Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Hicks, Henry
HICKS, HENRY (1837–1899), geologist, was born on 26 May 1837 at St. David's, Pembrokeshire, where his father, Thomas Hicks, was in practice as a surgeon, his mother, Anne, being a daughter of William Griffiths of Carmarthen. After passing through the cathedral chapter school of that town, he studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, becominga licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1862. He then returned to follow his profession at St. David's. Here he made the acquaintance of John William Salter [q. v.], palæontologist to the Geological Survey, and became inspired with his enthusiasm for discovery in a field which was then almost virgin. Hicks's eyes proved singularly acute in detecting even obscure traces of organisms, and before long he found a fossil in the hitherto barren red flaggy rocks of the Cambrian system near St. David's. This (a 'lingulella') was described by the fellow-workers in a communication to the Geological Society in 1867. Stimulated by its reception and a grant from the British Association, Hicks succeeded during the next year in discovering as many as thirty species in the lower Cambrian beds. Afterwards he extended his researches from these basement beds upwards to the great mass of early palaeozoic strata by which they are overlain. Though his professional work did not suffer from his geological ardour, he decided in 1871 to avail himself of an opportunity of practising at Hendon, Middlesex. About six years later he was able to restrict himself to mental disease, when he became the head of an asylum for ladies thus afflicted. This was ultimately located at Hendon Grove. Being now freed from the interruptions of ordinary practice, he extended the range of his geological work, investigating with characteristic ardour the earliest and the latest chapters in the geological history the rock masses which underlie the base of the Cambrian system, and the glacial and later deposits, some of which were close to his home. He was active in scientific organisations, especially the British Association, the Geologists' Association, and the Geological Society; of the second he was president from 1883 to 1885; of the third he was secretary from 1890 to 1893, and president from 1896 to 1898, being a vice-president at the time of his death. By that society he was awarded the Bigsby medal in 1883. He was elected F.R.S. on 4 June 1885. He was no less active in local affairs, taking part in sanitary and educational movements, the work of the church of England, and the organisation of the conservative party. He died on 18 Nov. 1899. He married, in February 1864, Mary, only daughter of P. D. Richardson, vicar of St. Dogwells, Pembrokeshire, who, with three daughters (married), survived him.
As a geologist Hicks was singularly acute, both in eye and mind. The more difficult a problem, the greater its attraction for him. But he was sometimes a little too quick in publishing his conclusions; for while his main idea has commonly proved to be right, important details have had to be corrected. But his work, like himself, was always stimulative. As may be inferred, he was often involved in controversy, but he seemed to enjoy an intellectual battle, the stress of which never ruffled the course of friendship for more than a moment, so that his death, in the full vigour of his powers, was not only a loss to science but also to numerous friends. A portrait in oils, by F. Valence, is in possession of the family.
Hicks wrote, in addition to a few medical papers, not less than sixty-three on geological subjects, published chiefly in the 'Reports of the British Association,' the 'Geological Magazine,' the 'Proceedings of the Geologists' Association,' and the 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society.' These may be grouped under the following heads: (1) The earlier palaeozoic strata of Pembrokeshire, where, as already stated, he proved the lower Cambrian rocks to be fossiliferous, and separated them into two divisions. (2) The beds underlying certain conglomerates at St. David's and in North Wales, which in his opinion mark the base of the Cambrian. (3) The geology of the Scotch highlands. (4) Papers on glacial and post-glacial deposits, especially on the discovery of mammoth remains in London (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xlviii. 453), and on the exploration of caves at Ffynnon Beuno and Cae Gwyn, North Wales, the contents of which he maintained to be pre-glacial. (5) The latest in date, on the geology of North Devonshire. Hicks was the first to discover fossils in the Morte slates, which he identified as Silurian.
[Obituary notices in Nature, lxi. 109; Catalogue of Scientific Papers of the Royal Society; Geological Magazine, 1899, p. 574; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1900, Proc. lviii.; information from the family, and personal knowledge.]