Article

Joseph Beete Jukes

Published Online January 10, 2008

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Joseph Beete Jukes, geologist (b near Birmingham, Eng 10 Oct 1811; d at Dublin, Ire 29 July 1869). Jukes had attended geology lectures at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA in 1836.

Jukes, Joseph Beete

Joseph Beete Jukes, geologist (b near Birmingham, Eng 10 Oct 1811; d at Dublin, Ire 29 July 1869). Jukes had attended geology lectures at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA in 1836. In 1839 he became Newfoundland's geological surveyor and began a scientific search for mineral resources, prospecting many coastal areas. After a fruitless search he returned to England in October 1840.

Excursions in and about Newfoundland (1842), a rich record of colonial Newfoundland society 1839-40, emphasized negative results and discouraged "rash speculation" in mining. In 1842 Jukes was naturalist on a surveying expedition into Australasian waters. His career culminated in 1850 with the directorship of the Geological Survey of Great Britain's Irish Branch.