Samuel Allport was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 petrologist

Petrology

Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....

. He was born in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and educated in that city.

Although occupied in business during the greater portion of his life, his leisure was given to geological

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 studies, and when residing for a short period in Bahia

Bahia

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, he made observations on the geology, published by the Geological Society in 1860. His chief work was in microscopic petrology, to the study of which he was attracted by the investigations of Dr. Henry Sorby

Henry Clifton Sorby

Henry Clifton Sorby , was an English microscopist and geologist.-Biography:Sorby was born at Woodbourne near Sheffield in Yorkshire and attended Sheffield Collegiate School. He early developed an interest in natural science, and one of his first papers related to the excavation of valleys in...

; and he became one of the pioneers of this branch of geology, preparing his own rock-sections with remarkable skill.

The basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

s of south Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, the diorite

Diorite

Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...

s of Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, the phonolite

Phonolite

Phonolite is a rare igneous, volcanic rock of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture....

 of the Wolf Rock (to which he first directed attention), the pitchstone

Pitchstone

Pitchstone is a dull black glassy volcanic rock formed when viscous lava or magma cools swiftly. It is similar to but coarser than obsidian. It is a volcanic glass with a conchoidal fracture , a resinous lustre, and a variable composition. Its colour may be mottled, streaked, or uniform brown,...

s of Arran

Isle of Arran

Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...

 and the altered igneous rock

Igneous rock

Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...

s near the Land's End were investigated and described by him during the years 1869–1879 in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society and in the Geological Magazine. In 1880 he was appointed librarian in Mason College, a post which he relinquished on account of ill-health in 1887. In that year the Lyell Medal

Lyell Medal

The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal, awarded on the basis of research to an Earth Scientist of exceptional quality...

 was awarded to him by the Geological Society. A few years later he retired to Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

, where he died in 1897.