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Obituary

 

John Neale remembered.

 By Mike Horne (written 2006)

 

Professor John Neale died on Friday 20th January 2006, aged 79. John worked as a lecturer at Hull University, specialising in the Speeton Clay and ostracods. Twelve species of ostracods have been named in his honour.

John was born in Burton-on-Trent on 19th November 1926.He went to King Charles 1st School in Kidderminster, and graduated from Manchester University with First Class Honours in 1949. He originally intended to read civil engineering, but opted for a degree in Geography and Anthropology. His studies had been interrupted by service in the navy on minesweepers from 1943.

In October 1949 he joined the one year old Sub-Department of Geology at the University College Hull, teaching University of London external degrees, as an Assistant Lecturer in Mineralogy and Petrology. The sub-department was housed in wooden former army huts on the campus. When the University of Hull received its charter in 1954 Geology became a proper Department.

He joined the Yorkshire Geological Society in 1949 and was a Council member from 1956 to 1958.

 He started fieldwork in the Market Weighton area for a Ph.D. thesis, using public transport and a bicycle. Because the exposure in the area was poor he took an auger for collecting samples, and was helped by a technician who also cycled to the sites. When he processed the samples he found that he could use ostracods to date the samples. This started his interest in the ostracoda. Later he abandoned the Market Weighton area in favour of the Speeton Clay exposures at Reighton.

John Neale gave his first lecture to the Hull Geological Society in 1950 on the subject of the "Permo-Carboniferous Ice Age"; this was to be the start of a long and close association with the Society. In 1954 the Society received a lecture from John Neale, about the Market Weighton 'Structure'.

Some of the University lecturers were particularly interested in local geology, and produced guides to the area. George De Boer, John Neale and Lewis Penny published one in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society in 1958 and Neale and Penny, in collaboration with W S Bisat, for the Geologists' Association Centenary Series in 1962. John (in Neale 1989) explains that their interest was largely due to the need to travel by bus or bicycle - the limiting factor in their choice of research topics!

In 1960 John Neale gave the first series of night classes for the University Adult education Department. He did not continue with these, but Brian Waugh and Mark Piasecki took them on and they continued for many years.

He submitted his thesis for his Ph.D. in 1961 on " Berriasian-Hauterivian Ostracoda from the Speeton Clay with notes on the Ammonoidea from D6 and D7 and the Palaeontology of the D beds".

He joined the Hull Geological Society in 1965. He was a Committee member in the late 1960s. In 1966 the Society agreed to produce a new publication, jointly with the Field Studies Association and the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club. A joint committee was formed to edit and produce the new journal. ... Number One of the new publication East Yorkshire Field Studies was published in 1968 priced 4/6 [22p]. Field Studies contained an equal mix of articles from its three constituent Societies. This first issue contained an article about the Jurassic of the South Cave area written by Patrick Boylan and Felix Whitham illustrated with some fine line drawings of fossils produced by John Neale. ... In 1970 ... Mark Piasecki became the editor for number 4, as John Neale was going to South America for a year. In 1977 John Neale and Lewis Penny were elected as Honorary Life Members of the Hull Geological Society.

In 1967 John organised an international symposium on "The Taxonomy, Morphology and Ecology of Recent Ostracoda" at the University of Hull, on 10th to 14th July. Patti Neale organised a full programme of outings for the delegate's partners. John edited the proceedings which were published in 1969 by Oliver and Boyd. Patti remembers that symposium with great affection and ranks it as one of John's greatest achievements.

He joined the British Micropalaeontology Group (now The Micropalaeontological Society) in 1970 when it was founded and was the Secretary of the Ostracod section from 1970 to 1972. He was elected to Honorary Life Membership in 1999.  

He became a fellow of the Linaean Society of London in 1976.

