James Francis Stephens
James Francis Stephens | |
---|---|
Born | James Francis Stephens 16 September 1792 |
Died | 22 December 1852 | (aged 60)
James Francis Stephens (16 September 1792 – 22 December 1852) was an
Early life
Stephens was born in Shoreham-by-Sea and studied at Christ's Hospital. His father was a navy captain William James Stephens (d. 1799) and his mother was Mary Peck (later Mrs Dallinger). He went to school at the Blue Coat School, Hertford and later at Christ's Hospital, London. He was then sent to study under Shute Barrington (1734–1826), the bishop of Durham in 1800. He left in 1807 and worked as a clerk in the Admiralty office, Somerset House, from 1807 to 1845 thanks to his uncle Admiral Stephens.[1][2]
Entomology
Stephens took an interest in natural history even as a schoolboy. He wrote a manuscript Catalogue of British Animals in 1808. He was elected fellow of the
In 1833, he was a founder of what became the
Works
Stephens was the author of
- General zoology, or Systematic natural history London, Printed for G. Kearsley in part with George Shaw and sole author of the last 6 volumes of the 16 volumes after the death of George Shaw (1800–1826) - I-II Mammalia (1800), III- Amphibia (1802), Pisces (1803-4), VI Insecta (1806), VII-VIII Aves (1809–120, IX-XIV, pt. 1. Aves (J. F. Stephens alone) (1815–26), XIV, pt. 2 General index to the zoology by G. Shaw and J. F. Stephens (1826)
- Nomenclature of British Insects: Being a Compendious List of Such Species (1829).[4]
- A systematic Catalogue of British insects: being an attempt to arrange all the hitherto discovered indigenous insects in accordance with their natural affinities. Containing also the references to every English writer on entomology, and to the principal foreign authors. With all the published British genera to the present time (1829).
- Illustrations of British Entomology; or, a synopsis of indigenous insects, containing their generic and specific distinctions; with an account of their metamorphoses, times of appearance, localities, food, and economy, as far as practicable. In ten volumes. (1828–1846). This work, following an older system of classification,John Obadiah Westwood
Disputes
Stephens reported that
Charles Darwin
While at the University of Cambridge, the student Charles Darwin became an enthusiastic insect collector. He sent Stephens records of the rarer insects he had captured, and was delighted when Illustrations of British entomology gave him credit for capturing insects described in 33 entries, quoting his words in all but two of the cases. Darwin recalled in his autobiography "No poet ever felt more delight at seeing his first poem published than I did at seeing in Stephen's Illustrations of British Insects the magic words, 'captured by C. Darwin, Esq.' ", though the closest wording as published actually appeared slightly differently, as "captured by the Rev. F. W. Hope and C. Darwin, Esq., in North Wales" and "Taken in North Wales by C. Darwin, Esq.".[7]
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26385. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Woodward, Bernard Barham, "Stephens James Francis", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 54, retrieved 27 December 2018
- ^ Jarvis, C. Mackechnie (1976). "A history of the British Coleoptera". Proceedings and Transactions of the British Entomological and Natural History Society. 8 (4): 91–112.
- ^ Stephens, James Francis (1829). The nomenclature of British insects being a compendious list of such species as are contained in the Systematic Catalogue of British Insects and forming a guide to their classification. London: Baldwin & Cradock. pp. [2] + 68 pp. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ^ Clairville, J.P. 1798-1806 Helvetische Entomologie oder Verzeichniss der Schweizerischen Insekten nach einer neuen Methode geordnet. Zürich, Orell, Füssli und Compagnie, 2 volumes
- ^ s:Quarrel between James Francis Stephens and John Curtis
- ^ Darwin Online: Darwin's insects in Stephens' Illustrations of British entomology (1829-32)