Archibald Menzies
Archibald Menzies (
Life and career
Menzies was born at Easter Stix (or Styx) in the parish of
In 1786 Menzies was appointed surgeon on board the Prince of Wales (Captain James Colnett), on a fur-trading voyage round Cape Horn to the northern Pacific.[3] This ship, in company of Princess Royal (Captain Duncan), visited North America, China, and Hawaii (the Sandwich Isles) several times; Menzies collected a number of new plants on this voyage, and also ensured that none of the crew died of illness.[4] Menzies returned to Great Britain in 1789. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1790.[3]
From 1791 until 1795, Menzies was appointed as naturalist to accompany Captain George Vancouver on his voyage around the world on HMS Discovery. When the surgeon fell ill, Menzies took over his duties. He collected many specimens of plants and animals during the voyage, returning them to the UK. He also made a detailed record of the voyage.[5][6]
In 1794, while Discovery spent one of three winters in
It would be forty years before another European, fellow Scotsman David Douglas, would reach the summit on 29 January 1834.[5]
In 1795, Menzies was served the seeds of the Chile Pine, Araucaria araucana, as a dessert while dining with the Viceroy of Chile. He was able to pop some seeds into his pocket and grow them on board ship on the way back to Europe, and returned to England with five healthy plants, the first seen in Britain.[8] Known as the Monkey Puzzle tree, the Chile Pine became a favourite in most formal gardens of the nineteenth century.
After the voyage, Menzies served with the Navy in the West Indies. He received the degree of M.D. at the University of Aberdeen in 1799. After retiring from the Navy he became a doctor and surgeon at Notting Hill, London.[3] He became the father of the Linnean Society upon the death of Aylmer Bourke Lambert.[9]
Menzies's wife died in 1836. They had no children. Menzies himself died in London on 15 February 1842 and is buried in
Legacy
Menzies' name is commemorated in the scientific names of several of the plants he discovered, including
Also named for Menzies, in a corrupted form as adapted by the Nuxalk people of the Bella Coola area of the Central Coast of British Columbia, is "Bensins Island", as recorded by Alexander Mackenzie during his visit there shortly after Vancouver's ship visited the area.[14]
The
Many of the specimens collected by Menzies are planted in London's Kew Gardens. He also brought back to London 112 separate collections of artefacts, which are housed at the British Museum. A comprehensive catalogue of these collections was not published until 1951.[16]
See also
References
- ^ Birth (or Baptism) Record held in the General Registers of Scotland, 1754 Births in the Parish of Weem in the County of Perth, Reference 398/0010 0104
- ^ Linnean Society of London (1849). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. pp. 139–140. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d Stearn, William T. (1988). "MENZIES, ARCHIBALD". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. University of Toronto. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-0855-2.
- ^ a b Archibald Menzies (1920). William Frederick Wilson (ed.). Hawaii Nei 128 Years Ago:Journal of Archibald Menzies, kept during his three visits to the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands in the years 1792-1794. s.n. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
- ISBN 0-7734-8857-X.
- hdl:10524/599.
- ^ "Monkey Puzzle Araucaria araucana". Kew Gardens. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
- ^ a b Boulger, George Simonds (1894). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 37. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ^ "Castle Menzies" Parks & Gardens. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Douglas-fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii, globalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Strõmberg Archived 4 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Echyridella menziesii (Gray, 1843)". www.NZOR.org.nz. New Zealand Organisms Register. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- Wikidata Q114871191.
- ^ "Bensins Island". BC Geographical Names.
- ^ Russell A. Apple (18 July 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Ainapo Trail" (pdf). National Park Service.
- ISBN 0810853957.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Menzies.
Further reading
- Newcombe, C. F., ed. (1923). "Menzies' journal of Vancouver's voyage". Memoir V. Archives British Columbia.
- Eastwood, Alice, ed. (1924). "Archibald Menzies' journal of the Vancouver Expedition Extracts covering the visit to California". Quarterly of the California Historical Society. 2.
- Jepson, W. L. (1929). "The botanical explorers of California: Archibald Menzie [sic]". Madroño. 1.
- Galloway, D. J. and E. W. Groves (1967). "Archibald Menzies, MD, F.L.S. (1754–1842): Aspects of his life, travels and collections". PMID 11622401.
- Captain Vancouver, Northwest Navigator, E.C. Coleman. Tempus Publishing 2006.