When I was at University 1973-76, I remember John teaching stratigraphy, palaeontology and micropalaeontology. His first lecture about ostracods started with 7 volunteers standing in a row waving their arms around to demonstrate how an ostracod's limbs have specialised tasks. Later I think this was put to the music of the "Birdie Song" to become the "Ostracod Dance".

In 1974 ... The Yorkshire Geological Society published a book entitled The Geology and mineral Resources of Yorkshire, which included chapters written by John Neale, Lewis Penny and George de Boer.

In 1976 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science by Manchester University for his publications and graduated on 9th July at the same ceremony as his daughter who was receiving her Bachelors degree in Zoology.

In 1979 John was promoted to Professor of Micropalaeontology and gave his inaugural lecture on "The Ostracoda: religion, sex and mystery!" on 6 May 1980. In 1983 the Department started to offer a Masters Degree in Micropalaeontology. John was Head of Department in the mid 1980s. He also was Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Science

In 1980 he was co-editor of a book The Quaternary in Britain in honour of the retirement of Dr Lewis Penny. He also organised a dinner for staff, students and alumni to mark the event and from then on continued to maintain a list of alumni and act as the unofficial historian of the Department, publishing an alumni newsletter called "Harkerama".  He organised a reunion dinner when the Department closed. Helen Dunham, the wife of geology Professor Ancel Dunham , became the Alumni Officer for the University of Hull and produced a similar alumni newsletter called "where are they now".

John was the President of the Yorkshire Geological Society from 1980 to 1982 and gave his Presidential Addresses on "The Ostracoda and Uniformitarianism " and then continued as Vice President until 1984. In 1986 ... Professor John Neale was awarded the John Phillips Medal of the Y.G.S.

The Centenary Meeting [of the Hull Geological Society] on June 2nd. 1988 was a great success. There were displays by members notably Felix Whitham and a video of a recent field meeting. There were lectures from members and Honorary Members of the Society on local geology. This was followed by a Centenary Dinner at Willerby Manor, with a speech by Professor John Neale given from memory rather than notes, who recreated the atmosphere of 1888 by singing extracts from Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

When the Geology Department closed in 1991, he gave his last lecture to the undergraduates in full academic dress and brought along some bottles of champagne to share. He had hoped to keep an office in the Geography Department to continue his research, but that was not possible so he set up an office in his attic at home. Visiting ostracod researchers continued to visit him from overseas.

By the time he retired John had been the author or co-author of 111 scientific papers or chapters in books (Lord & Horne 2006) mostly about living or fossil Ostracods dating back to the Late Jurassic. He had also been a visiting professor at Universities in Brazil, Canada, Japan and the USA (?Wilson 1987). On these trips he amassed a considerable collection modern gastropod and bivalve shells, which Patti Neale has donated to the Natural History Museum, along with his microfossil colection.

He lived with his family in Strathmore Avenue, in the mid 1960s they moved into Etherington House on Beverley Road, originally a farm house built in 1720 that has an acre of grounds, which would have originally been outside the city of Hull boundaries.

John was a great fan of Gilbert and Sullivan operas and sang with the Dagger Lane Operatic Society in Hull. I remember a few years cycling past a gentleman with a bright ginger beard and hair who shouted out and waved at me like a long lost friend;  I wondered who it was for ages and then realised that it was John who had dyed his hair for a production he was in! 

John donated most of his collection to the Natural History Museum in London when the Geology Department closed. In March 2006, Mrs. Patti Neale donated some of John's geology books to the Society's Library and some remaining specimens to the Treasure House in Beverley.  

Neale J W, selected bibliography - papers related to East Yorkshire or significant other publications.

Neale J W 1956. Chlamys (Radulopecten) drewtonensis sp. nov. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 30, 371-374.

- 1959. Norriianicythere Gen. Nov. (Pleistocene and Recent) and the division of the Ostracod family Trachyleberididae. Palaeontology 2, 72-93, pl 13-14.

- 1960. Marine Lower Cretaceous Ostracoda from Yorkshire, England. Micropalaeontology 6, 203-224, pl. 1-4.

- 1960. The Subdivisons of the Upper D Beds of the Speeton Clay of Speeton, East Yorkshire. Geological Magazine 97, 353-362.

- 1961. Berriasian-Hauterivian Ostracoda from the Speeton Clay with notes on the Ammonoidea from D6 and D7 and the Palaeontology of the D beds. Unpub. Ph. D. thesis, Hull University. 494 pp.

- 1962. Ammonoidea from the Lower D Beds (Berriasian) of the Speeton Clay. Palaeontology 5, 272-296, pl. 40-45.

- 1962. Ostracoda from the type Speeton Clay (Lower Cretaceous) of Yorkshire. Micropalaeontology 8, 425-484, 13 pl.

- & Sarjeant W A S 1962. Microplankton from the Speeton Clay of Yorkshire. Geol. Mag. 99, 439-458.

- & Kilenyi T I 1963. New species of Mandelstamia (Ostracoda) from the English Mesozoic. Palaeontology 3, 439-449, pl. 71.

1967. Life on the campus. Journal of the Harker Geological Society 4, no 1, 1-6. [visit to Kansas]

- 1968. Biofacies and Lithofacies of the Speeton Clay D Beds, E. Yorks. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 36, 305-335, pl 9-10.

- 1969 (ed.). The Taxonomy, Morphology and Ecology of Recent Ostracoda. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. 553pp.

- 1970. Microfaunas and some aspects of the Speeton Clay environment. Bull. Centre Rech, Pau 5 suppl., 663-681.

- 1973. Ostracoda as a means of correlation in the Boreal Lower Cretaceous with special reference to the British marine Ostracoda. p 169-184 of Casey and Rawson (eds.) The Boreal Lower Cretaceous. Geol. J. Special Issue 5, Seal House Press, Liverpool, 448pp.

- 1974. Cretaceous. Chap. 8, p 225-243 of Rayner & Hemingway (eds.).

- 1977. Cretaceous Ostracoda of the North Atlantic Basin. p 245-270 of Swain F W (ed.) Stratigraphic Micropalaeontology of the Atlantic Basin and Borderland. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam. 603pp.

- 1978. On Apatocythere spinosa Neale. Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 5, 101-104.

- 1978. On Schuleridea juddi Neale. Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 5, 109-112.

- 1978. On Schuleridea lamplughi Neale. Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 5, 105-108.

- 1978. On Schuleridea praethoerensis Bartenstein & Brand. Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 5, 113-116.

- 1978. The Cretaceous. p 325-382 of Bate R H & Robinson E (eds) A Stratigraphical index of British Ostracoda. Seal House Press, Liverpool. 538 pp.

- 1979. On Schuleridea hammi (Triebel). Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 6, 1-4.

- 1980. On Faranotacythere speetonensis (Neale). Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 7, 33-36.

- 1980. On Schuleridea bilobata (Triebel). Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells 7, 25-28.

- 1980. On Schuieridea rhombcidalis Neale. Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod. Shells 7, 29-32.

- & Brasier M D 1981. Microfossils from recent and fossil shelf seas. 380pp. Ellis Horwood, Chichester/Halsted Press, New York.

- & Flenley J 1981. Preface [to The Quaternary in Britain, in honour of L F Penny on his retirement]. p. v of Neale & Flenley.

- & Flenley J (eds) 1981. The Quaternary in Britain. Pergamon Press. 267pp.

 - 1981 The Ostracoda : religion, sex and mystery!  [an inaugural lecture delivered in the University of Hull on 6 May, 1980].   University of Hull, 12pp.
- 1982. Aspects of the Subfamily Schulerideinae. Chap. 11, p 178- 192 of Bate R H, Robinson E & Sheppard L M (eds.) Fossil and Recent Ostracods. Ellis Horwood, Chichester. 493 pp.

