George William Chaster (1863 – 5 May 1910) was an English medical doctor, entomologist, 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

George William Chaster was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in 1863. He trained as a doctor at

University College, Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, winning the Lyon-Jones Scholarship in 1882 and was appointed the Holt Tutorial Fellow in 1889. He also won a number of medals during his training. He established his medical practice in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. He was one of the founding members of the Southport Natural Science Society and served as the editor of the Society's journal. From a young age, Chaster was interested in the natural sciences, in particular conchology. He spent is holidays in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, where he would dredge and collect specimens. Along with Irish naturalists, including Robert Welch, Chaster dredged around Rathlin Ireland in 1896 and 1897. He also took part in the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural i ...

Clare Island Survey The Clare island Survey was a multidisciplinary ( zoological, botanical, archaeological, and geological) survey of Clare Island an island off the West coast of Ireland. The survey which followed a similar survey of Lambay Island in 1905 and ...

. He was also interested in

Foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...

and

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, publishing numerous papers on a variety of topics. As well as collecting locally in Southport, he also collected in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. In Ireland, he added a number of newly recorded species to lists. Chaster named the mollusc species, ''

Arculus sykesii Arculus may refer to: * The Roman tutelary god of chests and strongboxes (''arcae''); see '' Indigitamenta'' * A crossvein near the base of the wing in certain insects; see Glossary of entomology terms * ''Arculus'' (bivalve), a genus of the Neo ...

'' and '' Neolepton obliquatum'', the genus ''Retrotortina'' with the monotypic species '' R. fuscata'' which is considered as Europe's smallest gastropod, and the genus '' Cima''. The foraminifer species '' Rotalliella chasteri'' described by

Edward Heron-Allen Edward Heron-Allen FRS (born ''Edward Heron Allen'') (17 December 1861 – 28 March 1943) was an English polymath, writer, scientist and Persian scholar who translated the works of Omar Khayyam. Life Heron-Allen was born in London, the young ...

and

Arthur Earland Arthur Earland FRSE FRMS (3 November 1866 – 27 March 1958) was a British oceanographer and microscopist. He was an expert on Foraminifera and gives his name to Earlandite. He was skilled in the identification of microscopic shells in a manner in ...

in 1913 under the genus '' Discorbina'' is named after him. He served as the vice-president of the

Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland is a British-based society concerned with the study of molluscs and their shells. It was founded in 1876, and is one of the oldest such societies in the world. It is a registered UK charity ( ...

. Chaster died on 5 May 1910 from pleuro-pneumonia.

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, branded as simply Amgueddfa Cymru (formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and legally National Museum of Wales), is a Welsh Government sponsored body that comprises seven museums in Wales: * N ...

holds his collection of around 11,000 insects, and 2,890 lots of molluscs.

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister a ...

stated that "Irish conchology especially owes much to his work" and that his premature death "was a severe loss to Irish zoology". Obituaries were published in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origin ...

'' and '' The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaster, George William 1863 births 1910 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English medical doctors English zoologists Conchologists English taxonomists