Significant moments in James Hutton’s life.

  • 1726

    James Hutton is born

    3 June 1726
    Edinburgh
    Scotland

  • 1729

    Hutton’s father William dies

    Young James is aged three.

  • 1740

    Hutton attends Edinburgh University

    Aged 14

  • 1743

    Hutton becomes a lawyer’s apprentice

    Aged 17

  • 1744

    Hutton becomes a physician’s assistant

    Aged 18

  • Two Years in Paris

  • 1749

    Hutton attends Leiden University

    Receiving a doctorate in medicine

  • 1750

    Hutton returns to Edinburgh

    His continuing friendship with John Davie results in a successful business venture producing sal ammoniac from soot.

  • Early 1750s

    Hutton moves to Slighhouses Farm

    Having inherited it from his father, who had bought it in 1713.

  • 1760

    Hutton further develops his theories on geology

  • 1764

    Hutton embarks upon a tour of northern Scotland

    He is accompanied by George Clerk-Maxwell.

  • 1767

    Hutton becomes involved in the construction of the Forth and Clyde canal.

    As a shareholder and committee member, his geological knowledge was of benefit.

  • 1768

    Hutton returns to living in Edinburgh

    The farms of Slighhouses and Nether Monynut are let to tenants, but Hutton continues to take an interest in them.

  • 1770

    Hutton has a house built at St John’s, Edinburgh

  • 1777

    Hutton publishes "Considerations on the Nature, Quality and Distinctions of Coal and Culm".

    This ultimately contributed to a tax exemption being granted to the transport of these materials on the Forth and Clyde canal.

  • 1783

    Hutton becomes a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

  • 1785

    Hutton’s "Theory of the Earth" is presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh

  • 1785

    Hutton visits Glen Tilt and other locations

    His field studies at these sites confirmed that granite had to have been in a molten state in order to penetrate the surrounding rocks; thereby proving that the granite had to be younger.

  • 1786

    Hutton locates granite intrusions in Galloway

  • 1787

    Hutton locates granite intrusions on the Isle of Arran

  • 1787

    Hutton identifies his first ‘Unconformity’ - on the Isle of Arran

    He located this unconformity near Newton Point, on the coastline north of Lochranza.

  • 1787

    Hutton finds his second unconformity - at Jedburgh

    At Inchbonny, on the banks of the River Jed, layers of tilted greywacke are seen to be overlain by horizontally bedded Old Red Sandstone.

  • 1788

    Hutton finds his unconformity at Siccar Point

    This is the, now famous, location he visited on his springtime coastal boat trip with John Playfair and Sir James Hall of Dunglass.

  • 1788

    Hutton publishes the full version of his "Theory of the Earth, or an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe"

    Previously, he had privately circulated an abstract of his theory, and first read it to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1785. But it wasn’t until three years later that the full version appeared in print.

  • 1791

    Hutton gives up fieldwork to devote his time to finishing his books

  • 1795

    Hutton publishes a two-volume version of his Theory

    This comprised the 1788 version with additions, but also included other work of his, together with reviews on some alternative theories promoted by other geologists.

  • 1797

    James Hutton dies

    26 March 1797
    aged 70

The timeline below provides historical context with some of the other events in the 18th century.

  • 1707

    Act of Union

    The kingdom of Great Britain becomes established.

  • 1707

    Mount Fuji Erupts in Japan

    10,000 years since it previously erupted.

  • 1709

    The Great Frost

    Coldest temperatures in Europe for 500 years.

  • 1714

    George I becomes king

  • 1721

    Robert Walpole

    Becomes the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.

  • 1715

    First Jacobite Rising

    James Edward Stuart attempts to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland.

  • 1719

    The Spanish attempt to restart the Jacobite Rebellion

  • 1727

    George II becomes king

  • 1744

    The French attempt to restart the Jacobite Rebellion

  • 1745

    The Second Jacobite Rising

    Begun by Charles Edward Stuart
    ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’

  • 1750

    Peak of the ‘Little Ice Age’

    The period of regional cooling especially in the North Atlantic area.

  • 1752

    Britain changes to the Gregorian Calendar

    14 September 1752

  • 1760

    George III becomes king

  • 1769

    James Cook begins exploring New Zealand and Australia

  • 1770

    Ludwig van Beethoven is born

  • 1771

    Richard Arkwright builds the world’s first water-powered mill

  • 1775

    American War of Independence begins

  • 1776

    American Declaration of Independence

    4 July 1776

  • 1776

    Adam Smith publishes "The Wealth of Nations"

  • 1783

    Montgolfier Brothers invent the Hot Air Balloon

  • 1783

    Laki Eruption, Iceland

    8 June 1783 for eight months, with widespread consequences.

  • 1789

    George Washington becomes the first president of the United States of America

  • 1789

    The French Revolution begins

  • 1796

    Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccine

Hutton’s Relevance Today