prolific writers on Geology and Natural History that this area has produced and his connections with our Society go back to his election on September 19th 1893 when he was still a teenager. Between 1895 and 1942 he published nearly 300 papers on local geology and many others of wider geological interest and covering natural history, archaeological, museum and literary topics.
His geological articles varied in length from a single sentence to the 629 page 'Bibliography of Yorkshire Geology' published in 1915. The majority of these works were records of local discoveries or geological bibliographies for various journals. Perhaps his most original geological work was the 'Geological Rambles in East Yorkshire' which he published in 1903 but had begun work on some ten years earlier. This was an early example of his ability to popularise the science for the benefit of the general public. He edited our own Transactions and was the Editor of 'The Naturalist' for thirty Years.
In his professional life he was the curator of Hull Museum from its first opening in 1902. He soon acquired a certain notoriety as a highly competitive collector; an image which he took great delight in perpetuating, as shown by this small piece which he included in 'The Naturalist' in 1911 :-
At the Spalding Gentlemen's Society "Sir Henry Howarth, who presided, stated that he knew the lecturer (Sheppard) very well, and was bound to say that if ever any valuable antiquities or other objects were missing from any of the museums or private collections in the county, the first place they looked to in the hope of finding them was the Museum at Hull!" And not everyone was as complimentary about him!
Yet his success as a curator was undeniable. When he retired in 1941 the collections had expanded enormously and there were seven museums. Sadly the main site was destroyed in wartime bombing and the magnificent geological collection was lost, with the exception of a few hundred specimens from the Mortimer Collection.
Sheppard thrived on publicity. A recent exhibition about him at the Town Docks Museum included press photographs of him travelling to work in a pith helmet and recreating dinosaur's footprints with the aid of his elephant's foot waste paper bin!
He was rightly proud of his achievements and acquired a long string of letters after his name which was impressive for a non-academic. The Yorkshire Naturalists Union made him their President in 1914 and a year later he received an Honorary Masters degree from Leeds University at a relatively young age. He was twice President of our Society and the 50th. Anniversary medal has his portrait on one side.
Since his death, Sheppard's achievements have been largely overlooked by earth scientists. This is perhaps because he made no major discoveries or propounded no new theories and because the geological collection, which should have been his greatest legacy, was unfortunately destroyed. Yet he has left many hundreds of pages documenting local geology in a clear and fluent style. In addition to this many young people were inspired by the collection and were helped and encouraged by Sheppard himself. Some of these, went on to become eminent geologists.
The Hull Geological Society benefitted immensely from Sheppard's expertise and enthusiasm. The Society gained wide recognition due to the professional quality of the Transactions, which had an impressive exchange list including major geological societies and foreign geological surveys. The Museum acted as a focal point for many of the Society's activities. Thomas Sheppard is still widely thought of as a local character 40 years after his death!
copyright Hull Geological Society 2021