Charles Stokes ( – 28 December 1853) was a London stockbroker who gained a reputation both as an amateur scientist and as an art collector.
Biography
According to the 1851 England Census, Stokes was born in the
City of London,
Middlesex around 1784. A baptism was recorded at
St Andrew's in
Holborn, City of London on 9 June 1783 for Charles Stokes, son of John Stokes and Agnes Partridge Stokes of Shoe Lane (off
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
) in the City of London). Upon his death in December 1853, Stokes was widely reported to be in his 70th year (typically meaning aged 69).
Stokes was also listed as age 69 when his death was recorded.
[''London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003''] He seems never to have married.
He is recorded as being a partner in the stockbroking
firm of Hodges & Stokes,
Threadneedle Street.
Between 1835 and 1851, he is recorded as living in
Gray's Inn Road, at Verulam Buildings,
a housing development which had been designed for the professional classes. His clients included naturalist
Charles Darwin,
art critic and polymath
John Ruskin,
and artist
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
.
Although his scientific interests ranged widely, his principal ones were
geology,
malacology
Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...
(in particular,
corals and
trilobites), and
palaeobotany. In 1808, he was elected
Fellow of the Linnean Society; in 1811, both
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
; and in 1821,
Fellow of the Royal Society.
Digitisation of 19th century records is incomplete; however, it is known that in 1816 and 1817 he was a secretary of the Geological Society, in 1821 a member of its Council, and at some later date its vice-president.
He was also a Member of the
Royal Asiatic Society, and a
.
In 1838, he was one of the group of eminent scientists who presented a successful petition to Parliament recommending the purchase of two important collections of fossils for the
British Museum.
He collected watercolours and
old master print
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition. The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to distinguish the works of "fine art" produced in printmakin ...
s, but the core of his art collection was Turner.
In 1853,
Anna Matilda Whistler wrote that he had showed her an "extraordinary treat of Turners paintings", not equalled elsewhere, "from the artists first efforts at 16 years, to his meridian" (a metaphor for his highest mastery).
His circle of acquaintance was large and distinguished, and ranged over the arts and the sciences. He knew in person or exchanged letters with:
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history.
Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
(1807–1873), Swiss-American biologist and geologist;
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
(1791–1871), British computer pioneer;
(1796–1878), Royal Navy officer, explorer of the Canadian Arctic, naturalist and artist;
(1774–1844), English astronomer;
(1795–1885), Royal Navy officer and surveyor;
(1792–1881), English physician and geologist;
John Bostock
John Joseph Bostock (born 15 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Notts County.
Bostock made his professional debut for Crystal Palace at the age of 15. In 2008, he signed for Tottenham Hotsp ...
(1773–1846), English physician, scientist and geologist;
(1797–1877), British naturalist and palaeontologist;
Arthur de Capell Brooke
Sir Arthur de Capell Brooke, 2nd Baronet (22 June 1791 in Northamptonshire – 6 December 1858) was a British baronet and travel writer, Fellow of the Royal Society (1823) and co-establisher of the Raleigh Club (1827).
Remarks on Norway
He travel ...
(1791–1858), British baronet and travel writer;
William Broderip
William John Broderip FRS (21 November 1789 – 27 February 1859) was an English lawyer and naturalist.
Life
Broderip, the eldest son of William Broderip, surgeon from Bristol, was born at Bristol on 21 November 1789, and, after being educat ...
(1789–1859), English lawyer and naturalist;
Alexandre Brongniart
Alexandre Brongniart (5 February 17707 October 1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil content ...
(1770–1847), French chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist;
(1773–1858), Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist;
(1784–1856), English theologian, geologist and palaeontologist;
(1779–1844), English landscape painter;
(1781–1841), English sculptor;
(1775–1849), British illustrator and conservator;
(1790–1851), British nobleman and patron of science and the arts;
(1754–1848), English art collector, writer and poet;
(1809–1882), English naturalist, geologist and biologist;
(1800–1857), British politician, writer, traveller and patron of the arts;
Philip Grey Egerton
Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, 10th Baronet FRS (13 November 1806 – 5 April 1881) was an English palaeontologist and Conservative politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons variously between 1830 and his death in 1 ...
(1806–1881), English palaeontologist and Conservative politician;
(1808–1865), Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist and paleoanthropologist;
Edward Forbes
Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...
(1815–1854), Manx naturalist;
(1786–1847), Royal Navy officer and explorer of the Arctic;
Francis Seymour Haden
Sir Francis Seymour Haden PPRE (16 September 1818 – 1 June 1910), was an English surgeon, better known as an original etcher who championed original printmaking. He was at the heart of the Etching Revival in Britain, and one of the founder ...
