Born in Walthamstow, Essex, the son of a railway signalman. Attended the local state school leaving at age 14. Became a keen member of the Boy’s Brigade and a devout Methodist. Spent his professional life with Twinings, the tea merchants, where he was a taster, travelling representative and buyer (although this did not involve travel abroad except to the Channel Islands) before becoming Managing Director of Tuke Mennell, a subsidiary. He married in 1933 and set up home in Banstead, Surrey where he remained until 1971 when he retired to Storrington, W. Sussex.
Last’s interest in entomology was stimulated by the Rev. G.H.G.Raynor of Brampton, Huntingdonshire, where he went to stay with his uncle, and centred at first on the Lepidoptera. His interest in beetles, and particularly the Staphylinidae of which he built up an extensive world wide collection, developed later through the encouragement of W.O.Steel and Malcolm Cameron. He also corresponded with numerous continental and British Coleopterists (many of whom are listed by Jonathan Cooter in his obituary of Last in EMM.,132, 1996,77-80, from which much of this account is taken).
The first of Last’s 154 entomological publications were two papers on Lepidoptera in 1933 and 1938, and his first on Coleoptera, ‘Malthodes crassicornis in Surrey’, appeared in EMM., 79, 1943, p.113. His first new species was a Scymaenid from Surrey Euconnus murielae (ibid., 81, 1945, 275). In 1951 he published ‘A List of the Coleoptera of Jersey’ (Bull.a.Soc. jersiaise., 15, 347-364, subsequently updated several times) and this was followed in 1976 by ‘The Coleoptera of the Bailiwick of Guernsey’ (Proc.Trans. BENHS, 9, 1976, 32-33). The first of his more than 100 papers on foreign Staphylinidae, ‘New species of Staphylinidae from Africa’ appeared in 1952 (EMM., 88, 89-92). In all he described 4 new genera, 4 new sub-genera, 582 new species, 1 new subspecies and 18 new forms. Paederus cooteri from Papua New Guinea was named after his friend. Amongst his other papers was an obituary of another friend C.E.Tottenham. There is a full bibliography in the obituary cited above.
Last’s foreign collections amounting to some 31,000 specimens (originally housed in a 75 drawer cabinet and 70 store boxes and sundry cartons) passed in 1992 to the Manchester Museum and is particularly strong in African Zyras and Paederini, and New Guinea Staphylinidae. A detailed account of his involvement with the museum and of his collections there is given by Colin Johnson in EMM, 132, 1996, 80. His British collection is also housed at Manchester (15,000 Staphylinidae, now in 21 drawers and several boxes, and 5,000 other specimens) presented by Jonathan Cooter to whom Last gave it. Several hundred types of all species are present in the foreign collection. There are also many of his earlier types in the NHM. Last’s specialised library of books and papers on Staphylinidae also passed to Manchester together with his card indices and notebooks. Johnson notes that ‘registration of specimens played an important role in Horace’s work on beetles. Most of them have a letter and a number written on the back of the card mount, which relates to information written in his notebooks. Sometimes there is additional information given in the notebooks...’
Trogophloeus lasti was named after him by Scheerpeltz in 1946.
Listed as a subscriber to the Coleopterists Newsletter in 1981. FRES from 1948. Member BENHS from 1941 and Hon. Life member 1991. Joined AES 1938. Cooter’s obituary includes a signed photograph. (MD 11/03, 11/09, 1/22)