Biographical dictionary
The Biographical Dictionary of British Coleopterists was compiled by the late Michael Darby. The Dictionary can be accessed below, and see also the additional information provide by Michael:
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| Name | Dates | Biography | |
|---|---|---|---|
| COGHILL, K.J. | Published 'Crioceris lilii Scop. in Flintshire' in EMM., 82, 1946, p.51. He was attached at the time to the Department of Agricultural Entomology at Manchester University. (MD 3/02) | ||
| COHEN, M. | A Doctor. His collection is mentioned by C.A.Collingwoood in EMM., 94, 1958, p.167. It included specimens of Cryptocephalus bipunctatus (L) and Elater nigrinus Pk. labelled 'Holker 1941'. (MD 3/02) | ||
| COLLENETTE, Cyril Leslie | 1888 - 2 November 1959 | Well known Lepidopterist and Ornithologist who travelled extensively and was much involved with both the Royal Entomological Society and the British Entomological and Natural History Society. I have not seen any specific references to his collecting beetles but T. James tells me that there are one or two specimens in the D.G.Hall collection in the North Hertfordshire Museums collection which bear his name. There are obituaries in EMM., 95, 1959, p.276 (by Cynthia Longfield); London Naturalist, 39, 1959, pp.136-138 (includes portrait) and Proc.RESL., 24(C), 1959-60, pp.52-53. (MD 3/02) | |
| COLLETT, Edward Pyemont | 1863-3 January 1937) | Collett first became interested in beetles, while apprenticed to G. Henry in Hastings as a student dentist, through contact with the Rev. E.N.Bloomfield. Subsequently he became friendly with E.A.Butler who also introduced him to the study of Hemiptera. It was while living on the south coast that he had an accident resulting in the loss of his right eye. Harry Britten, in an obituary in EMM., 73, 1937, p.92 recorded that 'he was well known to the old collectors, and loved to recount interesting outings with Edward Saunders, T.R.Billups, and others of that period... Later his professional career claimed his time, and after qualifying as a dentist he came to Manchester in 1885. During the War he went to live at Windermere, where fishing for Char formed his chief recreation, though he also took a keen interest in war medals, forming a large collection, and was considered an expert on this subject. From 1916 until the death of his friend E.A.Butler he collected all the Hemiptera around Windermere and district and sent them to his friend...'Collett published annual notes on the Coleoptera of the Hastings district in the EMM. for three years from 1881, in which he was helped by his brother H.F.Collett (see below). Britten, who clearly knew Collett reasonably well, mentions that he resumed publishing notes in the EMM., after a period of fifty years, in 1935. This is surprising and appears to be a mistake, because all three articles in the magazine in that year are recorded as by H.R.Collett (see below). The last piece by E.P.Collett of which I know is 'Coccinella labilis in the Hastings district’ (ibid., 18, 1881, p.139.)Collett's collection is now in the Manchester Museum and according to Hancock, E.G. and Pettit,C.W. (1981), is supported by very poor data. They note that according to a note published in 1911 the collection was already in Manchester at that time along with the Hemiptera. Apart from the obituary already mentioned there are others in Arb. morph. taxon. Ent. Berl., 4, 1937, p.241 and in NWN.,12, 1937, pp.63-64. (MD 3/02) | |
| COLLETT, H.F. | Brother of Edward Pyemont Collett (See above). Published one note with him 'Coleoptera near Hastings' in EMM., 18, 1881, p.139. At this time they lived at the same address in Springfield Road, St. Leonards on Sea. That they were brothers is confirmed in the same magazine 20, 1884, p.190 where Edward refers to 'his brother' finding Panageus crux major 'crawling on his trowsers'. (MD 3/02) | ||
| COLLETT, Henry Robert Pyemont. | ?1891-1956 | Published various notes on Hemiptera in the 1930s and 'Notes on the emergence of Pyrochroa coccinea' in EMM., 71, 1935, pp.112-113. His collection of some 10,000 specimens was presented to the Manchester Museum in 1956. The nature of his relationship to Edward Pyemont Collett is not clear but it was sufficiently close for Harry Britten to confuse, apparently, the two (see E. P. Collett above). (MD 3/02, 11/09) | |
| COLLEY, H.G. | 1898 - 1963 | Keith Lewis informs me that at the AES exhibitions in 2002 and 2003 he purchased 4,500+ beetles, including a large number of Carabids, from the collection of the late Mr H.G. Colley, also his three log books. The collection included a specimen of Pterostichus aethiops from Keswick, 22 July 1958 and 7 specimens of Agelastica ulni, (6 from Herts. 2 of which have since been given to the NHM, and one to his friend A.A.Allen) and one from Charmouth, Dorset. Since acquiring the collection he has since received two letters from J.E. Colley, H.G.'s son, which state that his father was born at Camberwell and "was a keen Coleopterist from my early memory (I'm 75). We lived at Sea Mills near Bristol from 1934 to 1935 before moving to Rickmansworth. He retired in 1961 due to ill health. My father also bred a number of butterflies... He was an intelligent and assiduous man... I gave Mr May a cabinet of eight drawers full of specimens (Coleoptera)." The collection includes a number of specimens bearing A.A. Allen's name received by exchange in the 1950s. Keith Lewis’s research has shown that Colley lived at 23 Chorton Road, Seamills, Bristol 1926-27; ‘Colleyland’, Watford, Herts. 1927-28; True Shire Lane, Chorleywood, Herts. 1928-32; 184 Booth Ferry Road, Goole, Yorks. 1932-19? ;14 Hillrise, Rickmansworth, Herts. 1932-61 and at Axminster, Devon 1961-63. (MD 10/03, 12/06) | |
| COLLIER, Henry Marshall | 24 April 1892 - 7 July 1976 | There is a brief obituary notice in Proc.RESL., (C) 40. 1976, p.51: 'an amateur with wide interests - flies, beetles, lepidoterans, and grasses. He was elected a Fellow in 1946 and was 82 when he died. He illustrates the still wide range of our Fellowship for he earned his living as an engineering storekeeper. I do not know how much, it at all, he attended our meetings here but he was an active member of the Darlington and North Yorkshire Field Club, where his long and wide experience was doubtless invaluable.' (MD 3/03) | |
| COLLIN, James Edward | 16 March 1876 - 16 June 1968 | Famous Dipterist. Presented a collection of 1,916 Coleoptera formed by A.E.J. Carter to the RSM in 1925. (MD 3/02) | |
| COLLINGWOOD, C.A. | Well-known ant specialist. Published a number of articles on beetles in the 1950s while working for the National Agricultural Advisory Service. They included 'The Biology of Epipolaeus caliginosus F.' in EMM., 90, 1954, p.169; 'Uncommon beetles in the West Midlands', ibid., p.197; 'Myrmechixenus subterraneus Chev. in Derbyshire', ibid., 93, 1957, p.142; and 'Cryptocephalus bipunctatus(L) in North Lancashire', ibid., 94, 1958, p.167. He also published a note on Irish Coleoptera in Ent Gaz., 10, 1959, pp.39-42 and a paper on myrmecophilus species in Ireland, Scotland and Wales in ERJV., 77, 1965, pp.45-47. (MD 3/03) |