Last updated October 2023
"Mankind must be made much more aware of the world it lives in, its rigorous limitations and its limited possibilities. Above all it must be assisted and persuaded to think of the world as a whole"
D. L. Linton
He was a close colleague of Professor Alice Garnett who, we will discover, was the beating heart of the GA for many years, following her taking up the post of Honorary Secretary in 1947 and overseeing the GA's move to Sheffield in 1950.
Alice Garnett later became GA President four years after Linton.
Linton was a geomorphologist, and also did some influential work with another former GA President: Sidney Wooldridge.
He was born, apparently, in a grocers' shop on the Old Kent Road, to Irish parents, and went on from there to Haberdasher's Aske's school.
He was a gifted musician, and apparently wanted to do a degree in Chemistry originally.
He was also a keen artist, and sketched the landscape, from where the geomorphological features emerged, waiting to be explained. In the 1930s, he was active with the Le Play Society, leading fieldtrips to locations including Iceland. This Society was very much tied up with the early history of the GA.
Linton went to King's College, London and was persuaded by Sidney Wooldridge (who was working as a Demonstrater at the time) to add geography to his subjects for his degree, and he was drawn into the exciting geomorphology work that was being done at the time. This university has been linked to quite a few GA Presidents, notably another geomorphologist Denys Brunsden.
After the war, he went over to check out the sites, and was just about tracked down by the University of Sheffield, who wanted to interview him for a post there where he was appointed as Professor of Geography.
Summary of his career:
King's College London, BSc (Geography), 1927, MSc, 1930; DSc 1945; Demonstrator in Geography and Geology, University of London, 1927-1929; Lecturer in Geography, University of Edinburgh, 1929-1945; served in the RAF (Photographic Intelligence), 1940-1945; Professor of Geography, University of Sheffield, 1945-1958; DSc, 1955; Professor of Geography, University of Birmingham, from 1958; William Evans Visiting Professor, University of Otago, 1959; Honorary Editor of Geography, the Quarterly Journal of the Geographical Association , 1945-1965; President of the Institute of British Geographers, 1962, and of the Geographical Association, 1964; Fellow of King's College London (FKC), 1971; received the Murchison Award, Royal Geographical Society, 1943.
What an impressive CV...
At a meeting in Sheffield (with Wooldridge and others) in 1958, he was a founder member of what became the British Geomorphological Research Group, which he chaired in 1961, and also a founder member of the Institude of British Geographers. He became President of the IBG in 1962.
Linton was honorary editor of the GA's 'Geography' journal too, between 1947 and 1965, and his name appears in numerous copies of 'Geography' in the front matter and also in the pages.
He contributed a range of articles to the journal 'Geography' through the 1940s and 1950s. One was on the rise of the million city - I wonder what he would have made of the rapid rise of megacities, particularly in China.
He also wrote a piece on Geography and the Social Revolution in 1957 in 'Geography'.
His Presidential Address. published in 1965 was on 'The Geography of Energy'
The address included some classic illustrations such as this one.
It also finished with an important message for all teachers.
I remember that he also developed a theory of the formation of Tors, and was taken to the quarry where this theory was apparently first visualised when on an undergraduate fieldtrip at Two Bridges on Dartmoor.
At a meeting in Sheffield (with Wooldridge and others) in 1958, he was a founder member of what became the British Geomorphological Research Group, which he chaired in 1961, and also a founder member of the Institude of British Geographers. He became President of the IBG in 1962.
Linton was honorary editor of the GA's 'Geography' journal too, between 1947 and 1965, and his name appears in numerous copies of 'Geography' in the front matter and also in the pages.
He contributed a range of articles to the journal 'Geography' through the 1940s and 1950s. One was on the rise of the million city - I wonder what he would have made of the rapid rise of megacities, particularly in China.
He also wrote a piece on Geography and the Social Revolution in 1957 in 'Geography'.
His Presidential Address. published in 1965 was on 'The Geography of Energy'
The address included some classic illustrations such as this one.
It also finished with an important message for all teachers.
I remember that he also developed a theory of the formation of Tors, and was taken to the quarry where this theory was apparently first visualised when on an undergraduate fieldtrip at Two Bridges on Dartmoor.
I've visited the quarry here. It's on the path to Wistman's Wood.
Tor formation theory is shown below, in an influential textbook of the time by David Waugh, who is mentioned elsewhere on the blog.
