Early Life and Education
Sollas was born in Birmingham on 30 May 1849 to William Henry Sollas, a ship owner, and his wife Emma Wheatley. He was educated at the City of London School, where he first became interested in chemistry, and from there moved on to the Royal College of Chemistry in 1865, spending two years working with Sir Edward Frankland, and in 1867 gained a scholarship to study at the Royal School of Mines. There he came under the influence of scientists such as Warington Wilkinson Smyth and Thomas Henry Huxley, later saying "I owe more, both morally and intellectually, than to any other I can name". After becoming an Associate of the Royal School of Mines he competed with William Garnett for chemistry scholarships at St. John's College, Cambridge; they were both accepted. At Cambridge Sollas was taught by Thomas George Bonney, who persuaded him to switch to geology, which he did, gaining First Class Honours in the Natural Sciences Tripos in 1873.
Read more about this topic: William Johnson Sollas
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