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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GOSSE, Philip Henry | 6 April 1810 - 23 August 1888 | This is the well known zoologist, Plymouth Brother and father of Sir Edmund Gosse whose famous autobiographical account of his childhood, Father and Son (first published anonymously in 1907), described in detail his father's fanaticism. Gosse's zoological work focussed in particular on marine biology but in his early life also included Coleoptera. He was born in Worcester the son of Thomas Gosse, a miniature painter and writer. After moving to Coventry and Leicester shortly after birth his parents settled at Poole in Dorset. It was here that Gosse was noticed by Mrs Bell, the mother of Professor Thomas Bell and herself a scientist, who encouraged him to collect sea-anemones and to study insects. After going to school, firstly at Poole and then at Blandford, circumstances took him in the early part of 1827 to a whaler's office in the litle town of Carbonear in Newfoundland where he remained until 1835. It was during these eight years of seclusion that he became fascinated by Natural History. His interest in insects appears to have been given a particular stimulus by the study of microscopy which he took up in 1832 after acquiring a copy of Adams, Essays on the Microscope. After leaving Newfoundland he bought a farm at Compton in Canada where he wrote The Entomology of Newfoundland which still remains unpublished. He then travelled for several years before returning to Liverpool, writing while on the voyage the Canadian Naturalist which was well received on publication in 1840. After setting up in London as a school master and publishing an Introduction to Zoology, 1843, he was hired by the British Museum to undertake the collecting of undescribed birds and insects in Jamaica. He remained there for a year and a half sending home many rare animals of all descriptions. The Coleoptera, amounting to more than 300 specimens, were received by the museum through Mr Cuming in four batches (1845/110, 1846/84, 1847/62, 1848/36). Thenceforth, he devoted his life mainly to non-entomological work and did not travel out of the country again. One of the few entomological publications he did complete, 'On the prehensile Armature of the Papilionidae' appeared just three years before his death. There is a full account of Gosse and bibliography in DNB. See also R.B.Freeman and D. Wertheimer, Philip Henry Gosse: A Bibliography, 1980. (MD 1/03) | |
| GOULD | Sold various insects to the NHM in the early 1840s including 178 Coleoptera (1842/1) and a further 3 (1841/10). Might this be perhaps John Gould who gave insects from Brazil to the Museum at this time? (MD 1/03) | ||
| GOULD, A.F. | A member of the African Entomological Research Committee which presented various insects including Coleoptera to the NHM in 1912 (1912/119). (MD 1/03) | ||
| GOULD, A.W. | Member of the British Entomological and Natural History Society from 1949 with interests in Coleoptera alone. Lived at 20 Westbrook Road, Blackheath, London SE3. His collection was acquired from his widow by A.A.Allen but was very badly damaged as a result of poor storage conditions. This is the 'A.E.Gould' mentioned on cards belonging to the British Entomological and Natural History Society as a collector of beetles at Ashtead Common (Information from John Owen). Ernest Lewis has written to tell me that he remembers Gould as an enthusiastic collector on South London field meetings and a participant in their indoor gatherings. He was listed in the 1985 list of members and was married to Miss F.A.ASHBY (see above). (MD 1/03) | ||
| GOULD, A.W. | Entomological and Natural History Society as a collector of beetles at Ashtead Common (information from John Owen). K.C.Lewis, who acquired many specimens from A.A.Allen, tells me that he has Gould specimens in his collection. Ernest Lewis has written to tell me that he remembers Gould as an enthusiastic collector on South London field meetings and a participant in their indoor gatherings. He was listed in the 1985 list of members and was married to Miss F.A. ASHBY (see above). (MD 1/03, 12/06) | ||
| GOULD, Mrs F.A. | Wife of A.W.Gould. Member of the British Entomological and Natural History Society from 1956 interested in Coleoptera alone. (MD 1/03) | ||
| GOWER, Anthony Mervyn (b. 24 August 1939) | Worked on Odonata and Coleoptera. Member of the Balfour Browne Club. Attached at one time to Department of Biological Studies at Plymouth Polytechnic. Lived in 1961 at Neath in South Wales.FRES from 1961 – before 2002. (MD 3/03) | ||
| GOWING-SCOPES, Eric Evelyn | 1913-28 February 2007 | Volunteered in the library at the RES when it was based in Queens Gate making weekly visits from Bromley, Kent, at his own expense. We met there on many occasions when I was acting librarian and he was always very helpful. After I left he continued to supply me with photocopies of many unique items he'd found routing around in the basement. His impressive knowledge of historical and bibliographic matters concerning the coleoptera was unrivaled, supported by an extensive library of his own packed closely onto double-banked shelves at his home in Kent. As a coleopterist his particular interest was in the weevils and he built up an extensive world-wide collection enriched with personal collecting in Australia in particular where he was in contact with M.A.Alonso-Zarazaga. This collection was donated to the NHM on his death. (MD 1/22) |
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| GRADDON, W.D. | Referred to by H.W.Daltry in EMM., 84, 1948, p.9: 'My friend Mr W.D.Graddon, of Congleton, Cheshire, a mycologist who has recently also become interested in Coleoptera'. (MD 1/03) | ||
| GRADWELL, George Ronald | 1928 - July 1974 | Educated at St. Peter's College, Oxford from 1944 but spent three years as a radio mechanic in the RNVR before taking his degree in 1950. He then joined the HDO where he remained for 21 years firstly as assistant to G.C.Varley and then as 'valued collaborator' in their joint research into the insect populations of Wytham Wood. In 1963 he was appointed University Lecturer in entomology and a Senior Research Fellow of his College. In 1971 he was appointed Lecturer in Forest Entomology and had just started a research programme into Dutch Elm Disease when he died. Amongst other duties Gradwell was Treasurer of the Oxford Entomological Society and the British Trust for Entomology. He was also an expert editor and co-edited the book Dynamics of Populations (1971). He was joint author with G.C.Varley and M.P. Hassell of Insect Population Ecology (1974). There are obituaries in Bull.Brit.ecol.Soc., 4, 1974, p.5 and in Proc.RESL., 39, 1974-75, p.55. (MD 1/03) |