In 1964, he became President of the Geographical Association - probably quite a coup for the GA at the time given how prominent and busy he was.
Linton died unexpectedly in 1971, when he was nearing retirement at the end of a long career while in post at the University of Birmingham. He was still very active.
Obituary published in several journals.
A tribute to him was written by Alice Garnett and published in 1966 on the occasion of his retirement as Honorary Editor.
He received the RGS's Murchison Award.
References
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Linton_(geographer)
I amended this to add in his GA Presidency, as I have done to all entries for former Presidents.
Address: LINTON, D. L. “The Geography of Energy.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 3, 1965, pp. 197–228. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567042
Obituary:
“David Leslie Linton.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, no. 55, 1972, pp. 171–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/621729
Garnett, Alice. “A Tribute to D. L. Linton: Honorary Editor 1947-65.” Geography, vol. 51, no. 1, 1966, pp. 65–66. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566046. Accessed 12 Apr. 2020.
LESZCZYCKI, STANISLAW, and David L. Linton. “The Development of Geography in the People's Republic of China.” Geography, vol. 48, no. 2, 1963, pp. 139–154. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565574.
LINTON, DAVID L. “Geography and the Social Revolution.” Geography, vol. 42, no. 1, 1957, pp. 13–24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40563897
LINTON, DAVID L. “Millionaire Cities To-Day and Yesterday.” Geography, vol. 43, no. 4, 1958, pp. 253–258. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564208
Linton, David L. “THE LANDFORMS OF LINCOLNSHIRE.” Geography, vol. 39, no. 2, 1954, pp. 67–78. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564569
https://www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences/about/history/school-history
Tor formation theory is shown below, in an influential textbook of the time by David Waugh, who is mentioned elsewhere on the blog.
In 1964, he became President of the Geographical Association - probably quite a coup for the GA at the time given how prominent and busy he was.
Linton died unexpectedly in 1971, when he was nearing retirement at the end of a long career while in post at the University of Birmingham. He was still very active.
Obituary published in several journals.
A tribute to him was written by Alice Garnett and published in 1966 on the occasion of his retirement as Honorary Editor.
He received the RGS's Murchison Award.
References
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Linton_(geographer)
I amended this to add in his GA Presidency, as I have done to all entries for former Presidents.
Address: LINTON, D. L. “The Geography of Energy.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 3, 1965, pp. 197–228. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567042
Obituary:
“David Leslie Linton.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, no. 55, 1972, pp. 171–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/621729
Garnett, Alice. “A Tribute to D. L. Linton: Honorary Editor 1947-65.” Geography, vol. 51, no. 1, 1966, pp. 65–66. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566046. Accessed 12 Apr. 2020.
LESZCZYCKI, STANISLAW, and David L. Linton. “The Development of Geography in the People's Republic of China.” Geography, vol. 48, no. 2, 1963, pp. 139–154. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565574.
LINTON, DAVID L. “Geography and the Social Revolution.” Geography, vol. 42, no. 1, 1957, pp. 13–24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40563897
LINTON, DAVID L. “Millionaire Cities To-Day and Yesterday.” Geography, vol. 43, no. 4, 1958, pp. 253–258. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564208
Linton, David L. “THE LANDFORMS OF LINCOLNSHIRE.” Geography, vol. 39, no. 2, 1954, pp. 67–78. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564569
https://www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences/about/history/school-history
https://kingscollections.org/catalogues/kclca/collection/l/10li50-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20080820001049/http://www.geomorphology.org.uk/pages/about/history/
https://www.geomorphology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Geophemera%20101.pdf
Linton, David L. “THE TREELESSNESS OF THE ṪUNDRA.” Geography, vol. 48, no. 1, 1963, pp. 80–81. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565512.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080820001049/http://www.geomorphology.org.uk/pages/about/history/
https://www.geomorphology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Geophemera%20101.pdf
Linton, David L. “THE TREELESSNESS OF THE ṪUNDRA.” Geography, vol. 48, no. 1, 1963, pp. 80–81. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565512.
Image of Haytor - copyright Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license
Image of Linton from the Balchin Centenary Book
Update August 2020
In 2017, my own degree tutor and former lecturer at Huddersfield Polytechnic: Professor Tim Burt was awarded the Linton Award
https://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/news/allgeognews/?itemno=31007
Updated October 2023 with a quote at the start of the post.
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