TALK Mr Woodward’s Memoir – keeping it in the family

Horace Woodward, Assistant Director of the nation’s Geological Survey, returned in 1875-1884 to Norwich, the native city of his grandfather, father and uncles to undertake a definitive survey and mapping exercise of the area. He ended up spending the happiest years of his life here amongst the quarries and railway cuttings. Half a century earlier, his grandfather Samuel Woodward (1790-1838), an antiquary who became known as The Norfolk Geologist, had blazed a trail and had earned an epitaph as an ‘indefatigable investigator’.

Matt Williams will look at the historical significance of this family and explore local connections.

Matthew Williams is a geologist and historian with a particular interest in Norwich as a physical entity. His latest books are Norwich's Netherflow on the history of the sewerage system and The Masterful Mr Collins on Norwich's city engineer 1894-1925.