Sir William Logan, founding director of the Geological Survey of Canada, increased the knowledge of the geological nature of Canada, contributed to the organized development of its mining industry, and made Canada’s mineral resources known around the world. His insightful contributions to the development of geology as a science led to his induction, in March 1851, into the Royal Society of London, the first native-born Canadian so honoured. In 1855 he received the Cross of the Legion of Honour from the French government and the following year he was knighted by Queen Victoria.

Logan was born in Montreal in 1798. After completion of his early education there, he entered the University of Edinburgh in 1816 where he developed an interest in geology. However, he left after a year of study to work in his uncle’s accounting office in London. In 1831 his uncle sent him to Swansea, Wales, to manage the Forest Copper Works.

While fulfilling his management responsibilities, Logan devoted much time to stratigraphy — the study of the origin, composition, distribution, and succession of strata or layers of rocks. From 1831 to 1841, as an active member of the highly respected Geological Survey of London, Logan kept abreast of new insights that were modifying or sweeping away earlier ideas concerning the earth, its formation and structure.

When Logan began his studies of geology, there was much speculation concerning the origin of coal. Through his private study of coal deposits and their formation and through his collecting of fossils, he developed scientific data that greatly improved knowledge concerning the formation of coal. His ideas came to the attention of Charles Lyell (1797-1875), the leading British authority on geology. Lyell’s high regard for Logan’s work was a significant factor in the decision by the Canadian government to appoint Logan as its first geologist in the autumn of 1842.

Logan was given the responsibility of undertaking an accurate and complete geological survey of Canada, in particular of the southern portion of the present provinces of Ontario and Quebec. He was asked to provide “a full and scientific description of its rocks, soil and minerals ... accompanied by proper maps, diagrams and drawings, together with a collection of specimens to illustrate the same.” His initial appointment was for two years and the initial government appropriation for the survey was only 1,500 pounds sterling.

When Logan embarked on his new assignment, he understood the scope of the task before him, but it seems that few Canadian political leaders did. However, because of the persuasive quality of his work and that of his colleagues, the mandate of the Survey was periodically renewed. Its funding, however, was occasionally in a perilous state. It was sustained only by the interim financing that Logan personally provided. For instance, when Parliament failed, as it did in 1863, to make the necessary financial appropriation, Logan himself paid the salaries of the staff. Thanks to Logan, the work of the Survey was sustained and ultimately gained international recognition. 

Surrounded by his rock collection in his spartan office, Sir william Logan was one of the world’s greatest geologists when this William Notman photograph was taken in the early 1860s. Mt. Logan, named for Sir William Logan, is the highest mountain in Canada [NAC/C7606]

Although he was a man of considerable wealth who earned and received recognition for his outstanding work, Logan was modest and unassuming. His spartan tastes were evident in his office which was also his mapping room and bedroom. His furniture was severely functional. In the corner of his office was an iron contraption that looked like a chair, but Logan never sat in it. At night it became his bed. He used the same rough blankets there as he did on his many, extensive field trips. When he was not away on a field trip or on other work on behalf of the Survey, Logan awakened at five a.m. to devote another long day to the work of the Survey and to his examination and preparation of geological data for presentation in map form. All this was done with infinite attention to detail.

In this thorough, disciplined manner, Logan, with the help of his assistants, completed his extensive field and laboratory work and his preparation of maps. In 1863 his masterly, 983-page volume, Geology of Canada was published. This was the summation of knowledge to that time concerning the geology of Canada. An atlas was published two years later and a larger geological map in 1869.

During his 27 years as Director of Canada’s Geological Survey, Logan worked with great devotion and immense effectiveness in the establishment and development of the Survey as a combination of scientific precision and practical helpfulness. Upon his retirement on November 30, 1869, the Survey thus embodied the principles that had animated and given lasting significance to Logan’s own life and work.

The highest of the St. Elias Mountains in the southwestern Yukon Territory of Canada is Mount Logan. It is named after Sir William Edmond Logan, the creator and inspirer of the Geological Survey of Canada.