Twenty-first century survey

In April 1835, the year that the Ordnance Geological Survey of Great Britain was founded, Viscount Melbourne succeeded Sir Robert Peel as Prime Minister, William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover, and Queen Victoria would not ascend the throne for another two years. The Geological Survey came into existence, with Sir Henry De la Beche as its first Director, as a result of funding provided by the Board of Ordnance to cover the costs of colouring topographical maps of the Trigonometrical Survey. The publication of the Geological Survey Act on 31 July 1845 provided the Survey with a legal framework designed ‘to facilitate the Completion of a Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland’, and renamed the organisation as The Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland.