William Martin (naturalist)

William Martin (1767 – 31 May 1810) was an English naturalist and palaeontologist who proposed that science should use fossils as evidence to support the study of natural history.

His father worked in the hosiery business, but he left to become an actor in Ireland with the stage name of Joseph Booth.

[1] His work with fossils and natural history eventually led to Martin being elected a fellow of the Linnaean Society.

Whitehurst had published An Inquiry into the Original State and Formation of the Earth in 1778 which contained an important appendix which concerned General Observations on the Strata in Derbyshire.

His son was to write numerous books on natural history after becoming the scientific officer to the Zoological Society.

[4] Petrifacta Derbiensia contained illustrations, the first in colour, which helped Martin describe the fossils and Carboniferous limestone he had studied in Derbyshire.

[9] Martin also published Outlines of an Attempt to establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils on Scientific Principles in 1809.

[10] Martin had published the first scientific study of fossils and palaeontology in English,[1][5] and he met John Farey to discuss the possibility of a joint effort to create a geological map of Derbyshire.

Erismolithus – one of the colour plates from his 1809 publication Petrificata derbiensia [ 4 ]
Another of Martin's illustrations – Horn coral . These were the first coloured illustrations of British fossils. [ 1 ]
Martin's illustration of a fossil that others had described as a crocodile tail.