   george bellas greenough frs fgs (18 january 1778 â 2 april 1855) was an english geologist.  ==biography== greenough was born in london, as george bellas, named after his father, george bellas, who had a profitable business in the legal profession as a proctor in doctor's commons, st paul's churchyard doctors' commons and some real estate in surrey. his mother was the only daughter of the apothecary thomas greenough, whose very successful business was located on ludgate hill near to st paul's. a younger brother died in infancy.. at the age of six he was orphaned with his father dying first, and the cause, recorded by greenough in a biographical sketch, was âby neglect of business, by carelessness, extravagance, dissipation and by party zeal, my fatherâs fortune was soon squandered awayâfamily dissention followed; his constitution was broken, his prospects blighted and he died of decline at clifton in 1784â.ucl greenough papers 24/1 his mother followed only a few months later. he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, who had made a fortune through selling popular preparations, the most popular of which were "pectoral lozenge from balsam of tolu", for coughs and colds, and various tinctures for cleaning teeth and gums and curing tooth ache..national archive kew, petition for a patent, 19 january 1744 his grandfather sent him to mr cotton's school at salthill near slough and then to eton at the age of ten. he stayed there only one year, suggesting he was perhaps too delicate a child for the robust life at the boarding schools of the day. in september 1789 he entered dr thompson's school at kensington where he studied for the next six years. whilst he was at school he took the name greenough at the request of
1778_births 1855_deaths Alumni_of_Pembroke_College,_Cambridge English_geologists Fellows_of_the_Ethnological_Society_of_London Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society Presidents_of_the_Geological_Society_of_London Presidents_of_the_Royal_Geographical_Society