The BGS "Wilson Collection" of geological materials from the Wanlockhead-Leadhills mining field, southern Scotland

The British Geological Survey (BGS) holds many specimen collections, derived from disparate sources. Many of the collections were made during mapping surveys carried out by BGS staff over the organisation’s 185-year history, with others being donated by eminent professional geologists, academics or amateur collectors. Generally, the donations have good documentation confirming where the material was found, when and by whom. Unfortunately, some do not, and one such was the “Wilson Collection”, for which even the identity of the eponymous Wilson was uncertain. The collection had arrived at BGS in the 1950s and comprises just over 800 specimens, mostly derived from the mineral veins of the Wanlockhead-Leadhills district, which are contained in a variety of glass containers: laboratory tubing and test tubes, second-hand confectioners’ tubes, and a variety of small bottles, some new but many recycled. Some specimens are labelled with mineral, mine and vein names, together with a date of collection, but for other specimens less data are recorded and inevitably some specimens have missing or illegibly damaged labels. To try to gain a better understanding of this collection’s origins, a short article in The Edinburgh Geologist (Tulloch & Togher 2020) included an appeal for more information.