Edward William Binney FRS FGS
Born	1812 (1812) Morton, Nottinghamshire, UK
Died	1882 (1883) Manchester, Lancashire, UK
Nationality	British
Occupation	Geologist

Edward William Binney FRS, FGS (1812–1882) was an English geologist.

Background

Edward William Binney was born at Morton, in Nottinghamshire in 1812, and educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Gainsborough. He was articled to a solicitor in Chesterfield, and settled in Manchester in 1836. He retired soon afterwards from legal practice and gave his chief attention to geological pursuits.^[1]

Geological Research

Working especially on the Carboniferous and Permian rocks of the north of England, he also studied the Drift deposits of Lancashire, which resulted in him and Joseph Dalton Hooker finding the first coal balls, and made himself familiar with the geology of the area around Manchester. On the Coal Measures in particular he became an acknowledged authority, and his Observations on the Structure of Fossil Plants found in the Carboniferous Strata (1868–75) formed one of the monographs of the Palaeontographical Society. His large collection of fossils was placed in Owens College, Manchester.^[1]

Activities

Binney assisted in founding the Manchester Geological Society in 1838, and was then chosen as one of its Honorary Secretaries, later being elected President in 1857 and again in 1865. He was also successively Secretary (1848–52) and four-times President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (1862–4, 1870–2, 1876–8, and 1880–2).

Binney was part of a close Manchester social circle that included James Prescott Joule, William Sturgeon, John Davies and John Leigh.^[2]

He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1856 and died at Manchester in 1882.^[1]

References

J. E. F. (February 1882). "Edward William Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S." Geological Magazine. 9 (2): 96. Bibcode:1882GeoM....9...96J. doi:10.1017/S0016756800172024. ISSN 1469-5081.
Joule, J. P. (1882). "Edward William Binney, F.R.S, F.G.S." Nature. 25 (639). Macmillan Journals ltd.: 293–294. Bibcode:1882Natur..25..293J. doi:10.1038/025293a0.
Kargon, R. H. (1977). Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-1969-5.
Secord, A. "Binney, Edward William (1812–1881)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 10 August 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Obituaries:
- Manchester Examiner and Times, 21 December 1881
- Manchester Guardian, 22 December 1881

Professional and academic associations Preceded byJames Prescott Joule President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 1862–64 Succeeded byRobert Angus Smith Preceded byJames Prescott Joule President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 1870–72 Succeeded byJames Prescott Joule Preceded byHenry Edward Schunck President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 1876–78 Succeeded byJames Prescott Joule Preceded byJames Prescott Joule President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 1880–82 Succeeded bySir Henry Enfield Roscoe Preceded byJames Prescott Joule Secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 1848–52 Succeeded byHenry Halford Jones

Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society

Presidents

18th Century	Peter Mainwaring James Massey Dr Thomas Percival (I)
19th Century	Dr Thomas Percival (II) George Walker Thomas Henry (I) Dr John Hull Thomas Henry (II) John Dalton Dr Edward Holme Eaton Hodgkinson John Moore Sir William Fairbairn, Bt James Prescott Joule (I) Edward William Binney (I) Dr Robert Angus Smith Dr Henry Edward Schunck (I) James Prescott Joule (II) Edward William Binney (II) James Prescott Joule (III) Dr Henry Edward Schunck (II) Edward William Binney (III) James Prescott Joule (IV) Edward William Binney (IV) Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe William Crawford Williamson Robert Dukinfield Darbishire Balfour Stewart Osborne Reynolds Dr Henry Edward Schunck (III) Prof. Sir Arthur Schuster Henry Wilde Dr Henry Edward Schunck (IV) James Cosmo Melvill Prof. Sir Horace Lamb
20th Century	Prof. Sir Horace Lamb Charles Bailey Prof. Sir William Boyd Dawkins Sir William Henry Bailey Prof. Harold Baily Dixon (I) Francis Jones Prof. Frederick Ernest Weiss Francis Nicholson Prof. Sydney John Hickson William Thomson Prof. Sir Grafton Elliot Smith Prof. Sir Henry Alexander Miers Thomas Alfred Coward Prof. Harold Baily Dixon (II) Rev. Aloysius Laurence Cortie Herbert Levinstein Prof. Sir William Lawrence Bragg Charles Edmond Stromeyer Prof. Bernard Mouat Jones John Allan Prof. Reginald William James Robert Henry Clayton Prof. Douglas Rayner Hartree Prof. Herbert John Fleure Prof. Michael Polanyi Prof. Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster Dr Eric John Francis James Horace Hayhurst (I) Prof. Sir Geoffrey Jefferson Sir Peter Percy F. R. Venables Dr F. C. Toy C. E. Young Prof. Henry Solomon Lipson (I) Leonard Cohen Margaret Pilkington Horace Hayhurst (II) Brian Rodgers Dr George N. Burkhardt Dr George James Kynch Dr Edward Noah Abrahart Anthony Edmund Rivers Goulty Prof. Henry Solomon Lipson (II) Harry M. Fairhurst David G. Wilson Dr Lionel J. R. Postle Prof. Sir Netar P. Mallick (I) Dr Brian S. H. Rarity Philip G. Livesey Prof. Donald Stephen Lowell Cardwell Dr Edward Fletcher Cass Prof. Alexander Donnachie Dianne Wilson
21st Century	Iain E. Gillespie Angus G. D. Yeaman Keith D. Buckley Vivienne Blackburn Mary, Lady Mallick David J. Higginson Prof. Kenneth M. Letherman Prof. Sir Netar P. Mallick (II) Dr Diana M. Leitch Dr Susan R. Hilton Ian Cameron