Biographical dictionary | UK Beetle Recording

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:

The filter boxes below can be used to find individual entries or groups of entries in the table. You can filter by surname (enter a single letter to see all names beginning with that letter, or enter the first part of a particular surname), or by any part of the full name, or you can filter the main biographical text. You can use the filters in combination, e.g. to search for both a name and some biography text at the same time. Don't forget to click on the Apply button to make your filter work. To remove your filter, delete the text you typed in and then click "Apply" again.

Name	Dates	Biography
HAMILTON, G.E.Barrett		Gave 24 beetles from the Behring Islands to the NHM in 1897 (1897/66). (MD 3/03)
HAMLYN, Edward Tremayne		Curator of Entomology at Plymouth Athenaeum. Collected Coleoptera and left his collection to Plymouth. FRES from 1952 (MD 3/03)
HAMM, Albert Harry	1861 - 9 January 1951	Well known entomologist who worked at the HDO. He is not known for an interest in beetles but it is worth recording that W.W.Fowler, in his introductory volume to the FBI series, notes that Hamm made a study of Cicindelid burrows. He is also recorded to have worked on the fauna of birds' and moles' nests, which presumably included Coleoptera. Gilbert (1977) lists five obituaries. (MD 3/03)
HAMMOND, Harold Edward	18 July 1902 - 15 December 1963	Well known Lepidopterist (worked on larvae in particular) who is not recorded to have had an interest in Coleoptera. It is worth noting , however, that as a member of the Amateur Entomologists Society in 1962 he listed his interests as Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Hammond lived for much of his adult life in Birmingham. Gilbert (1977) lists three obituaries. (MD 3/03)
HAMMOND, Peter	17 February 1941 - 17 September 2021	The following appeared as hard copy in sheets attached to the Coleopterist's Newsletter, before the Biographical Dictionary transferred to the web. 'Works in the Natural History Museum. Specialises in world Staphylinidae but has also carried out research in other groups. His most important publications are: a series of 'Notes on British Staphylinidae' including 'The status of Olophrum nicholsoni Donisthorpe with notes on the other British species of Olophrum, EMM, 106, 1971, 165-170; 'On the British species of Platystethus Mann. with one species new to Britain', ibid, 107, 1971, 93-111; 'Atheta strandiella Brundin new to the British Isles', ibid., 107, 1971, 153-157 (with M. Bacchus); 'The British species of Sepedophilus Gistel, ibid., 108, 1972, 130-165; 'Changes in the British Coleopterous Fauna' in The Changing Fauna and Flora of Britain, edited by D.L.Hawksworth, 1974, 323-369'; 'Wing-folding Mechanisms of Beetles, with Special Reference to Investigations of Adephagan Phylogeny' in T.L.Erwin, G.E.Ball, and D.R.Whitehead, Carabid Beetles: Their Evolution, Natural History, and Classification, 1979, 113-180; 'Beetles in Epping Forest', in 'The Wildlife of Epping Forest', Essex Naturalist, 4, 1979, 43-60; Aloconota subgrandis (Brundin) new to Britain', Ent Gaz., 32, 1981, 120; Cymindis macularis (F.V.Waldheim) apparently a British species', EMM, 118, 1982, 37-38; 'On the British species of Phacophallus Coiffait, ibid, 231-232; edited and wrote additional material for K.W.Harde, Field Guide in Colour to Beetles, 1984; and was responsible for many of the Staphylinidae entries in British Red Data Books 2 Insects, edited by D.B.Shirt, 1987. Hammond acted as an editor of the EMM, from1981 and wrote many book reviews in that periodical.' The following was written by Max Barclay shortly after Hammond's death: 'Peter was appointed to the Coleoptera section by Jack Balfour-Browne back in the 1960s and became Senior Researcher/ Head of Coleoptera, retiring (compulsory at 60 then) in 2001. He and I never fully overlapped, because I was employed using part of his salary. Before coming to the Museum, Peter was working in China and his very extensive Northern Chinese collection is at the Museum. He was there in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and if asked what he was doing there, he would smile wryly and say "building socialism of course"; he was probably in reality lucky to get out, along with his collection. Peter was a leading light in the Department for decades, and possibly the best-known British, maybe world, coleopterist for most of his career. Along with Martin Brendell, he appeared on a 1990s list of the 5 people worldwide most likely to be able to identify any beetle. He collected widely, most notably the BM Africa Expedition of the 1970s, collecting several in countries in a customised van, with Dick Vane-Wright and others; this