(1818–1910), English surgeon and etcher;
(1761–1832), Scottish geologist and geophysicist;
(1805–1867), English geologist;
(1810–1899), English fossil collector and dealer;
Isaac Hays
Isaac Hays (1796 – 1879) was an American ophthalmologist, medical ethicist, and naturalist. A founding member of the American Medical Association, and the first president of the Philadelphia Ophthalmological Society, Hays published the fir ...
(1796–1879), American ophthalmologist, medical ethicist, and naturalist;
(1786–1839), English portrait and history painter;
(1789–1850), English lithographer;
(1786–1869), British painter;
(1802–1873), English painter and sculptor;
(1792–1886), American conchologist, geologist, and publisher;
(1791–1836), English zoologist and marine biologist;
the
Loddiges family, German-English horticulturalists;
William Lonsdale
William Lonsdale (9 September 1794 in Bath, Somerset, Bath11 November 1871 in Bristol), English geologist and palaeontologist, won the Wollaston Medal, Wollaston medal in 1846 for his research on the various kinds of fossil corals.
Biography
H ...
(1794–1871), English geologist and palaeontologist;
Charles Lyell
Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
(1797–1875), Scottish geologist;
(1795–1832), Royal Navy officer and explorer;
(1790–1852), English obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist;
Henri Milne-Edwards
Henri Milne-Edwards (23 October 1800 – 29 July 1885) was an eminent French zoologist.
Biography
Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and colonel of the militia in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a Frenchw ...
(1800–1885), French zoologist;
Roderick Murchison
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scotland, Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigat ...
(1792–1871), British geologist;
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
Owe ...
(1804–1892), English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist;
(1790–1855), Royal Navy officer was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer;
(1797–1873), Irish geographer, natural scientist, and traveller;
(1800–1874), English geologist;
(1772–1823), British political economist;
Peter Mark Roget
Peter Mark Roget ( ; 18 January 1779 – 12 September 1869) was a British physician, natural theologian, lexicographer and founding secretary of The Portico Library. He is best known for publishing, in 1852, the '' Thesaurus of English Words ...
(1779–1869), British physician, natural theologian and lexicographer;
(1800–1862), Royal Navy officer and Antarctic explorer;
(1819–1900), English art critic and polymath;
Adam Sedgwick
Adam Sedgwick (; 22 March 1785 – 27 January 1873) was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale. Based on work which he did on W ...
(1785–1873), British priest and geologist;
George Brettingham Sowerby
George Brettingham Sowerby I (12 August 1788 – 26 July 1854) was a British naturalist, illustrator and conchologist.
Life
He was the second son of James Sowerby. George was educated at home under private tutors, and afterwards assisted his ...
(1788–1854), British naturalist, illustrator and conchologist;
(1779–1849), bishop of Norwich, president of the Linnean Society;
Samuel Stutchbury
Samuel Stutchbury (15 January 1798 – 12 February 1859) was an English naturalist and geologist. Alongside Henry Riley, Stutchbury was the co-discoverer of ''Thecodontosaurus'', which in 1836 was the fourth dinosaur genus to be named. He also p ...
(1798–1859), English naturalist and geologist;
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
(1779–1863), British mining engineer;
(1779–1847), British military surgeon, marine biologist, zoologist and botanist;
(1769–1857), German naturalist and explorer, physician, draftsman and engraver;
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
(1775–1851), English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist;
(1794–1866), English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian and historian of science;
(1757–1833), Royal Navy explorer and engineer;
(1804–1881), best known as the subject of the painting ''
Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1'' ("''Whistler's Mother''") by
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...
;
Henry Witham
Henry Thomas Maire Witham FRSE FGS (1779–1844) was a British landowner remembered as an amateur palaeontologist and mineralogist.
He was an early researcher into the internal structure of fossil plants.
Life
He was born Henry Silvertop t ...
(1779–1844), English researcher into the internal structure of fossil plants;
and
William Wollaston (1766–1828), English chemist and physicist.
He had become acquainted with Darwin before the latter embarked in 1831 on the
voyage in HMS ''Beagle'' which made his name, and had asked him to collect information on ''
Fungia
''Fungia'' is a genus of corals in the family Fungiidae. It is monotypic with the single species ''Fungia fungites'', which is found growing on reefs in the Indo-Pacific.
Taxonomy
Until 2015, the genus ''Fungia'' had more than 30 species, but b ...
'', a genus of coral; which Darwin did. As a footnote to history, in 1842 Darwin thanked Stokes for the recent loan of his
snuffbox
A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are u ...
.
The library of the
Royal College of Music preserves several musical compositions, analyses, and collections dated between 1831 and 1847 attributed to a Charles Stokes.