- 1982 - The Ostracoda and Uniformitarianism I The later record: Recent, Pleistocene and Tertiary. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 44 305-326 [read 28 November 1981 at York]
- 1983. The Ostracoda and Uniformitarianism II. The earlier record: Cretaceous to Cambrian. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 44 443-478. [read - 11 December 1982 at York]

- 1987. Speeton. p 12-19 of 'Association of Teachers of Geology 1987 Field Excursions' 36pp.

- 1988. Introduction to the geology of the Hull Area. Teaching Geology 13, 40-44.

- 1988. Speeton Bay. Teaching Geology 13, 52-54.

- 1989. A Stratigraphy of the Department [of Geology, University of Hull]. Harker Journal 1989, 1-5.

- 1990. A Stratigraphy of the Department [of Geology, University of Hull] Part II Journal of the Harker Geological Society. 14, No. 1, 3-8.

- 2000. Lewis Frederick Penny 1920-2000. Humberside Geologist 13, 4-6

- 2001. Lewis Frederick Penny 1920-2000. The Geological Society Annual Report 2000 41-2

- 2002. Obituary. Michael Robert House (1930-2002). Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 54, 127.

De Boer G, Neale J W & Penny L F 1958. A guide to the Geology of the area between Market Weighton and the Humber. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 31, 157-209.

????? Kent P , Neale J W & Penny L F 1958. A guide to the Geology of the area between Market Weighton and the Humber. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 31, 157-209.

Bisat W S, Penny LF & Neale J W 1962. Geology around the University towns Hull. Geologists' Association guides No. 11.

Kent P- , - , Neale J W & Wilson V 1967. [Report of a field meeting to] Market Weighton and the Howardian and South Hambleton Hills (1966). Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 36, 29-33.

???? Rawson P F, - , Curry D, Dilly F C, Hancock J M, Kennedy W J, Neale J W, Wood. C J & Worssam B C 1978. A correlation of Cretaceous rocks in the British Isles. Spec. Rept. No. 9, Geol. Soc. London. 70pp.

Neale J W & J Catt 1994. Jurassic, Cretaceous and Quaternary rocks of Filey Bay and Speeton. excursion 20 p 183-191 of Scrutton C (ed.) Yorkshire Rocks and Landscape. The Yorkshire Geological   Society, 224 pp. Ellerbank Press, Maryport, Cumbria

Sources -

Anon 2006. Obituaries- John Neale. The Times March 6th 2006. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0..60-2078229.00.html

Horne M - 1989. The History of the Hull Geological Society. Humberside Geologist 7, 40pp.

- 1992. A Bibliography of East Yorkshire Geology 1938 to 1988. Humberside Geologist 9, 46 pp.

- 2006. A Bibliography of East Yorkshire geology 1989 to .... <http://www.horne28.freeserve.co.uk/eybib88.htm> [updated 15th September 2006]

- 2006. Obituaries. Humberside Geologist 14 (in press)

Jones, H. 2006. Devoted to his studies [obituary for J W Neale]. Hull Daily Mail Wednesday 25th January 2006, page 12.

Lord A & D J Horne 2006. Ostracods ancient and modern. A review of John Neale's scientific contribution. [abstract] Yorkshire Geological Society Circular 533, 3.

( Wilson A A ?) 1987. Medal Presentation [to Prof. J W Neale]. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 46, 291.

Acknowledgements -

I thank the following people for providing additional information - Patti Neale, Phil Robinson, Jean Jones.  

Appendix-

"Thank you for your e-mail. I have checked our records and note that Professor John W Neale graduated at Manchester University - BSc(Hons) Geography & Geology 1949 and DSc 1976 - it would appear this was not an honorary degree. His daughter Elizabeth Franklin (nee Neale) graduated - BSc (Hons) Zoology 1976. They both graduated at the ceremony on Friday, 9th July 1976. I hope this is of help." Jean Jones,
Assistant Alumni Officer, The University of Manchester. 28th September 2006.

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