Geological observations by the Reverend Charles P. N. Wilton (1795–1859) in New South Wales and his views on the relationship between religion and science

Abstract

AbstractThe Reverend Charles Wilton arrived in the colony of New South Wales, Australia, in 1827 to take up an appointment as chaplain in an outer Sydney parish. His interest in the natural sciences, particularly in geology, led him to undertake many excursions to study and describe the largely unknown natural features of his adopted country. A transfer to the then small town of Newcastle to the north of Sydney gave him the opportunity to carry out more detailed and scientifically well-reasoned studies of such geological curiosities as the ‘Burning Mountain’, initially thought to be a volcano, the giant concretions along the Hunter River, and also of the coal measure sequence cropping out along the nearby coast. Wilton felt a strong need to communicate his discoveries, both for the benefit of science and the enlightenment of the general public. He achieved this by contributing to a short-lived journal he had founded and through many scientific publications and newspaper articles. His main purpose, however, was to demonstrate that there was agreement between science and religion. This conviction led him to criticize other naturalists who explained natural features and processes by accepting some latitude in the literal interpretation of the biblical account of the creation and of Noah's Flood. Some of his actions and behaviour, following his arrival in the colony, met with disapproval and censure from his superiors. However, he atoned for his early errors by the subsequent conscientious fulfilment of his clerical duties and by the communication of his work in the natural sciences.