Joseph Burr Tyrrell, the man who discovered dinosaur bones in 1884 left a worthy place in history. Canadian-born, he was a well-known geologist, mining consultant and cartographer. Tyrrell’s passion for geology took him to the Geological Survey of Canada, where he participated in a handful of expeditions. After joining the Geological Survey of Canada, he did not search, but found a 70 million year old dinosaur skull in the Badlands and coal deposits around the Drumheller area in 1884.
Joseph Tyrrell has been celebrated throughout history by having places and institutions named after him. These include the Tyrrell Sea, Tyrrell Arm, East Yathkyed Lake, Nunavut, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Drumheller, Alberta, and JB Tyrrell Senior Public School in Scarborough, Ontario. , among other famous places and institutions.
Who was Joseph Burr Tyrrell?
He was born on November 1, 1858 in Weston, Canada West, Province of Canada, the third child of William Tyrrell and Elizabeth Tyrrell. Joseph attended Weston Grammar School and graduated in 1876 from Upper Canada College. For his university education, he went to the University of Toronto and obtained his law degree in 1880.
Joseph Burr Tyrrell had health problems such as scarlet fever and was weakened in his eyes and ears. After working with a few law firms, her doctor advised her to find a job that involved outdoor activities. In 1880, Joseph then became a member of the Geological Survey of Canada and took part in coal explorations with his brother James Williams Tyrrell.
When Joseph was 26, he explored with his team to find coal in Drumheller, which they did on June 12, 1884. On August 12, 1884, he also found fossils of a dinosaur skull and skeleton 70 million years old in the Badlands of Alberta. Knowing this was very important, Joseph carefully packed the fossils onto a cart and shipped them to Calgary to experts in Ottawa who set up shop at the National Museum of Natural Sciences.
After Professor Edward Drinker Cope examined the fossil at the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, he named it Laelapsincrassatus. later in 1905, paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn renamed it Albertosaurus sarcophagus. Also in 1905, Alberta became a province, and from 1910 to 1917 it was known as the Great Dinosaur Stampede. Paleontologists from Canada and the United States flooded Alberta in search of dinosaur remains.
After finding dinosaur bones, Joseph Burr Tyrrella did more exploration in 1893 and 1894 leading into the Northern Badlands at the Dubawnt River since Samuel Hearne’s exploration of the 1770s. Accompanying his brother within his team, they established the first European contact with the Inuit people, now almost extinct. He also found biographical memorabilia of Canadian explorer, fur trader and cartographer, David Thompson. Thompson’s biographical memorabilia he found were 11 field note books, 39 diaries, a narrative, and maps. In 1916, Joseph helped publish Thompson’s memoir in David Thompson’s Narrative.
Joseph Burr Tyrrell married his wife Mary Edith Carey in 1894 and together they became parents to one daughter and two sons, namely Mary Elizabeth Tyrrell, born in 1896 (died 1974), George C Tyrrell born in 1900 (died in 1965) and Thomas A Tyrrell born in 1906 (died in 1964). His wife, who was born in 1870 and also worked in mining, became the first president and founder of the Mining Women’s Association of Canada in 1921. She died in 1945.
Tyrrell retired from the Geological Survey of Canada in 1898 and moved to Dawson City as a mining consultant. He then returned to Ontario in 1906 to operate his mining business there, and from 1926 worked in northern Ontario as a mine manager at the Kirkland Lake gold mine.
Everything you need to know about him
On retiring from the mines, Joseph Burr Tyrrell lived in northeast Scarborough and there on the Rough River he began to take an interest in apple orchards, grafting and breeding. The significant apple orchards were later managed by his first son, George C Tyrrell, and later moved to the Toronto Zoo site.
Tyrrell’s achievements and results earned him awards including Murchison Medal, Geological Society of London in 1981, Honorary President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 1930, Flavelle Medal, Royal Society of Canada in 1933, Wollaston Medal, Geological Society of London in 1947, Professional Engineer’s Medal from the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario in 1954, the historic JB Tyrrell Medal, the Honorary Award from the Royal Society of Canada, and many more.
To honor his memory, Joseph Burr Tyrrell Lake near Warner, Alberta, Joseph Burr Tyrrell Park in Toronto, Ontario, and many other places and institutions have been named in honor of Joseph Tyrrell.
The geologist, cartographer and mining consultant died in 1957 at his home in Toronto, aged 98.