Constantine Walter Benson

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Constantine Walter Benson
Born2 February 1909
Trull (Somerset)
Died21 September 1982 (1982-09-22) (aged 73)
Cambridge, UK
Scientific career
FieldsOrnithology

Constantine Walter Benson

ornithologist and author of over 350 publications. He is considered the last of a line of British Colonial officials that made significant contributions to ornithology.[1]

Education and career

Constantine Walter Benson was born in 1909 near Taunton in Somerset, and educated at

Transvaal Museum where she worked as a botanist and they co-authored several publications.[3] It has been reported that Benson tasted every specimen he collected; he claimed that turacos tasted the best, while owls tasted the worst.[4][5]

White-tailed swallow or Benson's swallow

He was a recognised expert on East African birds, and made a number of scientific discoveries including:

In 1952 he was transferred from Nyasaland to the then

Rhodes Livingstone Museum as assistant director. In 1958, whilst at the Game and Fisheries Department, he led the centenary expedition of the British Ornithological Union to the Comoro Islands.[3]

Work at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology

After officially retiring in 1965, Benson continued to work on the collection of birds catalogue in the

British Ornithologists Union. At first this work was supported by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust and the University of Cambridge, but from 1972 he worked unpaid.[3][6] The museum archives contain material from Benson's collection, field notebooks from Benson's expeditions in Africa, and correspondence about the classification of the museum bird collection.[7] He was supported in his work by his botanist wife Florence Mary Benson, who co-authored some of his works.[8]

Publications

He wrote many books and articles during and after his time in the Colonial Service. His works include:

  • "Birds of the Comoro Islands" (1960)
  • "A Contribution to the Ornithology of Zambia" (1967)
  • "Birds of Zambia" (1971)
  • "The Birds of Malawi" (1977).

Awards and honours

Benson was awarded the

OBE in 1965 for his work in Africa, the Union Medal of the British Ornithological Union
in 1960 and the Gill Memorial Medal of the Southern Africa Ornithological Society in 1980. [3]

References

  1. JSTOR 4086834
    .
  2. ^ Britton, P.L. (1982). "Obituary: Constantine Wlter Benson, OBE, MA". Scopus. 6 (4): 108.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1983.tb03135.x
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1-4729-0628-1
    .
  5. ^ Benson, C.W. (1980). "Some experiences of the Club". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 100 (1): 25–29.
  6. ISBN 9780952288633
    .
  7. ^ Cambridge University Museum of Zoology: Histories & Archives Archived 19 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk
  8. ^ "CONSTANTINE WALTER BENSON 2 February 1909 –21 September 1982 FLORENCE MARY BENSON 27 September 1909 –8 January 1993". estatedocbox.com. 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
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