Frederick William Frohawk (16 July 1861 – 10 December 1946) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

zoological artist and lepidopterist. Frohawk was the author of ''Natural History of British Butterflies'' (1914), ''The Complete Book of British Butterflies'' (1934) and ''Varieties of British Butterflies'' (1938). Frohawk was born at Brisley Hall, East Dereham,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, the son of a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

farmer Francis Frohawk and his wife, Lydia Drage. The youngest child in his family, his interest in drawing and natural history was nurtured by his mother. At seven he spotted and caught a rare

pale clouded yellow ''Colias hyale'', the pale clouded yellow, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae, (also known as the yellows and whites) which is found in most of Europe and large parts of the Palearctic. It is a rare migrant to the British Isles and Scandinavia ...

butterfly. The family moved to Great Yarmouth and later Ipswich where he found many interesting butterflies. After the death of his father around 1873, the family moved to Croydon and later South Norwood. He went to school at Norwood College and during this time contracted typhoid leading to near blindness in one eye. In 1880 the family moved to Upper Norwood and here Frohawk concentrated on illustration and obtained his first commission for illustrating ''The Field''. Frohawk was encouraged in his work by Lord Walter Rothschild, who later bought his water-colours of butterflies. His major butterfly works include the two volume ''Natural History of British Butterflies'' (1924) and ''The Complete Book of British Butterflies'' (1934). In 1927, a need for money forced him to sell his butterfly collection to Lord Rothschild for £1000. These are now part of the Rothschild collection in the Natural History Museum at London. He also illustrated numerous bird books, including ''Aves Hawaiienses: The Birds of the Sandwich Islands''; and ''Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs'' with A G Butler, published around 1898. He married Margaret Grant in June 1895 and spent the honeymoon in the New Forest. Margaret died on 16 February 1909 leaving him to care for two daughters. In 1911 he married Mabel Jane Bowman on 4 October at St James, Westminster and they had a third daughter Valezina, named after a form of the silver-washed fritillary. He was elected Fellow of the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

in 1891 and made a Special Life Fellow in 1926. He died on 10 December 1946 and was buried at Headley, Surrey. His sister Lydia was married to the equine artist

Lynwood Palmer James Lynwood Palmer (1868–1941)Known as "Lynwood Palmer", for example his portrait of ''Golden Corn'' signed and dated 'Lynwood Palmer/1922' (lower left), per Christie's catalogue description, lot 51, Christie's June 27, 2012, Londo ...

. In 1996, his daughter Valezina inaugurated a commemorative sign marking the "Frohawk Ride" in the New Forest.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frohawk, Frederick William 1861 births 1946 deaths English lepidopterists English naturalists People from Dereham British bird artists 19th-century British painters British male painters 20th-century British painters 19th-century British male artists 20th-century British male artists