(1798-1875) Canadian Economic Geologist
William E. Logan is generally considered the “father of Canadian geology.” His story is straight out of a Horatio Alger novel in that he never received formal training in geology. Instead, he spent more than 20 years in the area of accounting and copper smelter management and just picked up geology as an outside interest. The beginning of his work and research in geology resulted from his interest in understanding economic minerals, such as coal and ores, as an established middle-aged man. He began to gain recognition among Britain’s top geologists for his mapping abilities of coal seams and ore deposits. It was for this reason that Logan was selected to establish the Geological Survey of Canada in 1842. Logan headed the survey for nearly 25 years and his geologic achievements and his work as an administrator and financial planner enabled him to gain national and international attention.
William Logan’s contributions to geology were significant. He presented a paper to the Geological Society of London in 1840 on Welsh coal seams. He noted the invariable presence of under-clays, containing plant remains in the footwall of each seam. With this paper, he established the formation of coal in situ (in place) from the metamorphosis of organic deposits. He confirmed this theory by surveying coal deposits in North America as well.
His other main contribution was to the understanding of the geology of Canada. In his role as director of the Geological Survey of Canada, by 1850, Logan had mapped the Gaspe Peninsula, parts of the Eastern Townships south of the St. Lawrence River, and the area around Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Superior. He defined three major geological units: folded Paleozoic rocks of Gaspe and the Eastern Townships (Eastern Division), flat-lying Paleozoic rocks extending west from Montreal to Lake Huron (Western Division), and Primitive (Precambrian) rocks to the north (Northern Division). Many of his observations were based on their structure and stratigraphy, on the absence of coal, and on the potential for economic ores in the Lake Superior region. Logan was able to produce maps and reports, and classify the economic minerals and deposits of Canada with all the information he collected. He continued to extend his work throughout his career.
William Edmond Logan was born in Montreal, Canada, on April 20, 1798. At age 16, William was sent to Edinburgh, Scotland, to attend high school. Upon graduation at age 18, he decided to remain and attend Edinburgh University. He studied logic, chemistry, and mathematics. He remained at the university for just one year before joining his uncle in London, England, to work in his accounting house. He remained at this position from 1817-1831, where he excelled at business and management. In 1831, Logan traveled to Wales to work in another of his uncle’s businesses, the Forest Copper Works. He worked with practical miners and surveyors in the coalfields. He became joint manager of the Copper Works in 1833 and began establishing quite a reputation as a knowledgeable and field-oriented geologist in Wales. Logan was founder of the Swansea Philosophical and Literary Institution and honorary curator of its geological section. He was elected in 1837 to the Geological Society of London. During this time he also exhibited his geological maps of the Glamorganshire coalfield. Logan’s maps caught the attention of Henry De la Beche, who was director of the Ordinance Geological Survey of Great Britain. The maps were so detailed and flawless that they were published without being revised.
In 1838, his uncle passed away and Logan resigned from his job at the Copper Works. He left Swansea in Southern Wales and pursued his geological interests. He visited the coalfields in Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia to continue verifying his observations in the Welsh coals. It was at this time that he applied for a job with the Ordinance Geological Survey in 1841. Canadian governor general Sir Charles Bagot offered Logan the position, and he accepted it on April 14, 1842. This was the birth of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Logan had a hard task ahead of him due to the political conditions of the times. He needed to convince the government and the public of the usefulness of the geological survey. To everyone’s surprise, he did so by using practicality and educating the people. Another mammoth task he had ahead of him was the geological mapping of the huge Canadian colony. The geology of Canada was unknown and there were no topographic maps at that time. Logan’s home base was located in Montreal, where he put together maps, prepared reports, researched and examined fossil and mineral specimens, and dealt with the government politics that went along with his position. There was never enough funding, so Logan often used his own money to continue his research and to keep his office running. Logan constantly lobbied legislators and submitted a geological survey bill that was passed in 1845. It provided £2,000 annually for the next five years.
By 1863, Logan and his associates had enough mapping completed to release his famous report, “Geological Survey of Canada: Report of Progress from its Commencement to 1863.” This report was supposed to be his swan song, but he remained director of the Geological Survey until 1869 when he retired. Even then, he returned as acting director on more than one occasion. In 1874, he returned to Wales to live with his sister, still intent on more geological work. However, his health failed and he died on June 22, 1875.
The contributions of William Logan to the geology of Canada cannot be overemphasized. Against overwhelming odds, he almost single-handedly established the framework for all Canadian geology that was to follow. In recognition of these vast contributions, William Logan received numerous prestigious honors and awards. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1856 and named to the French Legion of Honor by Emperor Napoleon III in 1855. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1851. He received an honorary doctorate from McGill University, Canada, and the University of Lennoxville. Among 22 medals bestowed upon him, he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London 1856. The most prestigious medal of the Geological Association of Canada is named in his honor. Among all of the fossils and a mineral (weloganite), he even has two mountains named after him; one is the highest point in Canada.