IMSLP has a record of a Charles Stokes, who was a composer. However, IMSLP says that that man was born in 1784 (which is consistent with other records about the scientist and art collector) and died on 14 April 1839 (which is not). It is unclear whether those two musicians were the same or different, and whether one or both may have been the man who is the subject of this article.
Lyell called Stokes "a respected member of the Stock Exchange, full of vast research in the Natural History Sciences, and remarkable for literary and antiquarian, musical and artistic, knowledge".
Darwin called him "a stockbroker of repute & an old friend of mine",
and (after Stokes' death) "one whom I long trusted".
In his presidential address at the annual general meeting of the Geological Society on 17 February 1854,
Edward Forbes
Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...
said:
In an address to the Royal Geographical Society on 22 May 1854, the
Earl of Ellesmere, its then President, said:
In May and June 1854,
Sotheby's sold off Stokes' library and his scientific collections in separate dedicated auctions; which suggests that both were of substantial size.
It is unclear what became of his art collection; but it is known that some of his Turner watercolours passed to his niece, Hannah Smith; because Ruskin bought ten of them from her in 1858. In November 1854, the Royal Society did no more than note the fact that Stokes had died.
Taxa described
He
described the following
taxa:
* ''Actinoceras bigsbii'', ''A. lyonii'' and ''A. simmsii''
(Stokes 1840), three species of extinct
cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...
s in genus ''
Actinoceras
''Actinoceras'' is the principal and root genus of the Actinoceratidae, a major family in the Actinocerida, that lived during the Middle and Late Ordovician. It is an extinct genus of nautiloid cephalopod that thrived in the warm waters of the U ...
''
* ''Asaphus platycephalus''
(Stokes 1824), an extinct species of trilobite in genus ''
Asaphus
''Asaphus'' () is a genus of trilobites that is known from the Lower (upper Arenig) and Middle Ordovician of northwestern Europe (Sweden, Estonia, Saint Petersburg Area).
Etymology
The generic name is derived from the Greek word ''asaphes'', ...
''
* ''
Caryophyllia smithii''
(Stokes & Broderip 1828), a species of solitary coral
* ''
Huronia''
(Stokes 1824), an extinct genus of cephalopods
* ''
Ormoceras
''Ormoceras'' is an actinocerid nautiloid genus and type for the family Ormoceratidae, found in North America from the late Chazyan through the early Cincinnatian of the Middle and Upper Ordovician, but which continued through the Devonian worl ...
''
{Stokes 1840), an extinct genus of cephalopods
In a letter of 1846 to Royal Navy
Captain Sir James Ross, Stokes described two species which Ross had dredged from Antarctic waters: ''Hornera lateralis'' (genus ''
Hornera'', a
Bryozoan, in family
Horneridae, in suborder
Cancellata); and ''Primnoa rossii'' (genus ''
Primnoa
''Primnoa'' also known as red tree coral, is a genus of Alcyonacea, soft corals and the type genus of the family Primnoidae . They are Sessility (motility), sessile, Benthic zone, benthic Cnidaria, cnidarians that can be found in the Pacific Oce ...
'', a soft coral).
However, it seems that neither description was ever formally published, and that neither name was ever accepted. It is unclear as to what those species (which may or may not have been elsewhere described and named) might be.
Taxa named in honour
It has long been customary for zoologists when describing a new taxon to explain why they have chosen a name for a genus or an
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
for a species.
[Usually, but not always, in honour of people they admired.] Several species with the epithet ''stokesi'' or ''stokesii'' may have been named in honour of Charles Stokes. All the species listed in this section were described by his contemporaries, often by people who he is known to have known, and all were within his areas of interest.
[, none of the relevant papers (except the one about ''H. stokesii'') seems to have been digitised.] In every case, it would be necessary to consult the original scientific papers to be sure.
[Caution is required. In botany, such epithets may be in honour of Jonathan Stokes (-1831), English physician and botanist; in 20th century paleontology, of ]William Lee Stokes
William Lee Stokes (March 27, 1915, Black Hawk, Carbon County, Utah - December 12, 1994) was a geologist and paleontologist who is best known for his work at Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Emery County, Utah. William Stokes lived to be 79 a ...
(1915-1994), American geologist.
This attribution is certain:
* ''Hemicidaris stokesii''
(Wright
Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright is ...
1857), an extinct sea urchin in genus ''
Hemicidaris
''Hemicidaris'' is an extinct genus of echinoids that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Its remains have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Sources
* ''Fossils'' (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 178)
Exte ...
