Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn (1824 - 1902)

Ancestors Descendants

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Career 1.3 Death 2 Sources

Biography

Following James McPherson Le Moine

President of the Royal Society of Canada 1895–1896

Followed by Cornelius O'Brien

Geologist Alfred Selwyn served as the director of the Geological Survey of Victoria from 1852 to 1869 and the Geological Survey of Canada from 1869 to 1895.

Early Life

Born about 1824, baptised 5 September 1824^[1], he was the son of Canon Townshend Selwyn and Charlotte Murray. In 1852 he married his cousin Matilda Charlotte Selwyn (d. 1882), and they had nine children.^[2] Matilda was the daughter of Rev. Edward Selwyn.^[3]

Career

Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn was born at Kilmington, Somerset. Eng., July 28, 1824, being the son of the late Rev.Townshend Selwyn, Canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and a great grandson of the Fourth Duke of Athol. He completed his éducation in Switzerland, and was appointed an assistant geologist on the Geological Survey. of Great Britain, which post he held till 1852, when he was chosen by the Colonial Secretary to assume the duties of director of the Geological Survey of Victoria, Australia, remaining there seventeen years, during which time he also undertook a special examination of the Tasmanian and South Australian coal and gold fields.

Several commissions were given him to represent the colony at European exbitions, and in 1869 he resigned his position to come to Canada to succeed Sir William Logan as director of the Canadian Geological Survey. In 1895 he was retired with a pension. He was in charge of the mineral department at the Philadelphia Centennial (1876), Paris (1878),- London (1886) and Chicago (1893).

Under his directions the offices of the survey were removed from Montreal to Ottawa in 1881. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, London; the Royal Imperial Society, Germany: the Geological Society, London, and of several other scientific bodies. On the organization of the Royal Society of Canada in 1882 he was chosen one of the fellows by the Marquis of Lorne, and became president of the society in 1896. He has also been president of the Natural History Society of Montreal.

Death

He died in Vancouver in 1902.^[4]

Obituary:

DEATH OF DR. A. R. C. SELWYN. Was Director For Geological Surveyor of Canada For 26 Years.

Vancouver, Oct. 20.—Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn, formerly director of Dominion Geological Survey, died here last evening, after a long illness. Deceased was 78 years of age.

Sources

1. ↑ Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn in the Wiltshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1916 Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Reference Number: 2063/6 https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=61188&h=1800705&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=8946
2. ↑ Matilda Charlotte Selwyn in the England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973. FHL Film Number: 1040632 IT 4-8 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/35762772:9852
3. ↑ Matilda Charlotte Selwyn in the England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988. Place: Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdonshire, England; Date Range: 1840 - 1869; Film Number: 1040632 https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=1352&h=2546970&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=1904
4. ↑ A. R. C. Selwyn in the U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. The Windsor Star; Publication Date: 20 Oct 1902; Publication Place: Windsor, Ontario, Canada; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/500390851/?article=0cae24a8-e26b-40bb-afc6-986bff6dd514&focus=0.47627342,0.58377993,0.6194244,0.85398084&xid=3355 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/663183382:61843

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7XD-BVP : 19 March 2020), Alfred Richard Cecil Elwyn, 1824.
• "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ1X-5N5 : 24 May 2019), Alfred Selwyn in household of Townshend Selwyn, Wilmington, Somerset, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKNH-W4Q : 13 March 2020), Alfred Richard C. Selwyn, 1852.
• "England, Huntingdonshire Parish Registers", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W9LN-SL6Z : 30 October 2019), Alfred Richard Creek Selwyn, 1852.
• "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCV-SK8H : 18 April 2019), Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom, 16 Jul 1852, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm .
• "Canada Census, 1871," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4KC-8XR : 24 October 2018), Alfred O Selwin, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; citing 1871; citing National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
• "Canada Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVJR-D84 : 15 December 2020), Alfred Selwyn, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; from "1881 Canadian Census." Database with images. Ancestry. (www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing Alfred Selwyn, citing Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
• "Canada Census, 1901," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHVN-R9J : 9 December 2020), Alfred Selwyn, Burrard, British Columbia, Canada; citing p. 14, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.
• "British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLKB-R3P : 8 November 2017), A R C Selwyn, 1902.

See also:

• Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn (28 Jul 1824–18 Oct 1902), Find A Grave: Memorial #35290347, citing Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia, Canada ; Maintained by Islandergirl (contributor 48322933) .

See Also:

• Suzanne Zeller, “SELWYN, ALFRED RICHARD CECIL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 16, 2018, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/selwyn_alfred_richard_cecil_13E.html.
• Wikipedia: Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn
• Wikidata: Item Q2744361, en:Wikipedia
• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Australian Dictionary of Biography - Selwyn, Alfred Richard (1824–1902)
• ALFRED SELWYN - 19TH CENTURY TRANS-ATLANTIC CONNECTIONS VIA AUSTRALIA
• Book by ARC Selwyn: Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of the Economic Minerals of Canada
• Book by ARC Selwyn & Ferdinand VanDeVeer Hayden
• Book by ARC Selwyn -Notes and Observations on the Gold Fields of Quebec and Nova Scotia
• Esquire Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyer in the UK, Civil Engineer Records, 1820-1930. Event Date: 24 Apr 1868, Certificate and Year Range: 2201-2400 (1867 Feb - 1868 Apr), UK, Civil Engineer Records, 1820-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=3585&h=20734&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=61188