CONYBEARE, WILLIAM DANIEL (1787 - 1857), geologist and divine

Name: William Daniel Conybeare

Date of birth: 1787

Date of death: 1857

Gender : Male

Occupation: geologist and divine

Area of activity: Nature and Agriculture; Religion; Science and Mathematics

Author: Frederick John North

Born 8 June 1787, son of the rector of S. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, London; he himself became rector of Sully, 1822-35, and dean of Llandaff, 1845-57. As a geologist he played an important part in establishing the study of the fossil reptiles of past ages, and while at Sully helped to lay the foundation of our knowledge of the South Wales coalfield, drawing attention to the anticlinal fold which, extending across the southern part of the area, makes it possible to work seams that would otherwise be inaccessible. He was elected F.R.S. [in 1832 ]. While at Llandaff he was largely r esponsible for the restoration of the cathedral, which his predecessor had commenced by reconstructing the Lady chapel. He published a memoir on the history and architecture of the cathedral in Archæologia Cambrensis, 1850, 24-40.

He died 12 August 1857.