''
These attributions seem plausible:
* ''Acinophyllum stokesi''
(Milne-Edwards Milne-Edwards is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Henri Milne-Edwards (1800–1885), French zoologist
* Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835–1900), French ornithologist and carcinologist, a son of Henri Milne-Edwards See also
* Milne ...
& Haime 1851 = '' Columnaria stokesi'' Milne-Edwards & Haime ''not'' 1906, ''Diphyphyllum stokesi'' Milne-Edwards & Haime ''not'' 1897, ''Lithostrotion stokesi'' Milne-Edwards & Haime 1858), ''Palaeophyllum stokesi'' Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851) ["Not " means that an alleged publication date has been challenged on the grounds that it was outside the supposed authors' lifetimes; here, long after their deaths.]
* ''
Dichocoenia stokesi
''Dichocoenia'' is a monotypic genus of stony coral in the family Meandrinidae. It is represented by a single species, ''Dichocoenia stokesii'', which is commonly known as pineapple coral, elliptical star coral, or pancake star coral. It is found ...
''
(Milne-Edwards & Haime 1848), a stony coral
* ''
Goniopora stokesi
''Goniopora stokesi'' is a species of colonial stony coral. As with other species in genus ''Goniopora'', it has the common names 'flowerpot coral' and 'daisy coral'. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorises its stat ...
''
(Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851), a colonial stony coral
* ''Mellitella stokesii''
(Agassiz 1841 = ''Echinoglycus stokesii'' Agassiz 1841, ''Encope stokesii'' Agassiz 1841, ''Mellita stokesii'' Agassiz 1841), a sea urchin in genus ''
Mellitella
''Mellitella'' is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Mellitidae.
Species:
*'' Mellitella californica''
*''Mellitella stokesii
''Mellitella stokesii'' is a species of sand dollar within the family Mellitidae. The species is foun ...
'' in family
Mellitidae
Mellitidae is a family of sand dollars, in the echinoderm order Clypeasteroida. These irregular sea urchins bury themselves in soft sediment in shallow seas.
Genera
The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera in the fam ...
in suborder in order
Clypeasteroida
* ''Notopocorystes stokesii''
( Mantell 1844 = ''Corystes stokesii'', ''Palaeocorystes stokesii''), an extinct crab in genus ''
Notopocorystes'' in family
Raninidae
Raninidae is a family of unusual crabs, sometimes known as "frog crabs", on account of their frog-like appearance. They are taken by most scientists to be quite primitive among the true crabs. They closely resemble the (unrelated) mole crabs, du ...
* ''Phacops stokesii''
(Milne-Edwards 1851 ?= ''Calymene macrophthalama'' Murchison), a trilobite; assigned both to ''
Phacops'' and to ''
Calymene
''Calymene'' Brongniart, 1822, is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, suborder Calymenina, that are found throughout North America, North Africa, and Europe in primarily Silurian outcrops. ''Calymene'' is closely related to ''Flexicaly ...
'', genus uncertain
* ''Platytrochus stokesii''
(Milne-Edwards & Haime 1848 = ''Turbiniola stokesii'' Lea 1833)), an extinct stony coral
* ''Proetus stokesi''
( Murchison n.d.), a trilobite
[ Nom. dub., possibly a misnomer for ''Proetus stokesii''. See also ''Warburgella stokesii''.]
* ''Proetus stokesii''
(Murchison 1839 = ''Asaphus stokesii'' Murchison 1839, ''Forbesia stokesii'' M'Coy 1855), a trilobite
* ''Trigonotreta stokesi''
( Koenig 1825 = ''Spirifer stokesii'', ''Spiriferina stokesi''), an extinct articulate brachiopod
* ''Warburgella stokesii''
(Murchison 1839 ?=''Proetus stokesi'' Reed n.d.), a trilobite
* ''Zaphrentis stokesi''
(Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851), an extinct coral in genus ''
Zaphrentis'' possibly in order
Rugosa
Places named in honour
In 1826, Royal Navy captain and explorer
John Franklin named Point Stokes (), a headland in
Yukon in the Arctic Sea, in Stokes' honour.
It is not clear why
Stokes Mountain
Stokes Mountain is the highest mountain of the Stokes Range and of Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canada. It also has a topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop i ...
and
Stokes Range
The Stokes Range is a mountain range on Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canada. The range is one of the northernmost ranges in the world and of the Arctic Cordillera. Its highest point is at Stokes Mountain.Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, Canada were so named. They may or may not have been named in honour of Charles Stokes.
Publications
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Charles
Year of birth uncertain
1780s births
1853 deaths
English art collectors
19th-century British geologists
English malacologists
English palaeontologists
Amateur paleontologists
Paleobotanists
English stockbrokers
Fellows of the Geological Society of London
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
19th-century British businesspeople