William Pengelly was born at East Looe, in Cornwall on the 12th of January, 1812. Excited about learning and no longer receiving formal education after the age of twelve, Pengelly taught himself mathematics and of the natural sciences; he also took an attraction to Geology. In 1828, William next moved to Torquay. William would become known best as a Geologist and Anthropologist.
Often thought to be the dwelling places of mythological creatures and bats, caves, for William Pengelly, became an underlying passion. Until Pengellys systematic exploration of caves, much controversy had existed concerning the accuracy and dependability of any data or artifacts taken from caves. Pengelly's energy and sharp faculties led the way to a study of the caves of his native Devonshire; particularly the excavation and cataloging of Kent’s Cavern (Torquay, Devonshire, England), which would be the subject of his life’s work.
His curiosity turned him in the direction of his own home and it's geomorphology, leading to a complete study of the science of geology. Pengelly's range of interests grew wider to subjects such as astronomy, anthropology, meteorology, and local history.
Until Pengelly had gotten involved, controversy had circulated concerning the question of the length of man's existence on earth. His work in the Devonshire caverns and surrounding area gave credence to information (obtained from caves) concerning ancient man's coexistence with extinct fauna.
Pengelly became one of the most popular scientific speakers of his day. As with all things, he was driven in his pursuit for geological information, his study of this field was marked by his meticulous nature. At this time, Pengelly lived at Torquay, but his work was largely at Devon. He worked closely with the Torquay Natural History Society (devoted to the advancement of science, literature, and art in the county), which he helped found in 1844; he also served as Honorary General Secretary from 1851 to 1890.
His already overwhelming body of published works and deep experience in the caves, along with his ability to make the complexities of science comprehensible, well established him as an authority on the subject of caves.
Around 1862, local and national institutes received William's fossil collections, (the Pengelly Collection given to Oxford University). The "Fossil Fish" of Cornwall were first identified as fish in 1843 by C.W. Peach with Pengelly agreeing with Peach's argument. They were later confirmed to be fish in 1863 by Huxley.
William Pengelly passed away at age 82. But there is no doubt that he had left his mark on science. He is most noted for the conclusions he had come to based on his empirical research and also for leading the way in establishing a proper method of cataloging discoveries.
Today, William Pengelly's work is continued with several on-going studies. You can view current projects at The William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust.
Christopherson, Robert W. Geosystems 4th Edition, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1997
Pengelly, Hester w/ Summary by: Rev. Professor Bonney, T. G. Memoir of William Pengelly, 1897
Ken's Cavern http://www.kents-cavern.co.uk/welcome.html, March, 2006
William Pengelly Cave Studies Trust: http://www.pengellytrust.org/, March, 2006
William Pengelly http://darwin.lib.cam.ac.uk/perl/nav?pclass=name;pkey=Pengelly%2C%20William;refs=y, March, 2006
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006