Sir Richard John Griffith Bt. FRSFRSE FGS LLD, was an Irish geologist, mining engineer and chairman of the Board of Works of Ireland, who completed the first complete geological map of Ireland and was author of the valuation of Ireland; subsequently known as Griffith's Valuation.
Biography
Griffith was born in Hume Street, Dublin, Ireland on 20 September 1784, the son of Richard Griffith, MP of Millicent House, and Charity Yorke Bramston, daughter of John Bramston of Oundle. His paternal grandmother was the acclaimed actress, essayist and novelist, Elizabeth Griffith. He went to school in Portarlington and later, while attending school in Rathangan, his school was attacked by the rebels during the rebellion of 1798. He also studied in Edinburgh. In 1799 he obtained a commission in the Royal Irish Artillery, but a year later, when the corps was incorporated with that of England, he retired, and devoted his attention to civil engineering and mining. He studied chemistry, mineralogy and mining for two years in London under William Nicholson, and afterwards examined the mining districts in various parts of England, Wales and Scotland. While in Cornwall he discovered ores of nickel and cobalt in material that had been rejected as worthless. He completed his studies under Robert Jameson and others at Edinburgh, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1807, a member of the newly established Geological Society of London in 1808, and in the same year he returned to Ireland. In 1809, he was appointed by the commissioners to inquire into the nature and extent of the bogs in Ireland, and the means of improving them. In 1812 he was elected Professor of Geology and Mining Engineer to the Royal Dublin Society. Shortly afterwards he expressed his intention of preparing a geological map of Ireland. During subsequent years he made many surveys and issued many reports on mineral districts in Ireland, and these formed the foundation of his first geological map of the country. He also succeeded Dr. Richard Kirwan as government inspector of mines in Ireland. In 1822 Griffith became engineer of public works in Cork, Kerry and Limerick, and was occupied until 1830 in repairing old roads and in laying out many miles of new roads in some of the most inaccessible parts of the country. Meanwhile, in 1825, he was appointed by the government to carry out a boundary survey of Ireland. He was to mark the boundaries of every county, barony, civil parish and townland in preparation for the first Ordnance Survey. He was also called upon to assist in the preparation of a parliamentary Bill to provide for the general valuation of Ireland. This Act was passed in 1826, and he was appointed Commissioner of Valuation in 1827, but did not start work until 1830 when the new 6" maps became available from the Ordnance survey and which he was required to use as provided for by statute. He continued to work on this until 1868. On Griffith's valuation the various local and public assessments were made. His extensive investigations furnished him with ample material for improving his geological map, and the second edition was published in 1835. A third edition on a larger scale was issued under the Board of Ordnance in 1839, and it was further revised in 1855. For this work and his other services to science he was awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society in 1854. In 1850 he was made chairman of the Irish Board of Works, and in 1858 he was created a baronet. After research in the 20th century, is now known that to a large extent the improvements of detail in the maps which Griffith was praised for and the geological research for Griffith's papers were down to Patrick Ganly, whose pioneering work went entirely uncredited by Griffith. He died at his residence, 2 Fitzwilliam Place in Dublin, on 22 September 1878 in his 95th year. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving fellow of the Geological Society of London and was the last survivor of the long-since disbanded Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. He was buried alongside his wife, Maria Jane in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold's Cross, Dublin; on his grave is the epitaph: Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, Serving the Lord.
