Gideon & Mary Mantell and
the discovery of the
Iguanodon
From displays at the Natural
History Museum and other
sources
An Inguanadon model - about 10 - 15 feet in length
Unlike the Tyrannosaurus and other large dinosaurs that
have been found in the USA the Iguanodon lived in Southern
England. We know this because of where the specimens
were found.
Sussex, Dorset, Kent and Isle of Wight
We find an en explanation of
how Mary found the original
tooth at Cuckfield that helped
Gideon identify it as like that
of a giant Iguana hence the
name Iguana-don (ie tooth of
an Iguana)
A print used as the frontispiece of Mantell's
Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex
(1827) depicts a visit made by Mantell,
Lyell and William Buckland, the first
professor of geology at Oxford University
and a biblical literalist, to the quarry at
Cuckfield, a village 10 miles northwest of
Lewes which had yielded up Mantell's
dinosaur bones. It is a rainy afternoon in
March, 1825.
The three geologists are in top hats and
gentlemanly garb. They are accompanied by
half-a-dozen less formally attired quarry
workmen. Mantell is presumably the person at
right, standing behind a vertical slab of
sandstone etched with a fossil fern. Lyell or
Buckland wields a hammer to release a
reptilian bone from the rock. In the
background is the spire of Cuckfield Church
(the quarry has since been filled in and a
cricket field stands in its place).
Close to Cuckfield
village there is a plate
showing the location
of the original finds
Cuckfield Museum
has casts of Iguanadon footprints, teeth and other finds
From
Gideon
Mantell’s
Brighton
Museum
catalogue
Mary’s drawings of the tooth fragments found
Mantell also identified what
had been first thought of as a
nose spike, as a thumb spike.
This allowed the iguanadon to
defend itself.
A model of an Iguanodon claw
with spike
His birthplace in Lewes was in St
Mary’s Lane (now Station Street)
Gideon was born 3
Feb 1790 and after
going away to school
in Swindon where his
uncle lived he was
apprenticed to Dr
Moore on the High
Street in Lewes. He
eventually took over
the practice.
The move from Castle Place in Lewes to Brighton
For many years
Gideon kept a
Museum in his
house Castle Place,
in Lewes where he
was the local
doctor. Against the
counsel of his
family Gideon
moved all of his
collection to 20 Old
Steyne Brighton.
He moved all of his collections to Brighton in 1834 where they remained
until sold to the British Museum. The following page comes from
A Descriptive Catalogue
of the objects of
geology, natural history and antiquity
(chiefly discovered in Sussex)
In the
Museum
Attached to the
Sussex Scientific and Literary Institution
at Brighton by
Gideon Mantell ESQ LL.D. FRS
Dedicated to the Earl of Egrement
The “Mantell
Piece” that
was featured
in his
Museum in
Brighton.
This large
item is now
in Natural
History
Museum in
London
Approx
5ft
Gideon’s son Walter left for New Zealand around the time his wife and
daughter abandoned him to his museum exhibits. Walter took many
artefacts with him and corresponded with his father for the rest of his life,
exchanging items. The museum at Te Papa in Wellington is the proud
owner of an Iguanodon tooth.
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2009/11/04/tales-from-te-papa-iguanodontooth/#comment-5579
Walter first came to New Zealand in 1839 with the New Zealand Company.
He was to spend much of his adult life there and played a significant role in
the early colonial development of New Zealand, including the establishment
of the Colonial Museum, the original fore-runner to Te Papa. Many
descendents of Walter Mantell reside in New Zealand to this day.