Catalogue description Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: Geological Survey Board: Records

The Geological Survey was founded "to promote geological science" in connection with the Trigonometrical Survey under the Board of Ordnance in 1835. It continued the work of Sir Henry de la Beche, who became the Survey's first director general. The Museum of Economic Geology was formed in 1835, under the Office of Woods and Works at the suggestion of Sir Henry de la Beche, and opened to the public in 1841. In 1845 the two were directly connected when the survey was transferred to the Office of Woods and Works. In 1853 the Geological Survey and Museum were placed under the direction of the Science and Art Department of the Board of Trade, and subsequently under the Education Department of the Privy Council in 1856, and the Board of Education in 1899.

In November 1919 the Geological Survey and Museum were transferred to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Committee of Advice was replaced by a Geological Survey Board which was charged with managing the Survey more generally. The Survey and Museum were moved to Exhibition Road in South Kensington in 1935, and a branch office was opened in Belfast in 1947 to undertake a survey of Northern Ireland. On the dissolution of the latter in 1965, the survey and museum were combined with the Overseas Geological Surveys to form the Institute of Geological Sciences, under the Natural Environment Research Council. On 1 January 1984 the institute was renamed the British Geological Survey. The following year the survey moved to Keyworth near Nottingham, while the museum merged with the Natural History Museum. In 1988 the Geological Museum ceased to have any research functions, and became a permanent exhibition within the Natural History Museum.

From 1901 to 1915 the director was assisted by a Committee of Advice, representing those interests concerned with the work of the survey. This was replaced in 1919 by a Geological Survey Board, charged with managing the survey more generally. A Geology and Geophysics Committee replaced the Geological Survey Board in 1965.

The Geological Survey of Ireland was resumed under the survey's control in 1845, but was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland in 1905. A branch office was opened in Belfast in 1947 to undertake a survey of Northern Ireland. The Geological Survey of Scotland was absorbed in 1867.

The major functions of the survey and museum have been the geological survey, accompanied by the drawing of maps, the preparation of descriptive and economic memoirs and hand books, as well as the examination of boreholes, the conservation of rocks and minerals, investigations into the industrial applications of the latter, and the answering of enquiries on all aspects of geology. The survey has also investigated underground water supplies, worked in co-operation with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and carried out work for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.