Willoughby Verner

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Willoughby Verner
Boer War

Colonel William Willoughby Cole Verner (22 October 1852 – 25 January 1922) was a British soldier, writer, ornithologist, and inventor of a type of compass. He was briefly a Professor of Topography[1] at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He is remembered for bringing Cueva de la Pileta, a cave filled with prehistoric paintings, to international attention.[2]

Life

Verner was born in 1852 and he showed an early interest in bones collecting the fossils of extinct animals.

Howard Irby where they continued their interest in studying, shooting (and eating) the local wildlife. He continued his diary until 1890.[3]

An Elliot Bros London First World War British Army military sketching board says "Major Verners Patent". It is 24 cm high and 17.5 cm wide.

He took out patents to improve a

cavalry sketch board which was designed to be used strapped to the wrist.[4][1] In 1895 Verner had a novel version of a prismatic compass named after him with a luminous dial. The compass was manufactured by two different companies and version nine of the design was still being made in 1942.[5]

Verner's Pattern no VIII by a Swiss Clockmaker, Ed Koehn, dated 1916

Verner became the official historian of the

Rifle Brigade and he edited the letters home of one of its majors to produce A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, during the Peninsular War & Campaign of Waterloo.[6]
He also wrote The Military Life of H. R. H. George: Duke of Cambridge based on Prince George, Duke of Cambridge.

He wrote Sketches in the Soudan (sic) in 1885 and Rapid Field-Sketching and Reconnaissance and Advanced Guard and Outpost Duties for Riflemen in 1889. The First British Rifle Corps. He wrote An historical account of the Rifle Brigade and of the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1890 and Some Notes on Military Topography in 1891 and Map Reading and the Elements of Field Sketching in 1893. In 1894 his friend (Leonard) Howard Irby published The Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar and after he retired to Algeciras he wrote My Life among the Wild Birds in Spain. With illustrations in 1909.[7]

Verner climbing down to a bird's nest on a cliff ledge

In 1911, Verner discovered

Prince of Monaco.[2] Verner later co-authored a scientific paper with Breuil and Obermaier on Cueva de la Pileta.[10]

Verner wrote History and Campaigns of the Rifle Brigade in 1912.

another home to early man like the earlier finds at Cuerva de la Pieta and at Forbes' Quarry Cave, Gibraltar 1 had been found over fifty years earlier. Their confidence was confirmed when Gibraltar 2 was found nearby in the early 1920s[11] by Dorothy Garrod
who had come to investigate at Breuil's encouragement.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Willoughby Cole Verner.
  1. ^ a b "cavalry sketch board Mk IV". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-969822-6
    . Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  3. ^ "The Natural History Diaries of Willoughby Verner". Waltersgill. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  4. ^ Brink, Ted. "British Army military sketching board with compass". Collecting Military Compasses. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  5. ^ Verners Pattern Prismatic Compasses, compasscollector.com, accessed January 2013
  6. ^ A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, during the Peninsular War & Campaign of Waterloo, Major George Simmons, at the Internet Archive
  7. ^ a b William Willoughby Cole Verner, Amazon.co.uk, accessed January 2013
  8. ^ Devils Tower Cave, http://underground-gibraltar.com, accessed 22 February 2013
  9. ^ Cuerva de la Pieta, accessed 20 January 2013
  10. ISSN 0028-0836
    .
  11. JSTOR 4619528.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
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