James G. Sawkins

James Gay Sawkins
19th century photograph of Sawkins
Born1806
Southampton, England
Died20 July 1878(1878-07-20) (aged 71–72)
London, England
OccupationGeologist

Artist Copper miner

Illustrator
Known for
Spouses
  • Jane Grace Andras (1795-1882, m. 1822)
  • Octavia "Rosa" Sawkins (19th century–?)
  • Mary Hussey Brodie (1816-1892 m.1855)

Hilo from the Bay, oil on canvas painting by James Gay Sawkins, 1852

James Gay Sawkins (1806–July 20, 1878) was an artist, geologist, copper miner, and illustrator. He was a member of the Geological Society of London who joined and led research during England's West Indian Geological Surveys of the islands of Trinidad and Jamaica.[1][2][3] He also worked in the mining industries of Jamaica, Peru, Hawaii, and Australia.[4]

Circa 1849, Sawkins testified against Navy general Joseph Warren Revere in a Naval Court of Inquiry due to Revere's possible affair with his wife, Octavia "Rosa" Sawkins.[5][6][7]

Afterwards, from 1859 to 1862, he worked under English naturalist Lucas Barrett on the Jamaican Geological Survey, which was part of England's geology research of the West Indies.[4] After Barrett's untimely death in 1862, Sawkins took over as the leader of the research team.

In 1950, geologist H. R. Hose claimed Sawkin's 1869 Reports on the Geology of Jamaica "form the basis of all subsequent work in Jamaica."[8][9] For example, in 2021, Sawkins's 1869 research was used by wildlife ecologist Dr. Susan Koenig to persuade NEPA to protect the Jamaican Cockpit Country from bauxite mining.[10]

In 2011, Nicholas Mirzoeff stated that "Sawkins's careful anthropological style...concentrated on observation rather than moral commentary."[11] The Honolulu Museum of Art, Mission House Museum (Honolulu, Hawaii) and the National Library of Australia (Canberra) are among the public collections holding works by James Gay Sawkins.

  1. ^ Sawkins, James Gay (1869). Reports on the Geology of Jamaica; Or, Part II. of the West Indian Survey. H.M. Stationery Office.
  2. ^ Tenth annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the institution, up to January 1, 1856. and the proceedings of the Board up to March 22, 1856, 1856. p. 66
  3. ^ Edward John Eyre (1866). Jamaica: Addresses to His Excellency Edward John Eyre, Esquire, &c., &c., 1865, 1866. Harvard University. M. DeCordova.
  4. ^ a b "Lucas Barrett page". www.sfmgeology.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  5. ^ Chemerka, WIlliam R. General Joseph Warren Revere: The Gothic Saga of Paul Revere's Grandson. BearManor Media.
  6. ^ Naval Board of Inquiry, Case Number 1238, April 15, 1850. Available through Morris County Park Commission's Fosterfields Joseph Warren Revere Documents in Subject Research Files.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Sawkins, James Gay; Etheridge, Robert; Barrett, Lucas; Wall, Georges Parkes; Geological Survey of Great Britain (1869). Reports on the geology of Jamaica; or, Part II. of the West Indian survey. Memoirs of the Geological survey. London: Printed for H. M. Stationery off., Longmans, Green, and co.
  9. ^ Hose, H. R. (1951). The Geology and Mineral Resources of Jamaica. H.M. Stationery Office.
  10. ^ "SML-173: 1,324 . . . correction, 1,333 hectares released for NJBP II to mine". www.cockpitcountry.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  11. ^ Mirzoeff, Nicholas (18 November 2011). The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality. Duke University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-8223-4918-1.