George Barlee (; 1794–1861) was a British lawyer and

conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

Life

Barlee's original surname was Buckle. He was born in 1794, to the Reverend William Buckle (1759–1830) and his wife Anne (née Smith; died 1800) of Wrentham in Suffolk. Barlee's father William and uncle Charles changed the Buckle family name to Barlee in 1811 by

Royal Sign Manual The royal sign-manual is the signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses his or her pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive act (for example, an appointmen ...

to benefit from a family inheritance, which included retrospectively applying the name change to their children. Barlee's siblings who survived to adulthood were his older sister Anne (born 1791) who later married the Reverend Frederick Beatty of Dublin, and a younger brother, Thomas Dalling (born 1796), a Royal Navy Midshipman who was wounded in action on the HMS ''Amelia'' on 7 February 1813, and later published a volume of poetry. Barlee's stepmother was Lucy Elizabeth Davy. Barlee began his career as an attorney in the town of

Yoxford, Suffolk Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Britten opera. The name 'Yoxfor ...

, but sold off his law residence in 1835. On 23 September 1821 Barlee married Charlotte Leman, daughter of Reverend Naunton Thomas Ogill Leman of Brampton. They had one son, Naunton Dalling Barlee (13 June 1829 – 7 November 1838), who died aged nine after a protracted illness. USNM200806 Astarte Sulcate minor Syntype collected by George Barlee

USNM200806 Astarte Sulcate minor Syntype collected by George Barlee

After the death of his son Barlee was disconsolate and in poor health. One day while walking on

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

beach after a storm he noticed a mother and daughter collecting shells and asked if he could assist them, finding some solace in the activity. He befriended the women and later visited their house and shell collection. After this Barlee dedicated himself to the study of natural history, especially conchology. John Gwyn Jeffreys often accompanied Barlee on dredging expeditions. Barlee was sometimes struck with attacks of illness while out dredging, but he carried on working around them. While Barlee seldom published upon his own discoveries, he shared his specimens with friends and colleagues, and so made notable contributions to the works of other naturalists. Barlee is credited as a friend and contributor in the work of John Gwyn Jeffreys,

James Scott Bowerbank James Scott Bowerbank (14 July 1797 – 8 March 1877) was a British naturalist and palaeontologist. Biography Bowerbank was born in Bishopsgate, London, and succeeded in conjunction with his brother to his father's distillery, in which he was ...

and Alfred Merle Norman. Barlee died at

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

on 19 November 1861.

Legacy

The

Gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

family ''

Barleeiidae Barleeiidae (often also spelled Barleeidae) is a family of minute sea snails, micromollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.Gofas S. (1995). A remarkable species richness of the Barleeidae (Gastropoda: Rissoacea) in the Eastern Atlantic. The Nautilu ...

'' Gray, 1857 and the Genus ''

Barleeia ''Barleeia'', or the barleysnails, is a genus of very small sea snails. They are marine gastropod micromollusks in the family Barleeiidae. These snails are usually only a couple of millimeters in length.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bar ...

'' W. Clark, 1853 are named for Barlee, as well as the sponge species ''

Clathria (Clathria) barleei ''Clathria'' is a large genus of demosponges in the family Microcionidae. Taxonomy ''Clathria'' was first formally named in Eduard Oscar Schmidt's 1862 ''Die Spongien des adriatischen Meeres'' ("The sponges of the Adriatic Sea"). The type speci ...

'' (Bowerbank, 1866). Specimens collected by Barlee are held in the collections of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, The Natural History Museum, London, and The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlee, George 1794 births 1861 deaths