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Oldham (JOHN an English author born)

JOHN, an English author; born in Shipton, in August, 1653; was educated at the school of Tetbury, and then at Oxford. He had many patrons, the last being the Earl of Kingston, in whose house he died. His works have been published in three volumes.

He died in 1683.

OLD RED SANDSTONE. The old red sandstone, or Devonian system, may be considered as embracing the whole series of strata which lies between the Silurian and Carboniferous systems.

Certain portions of the formation were first distinguished in Devonshire, from which it derives its second name. The lower margin of the system is characterized by strata containing the fossil remains of fishes, and forming a line of separation between it and the Silurian system. On its upper margin it is distinguished by the rarity of the vegetation which so remarkably distinguishes the over-lying carboniferous rocks. The Devonian formation is nowhere found so largely developed as in the United States.

In the New York system of rocks it includes the following rocks: Pop. (1910) 14,743; (1920) 20,506.