Dr Frederick Dixon (1799-1849)
was the youngest of three sons of Rector of Sullington, a downland parish. He qualified as doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital, married, honeymooned round the Mediterranean and then came to live in Worthing in 1827. He had a lifelong fervent interest in fossils of the Chalk and Early Tertiaries of West Sussex. He was a friend of Gideon Mantell, Peter John Martin,etc, and, in particular, of Richard Owen. He was elected FGS (1840) supported by Mantell, Lyell and Murchison and died suddenly in September 1849, leaving his magnificent opus on Geology of Sussex unfinished. This was brought to publication by Richard Owen in Dec 1850 and contains 44 superb plates of fossils: it is still a standard work of reference. He spent 20 years amassing a significant fossil collection (4500 specimens), which his widow sold to the BM. The collection was dispersed but its catalogue survives. His work is second only to that of Mantell in its geological sigificance in Sussex. Dr Dixon was well-known in geological circles in the 1830s/40s, decades of great significance in history of geology, and was influential in many of the important debates in those times..
The West Sussex Geological Society will celebrate Dixon in three events:
- A two-week Exhibition in the foyer of Worthing Library about the Life, Times and Work of Dr Dixon.
- A Public Evening Lecture in Worthing Library Lecture Theatre on Friday 4 April on Frederick Dixon and the Geology of Sussex, by Anthony Brook
- A Field Trip on Saturday 5 April to The Trundle and Bracklesham Bay, led by David Bone (who has been researching this area for 35 years) on a day with a mid-afternoon low tide, to view Dixon's field area, collect similar fossils and evaluate his pioneering contributions, alongside work by 20th Century researchers such as Martin Venables and the Tertiary Research Group.