was followed by Project Wallace to Sulawesi in 1985, and several trips to Chile in the 1990s. He was an early proponent of insecticide tree fogging, and was competing with Smithsonian's Terry Erwin (who died last year), not just for 'most famous entomologist' but to publish ever revised estimates of the total biodiversity of the planet extrapolated from rainforest canopy beetles. He built the NHM collection up, especially the Staphylinidae, not just with vast new collections but by trawling the ancient accessions for 'staphs', saving the next generation a major job. The hyperdiverse Staphylinidae were his biggest love, but if anyone ever introduced him as an expert on/working on staphs, he would correct them and say "not just staphs, all beetles...". After retirement he became an associate and continued his interest in beetles and was always bringing species in for the molecular lab or the collections. He travelled around the world with Beth, on her bryozoan projects, collecting where he could. He always had a unique philosophy and sense of humour as well as a remarkable knowledge and seemingly endless youthfulness and energy. In the end he suffered from lung cancer, and many of us remember him for his perpetual pipe which was for many years in his mouth, even if it wasn't lit. He led the section during the glory days of international fieldwork and collaboration, and represented British entomology and the Natural History Museum on a global stage. The world and the Department without Peter is a sadder and darker place, and the beetle community has lost a fund of knowledge about beetles, fieldcraft and the collections that may not easily if ever be repeated.' A copy of the eulogy which Hammond gave on behalf of the NHM at Roy Crowson's funeral in June 1999 is repeated in full at the end of Crowson's entry. My own experience of Peter was over a period of more than 40 years. Working over the road in the V&A and being able to visit the entomology department was sometimes a welcome relief, and sitting up on the roof, where Peter would take us so that he could smoke his pipe, and chatting about beetles was always a great treat. More recently I visited him at home in Acton, not far from where I had once lived myself. He had turned a large room on the first floor into a study/laboratory with bookshelves up to the ceiling, and cooked us lunch using a wok which I gathered was his usual method. Most recently we met at the staff Christmas lunches organised by Max, which gave us the opportunity to discuss among many things his field trips to Africa and New Zealand, both of which I was very pleased I was able to document in papers in the EMM before his death. What he managed to achieve in a comparatively short time in New Zealand, travelling all over both north and south islands, was remarkable. I already very much miss him. (MD 1/22)
HANSON, S.		Mentioned by Stephens (1828) pp.77, 176, and (1829) pp.88-89, as finding various Coleoptera in Berkshire, particularly at Lawrence Waltham, which was perhaps where he lived. (MD 3/03)
HARBOTTLE, A.		Coleoptera from Northumberland bearing this name are represented in the D. G. Hall collection at Oldham Museum (information from Simon Hayhow). (MD 3/03)
HARDING, George		Atty (1983, iii-iv) records that Harding was a contributor to V.R.Perkins list of Gloucestershire beetles and that he was active as a coleopterist c.1880. (MD 8/17)
HARDING, Henry		Coleoptera bearing this name collected in the Dover area of Kent in 1860 are in the Hall collection at Oldham Museum (information from Simon Hayhow). (MD 3/03)
HARDWICKE, Thomas	d.1835	A Major General in the Army in India. Published a number of articles on insects including 'Description of a species of Meloe... found in all parts of Bengal, Behar and Oude, and possessing all the properties of the Spanish fly' in Asiatic Researches, 5, 1798, pp.213-217. Also published with J.E.Gray, Illustrations of Indian Zoology, 1830-1835. An article about this last by W.R. Dawson, together with some biographical notes on Hardwicke appeared in Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, 3, 1946, pp.55-69. A further article in the same periodical by F.C.Sawyer (1953, pp.48-55) deals with the dates of publication of the Illustrations. Harwicke's work on Coleoptera in India is referred to by W.W.Fowler and other authors in the FBI series, eg. J.G.Arrow, Lamellicornia, part 2, 1919, p.90, Harwicke took types of Popillia cupricollis, Hope, in Nepal. His collection is referred to by F.W.Hope in J. Linn. Soc., 1 (2), 1833, p.92. I have a note that there is a mention of Hardwicke in Edward Balfour's Cyclopaedia of India, 1873, but I have not seen this, also that Hardwicke had drawings made professionally of the beetles in his 'Nepal Collection'. (MD 3/03)