Eimer 1588, BHM 2869.
55mm. Bronze. By L.C Wyon.
Obverse with bust of Sir Broderick Murchison, reverse with Silurian fossils and two geological hammers in saltire. Edge engraved 'Frederick Murray Trotter, 1956. The Geological Society'.
About as Struck and housed in fitted case of issue.
F.M Trotter was born at Gateshead on 19 April 1897. In 1916 he was studying geology and chemistry at Armstrong College, Newcastle when, at the age of 18, he joined the Royal Engineers. He was sent to the Western Front as a dispatch rider. In 1918 while near Vimy he was badly wounded by shrapnel and lost one of his eyes and part of his skull. After he recovered Trotter was able to resume his studies at Armstrong College and was awarded his BSc in 1920. In 1921 he joined the Geological Survey of Great Britain and was first stationed at their office at Whitehaven, Cumbria. A study of the glacial history of the Vale of Eden and surrounding areas gained him a DSc.
In 1933 Trotter moved to the Forest of Dean and at the outbreak of the Second World War he was sent to South Wales to work on the coalfield. At the end of 1941 he was promoted to District Geologist for the North-West of England and in 1955 he became Assistant Director (Deputy Chief Scientific Officer). He retired in 1963 and died on 24 July 1968.
In an obituary in the Proceedings of the Geologist's Association his former colleague William Colin Campbell Rose wrote: It was a constant source of wonder and admiration to his colleagues that despite this tremendous handicap (of which he never complained) he enjoyed his life and work to the full and seemed not to suffer any disadvantage.