MIDDLEMISS, Frank (1920-2014)

Scope and Content

Series of 120 Ordnance Survey Maps for varying regions of Great Britain, c 1940s-c 1960s. The maps have been annotated with geological information by the geologist Frank Middlemiss.

Administrative / Biographical History

Dr Frank Alexander Middlemiss (1920-2014) was born on 25 March 1920 in Leyton, East London. Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War, spending 14 months as a Prisoner of War in Italy and Germany in 1944-1945. Received a first class degree in Geology from Queen Mary College in 1950, and stayed on to pursue a PhD, completed in 1955. He taught in the Geology department at Queen Mary for the rest of his career, leading many field trips. He officially retired in 1982. He was made a Fellow in 1996.

Middlemiss's specialisms were Lower Cretaceous brachiopods, and the geology of the Weald and South East England, including the Lower Greensand Group and the chalk cliffs of Kent. He provided advice on the construction of the Channel Tunnel. He was a Fellow of the Geographical Society from 1950-1982. He was a member of the Geologists' Association and a member of several working groups of the International Union of Geological Societies.

Met his wife, Florence, in 1946 when they were both students at Queen Mary. They had two children, Stella and Joan.

Access Information

Open. The Archives are available for access in the Archives Reading Room located on the 2nd Floor of the Mile End Library. The Archives Reading Room is open Mondays to Fridays 9am-4pm by appointment only. Contact the Archives for more information: Archives, Main Library QMUL, 328 Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, telephone: 020 7882 3873, email: archives@qmul.ac.uk . For more information about the Archives see the website: library.qmul.ac.uk/archives

Acquisition Information

The maps were acquired by Nina Morgan, science writer, and donated as a gift to the Archives at Queen Mary in November 2017.

Other Finding Aids

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for copies for research or publication should be made to the Archivist: Main Library QMUL, 328 Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, telephone: 020 7882 7873, email: archives@qmul.ac.uk .