Earth Collections: Wager's collection

Lawrence Rickard Wager was one of the leading petrologists of his generation, known for his exploratory geological work in eastern Greenland.

Apart from his major Greenland collections, Wager amassed collections from Skye, Rum and other parts of the Hebridean Tertiary Igneous province, including the remote island of St. Kilda; from the Bushveld Complex in South Africa; and from the 1933 Mount Everest expedition.

Wager also acquired many important specimens of suites of rocks from classic localities around the world, illustrating the work of geologists who had collected and described them. These were assigned to his 'T' (Temporary) Collection, with a view to their being ultimately incorporated into the new accession series of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences.

The main contents of the Wager Collection can be seen by visiting the online databases of the mineralogy and petrology collections, or by contacting the Museum.

Wager's ascent of Everest in 1933
The Museum has a fascinating set of 244 rocks collected by Lawrence Wager from Mount Everest. Wager climbed the mountain in the unsuccessful attempt of 1933. On 29th May, along with P. Wyn Harris, he managed to reach 28,100 feet, less than 1,000 feet from the summit. On this assault they found an ice axe belonging to Irvine who had perished with Mallory in the attempt of 1924.

Browse the collection
Learn more about Wager (PDF, 87kB)

Enquiries regarding the collections should be sent to: earth@oum.ox.ac.uk