Henry Hicks (geologist)

Henry Hicks (1837 to 1899) was a Welsh physician and geologist. Born in St Davids, the son of a surgeon, he studied medicine at Guy's Hospital in London, became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1862 and was licensed by the Society of Apothecaries. After practising in St Davids he moved his practice to Hendon, London, in 1871, took his Doctor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews in 1878 and became head of an asylum at Hendon Grove that treated women for mental disorders. His medical work ran alongside a better known career in geology: he found Cambrian fossils near his home, coined the names Pebidian and Dimetian for the Precambrian rocks around St Davids, published more than sixty papers, and later served as president of the Geological Society. He won its Bigsby Medal in 1883 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1885.