Alexander Douglas Mitchell Carruthers (4 October 1882 – 23 May 1962) was an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and naturalist of some repute. He was the son of the Reverend William Mitchell Carruthers of

Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village * Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove * Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, ...

, and was an explorer in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

in the early 1900s.Royal Geographical Society biography
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Biography

Carruthers was born in London and was educated at

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia **Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an international ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He worked as secretary to a number of people active at the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, and underwent training in land survey work, also becoming an expert taxidermist. Carruthers took part in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

expedition to

Rwenzori Mountains The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range' ...

in the Congo, 1905–1906 and sent home specimens of birds and mammals. In 1910 he joined John H. Miller and

Morgan Philips Price Morgan Philips Price (29 January 1885 – 23 September 1973) was a British politician and a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP). He was born in Gloucester. His father, William Edwin Price, was also a British MP, serving for the seat of Tewkes ...

in an expedition through the desert of

Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto' ...

, publishing two volumes on ''Unknown Mongolia'' in 1913. In 1915, Carruthers married Mary Morrison Hill Trevor in St. George's, Hanover Square, London. She died in 1948, and on 3 September 1948 he married Rosemary Arden Clay (born 12 August 1908 in Banstead, Surrey). During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Carruthers was employed mainly at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

compiling maps of the Middle East; his later career consisted largely of writing, map making and working with explorers and travellers.

Awards

In 1910 Carruthers was awarded the Gill Memorial, and in 1912 the

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

of the Royal Geographical Society, which he was to serve as Honorary Secretary from 1916 to 1921 and as a Fellow from 1909 to 1962. In 1956 Carruthers was awarded the Sykes Medal of the

Royal Central Asian Society The Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA) is a learned society based in London (United Kingdom). Its objective is to advance public knowledge and understanding of Asia through its worldwide networks, its public events, its publications and its s ...

Legacy

In 1972 Professor

Owen Lattimore Owen Lattimore (July 29, 1900 – May 31, 1989) was an American Orientalist and writer. He was an influential scholar of China and Central Asia, especially Mongolia. Although he never earned a college degree, in the 1930s he was editor of ''Pacif ...

gave The First Douglas Carruthers Memorial Lecture on "Douglas Carruthers and Geographical Contrasts in Central Asia". He wrote many books, and collected a large number of specimens, some of which are still the only samples of those species in the British Museum, and some bear his name, "nnn Carruthersi".

Death

He died in London on 23 May 1962, aged 79. Upon his death, his papers were lodged at the Royal Geographical Society in London. He had no children.

Bibliography

*''Unknown Mongolia : a record of travel and exploration in north-west Mongolia and Dzungaria'' with three chapters on sport by J. H. Miller, and a foreword by

Earl Curzon Viscount Scarsdale, of Scarsdale in Derbyshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for the prominent Conservative politician and former Viceroy of India George Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon of Kedleston, who was ...

Kedleston Kedleston is a village and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, approximately north-west of Derby. Nearby places include Quarndon, Weston Underwood, Derbyshire, Weston Underwood, Mugginton and Kirk Langley. The population a ...

, 1914. *''The desert route to India: being the journals of four travellers by the Great Desert Caravan Route between Aleppo and Basra, 1745–1751'', 1929 *''Notes on the Maps Illustrating the Exploration in Mongolia and Dzungaria'', 1913 *''Notes on the Journey to the Arpa and Ak-Sai Plateaus in Russian Turkestan-&-Neve, Arthur the Ranges of the Karakoram'', 1910 *''A Journey in North-Western Arabia'', 1910. *"Notes on the Journey to the Arpa and Ak-Sai Plateaus in Russian Turkestan." ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 36, No. 5 (Nov., 1910), pp. 563–570. *''Arabian Adventure, to the Great Nafud in Quest of the Oryx'', H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd., London, 1935 *"Further Information on the Turgun Or Kundelun Mountains in North-Western Mongolia, and Notes on a New Map of This Region", ''Geographical Journal''. Vol. XLIV (1914). *''Reminiscences of

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly ...

'', ''

Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society ''Asian Affairs'', the journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, has been published continuously since 1914 (originally as the ''Journal of the Central Asian Society'', and from 1931 to 1969 as the ''Journal of the Royal Central Asian Socie ...

'', Volume 45 Issue 1 1958 *''Beyond The Caspian''. 1949. *Ibis vol. XVI.— "On some Birds collected by Mr. Douglas Carruthers in the Syrian Desert", P. L. Sclater D.Sc., F.R.S., British Ornithologists Union, 1906

References

External links

Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carruthers, Douglas British naturalists 1882 births 1962 deaths Employees of the British Museum 20th-century naturalists