George Vernon Hudson FRSNZ (20 April 1867 – 5 April 1946) was a British-born New Zealand entomologist credited with proposing the modern

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

. He was awarded the

Hector Memorial Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

in 1923.

Biography

Born in London, Britain, on Easter Saturday, 1867 Hudson was the sixth child of Emily Jane Carnal and Charles Hudson, an artist and stained-glass window designer. By the age of 14 he had built up a collection of British

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, and had published a paper in '' The Entomologist''. In 1881 Hudson moved with his father to

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, New Zealand. He worked on a farm, and in 1883, aged 16, he began working at the post office in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, where he eventually became chief clerk, retiring in 1918. Hudson was a member of the

1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition The Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition of 1907 was organised by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. The main aim of the expedition was to extend the magnetic survey of New Zealand by investigating Campbell Island and the Aucklan ...

. Its main aim was to extend the magnetic survey of New Zealand by investigating the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

and

Campbell islands The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Isl ...

but botanical, biological, and zoological surveys were also conducted. The expedition also rescued castaways from the '' Dundonald'', which had been shipwrecked in the Auckland Islands. Hudson is credited with proposing modern-day

. His

shift-work Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of, or provide service across, all 24 hours of the clock each day of the week (often abbreviated as ''24/7''). The practice typically sees the day divided into shifts, set periods of t ...

job gave him leisure time to collect insects, and led him to value after-hours daylight. In 1895, he presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society proposing a two-hour daylight-saving shift, and after considerable interest was expressed in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, he followed up in an 1898 paper. In 1933, Hudson was the first recipient (together with

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...

) of the T. K. Sidey Medal, set up by the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

from funds collected to commemorate the passing of the Summer-Time Act 1927. Another Briton,

William Willett William Willett (10 August 1856 – 4 March 1915) was a British builder and a promoter of British Summer Time. Biography Willett was born in Farnham, Surrey, and educated at the Philological School. After some commercial experience, he ente ...

championed the use of daylight saving time. It was made law there in 1916. Hudson's collection of insects, the largest in New Zealand, is housed in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Between 1881 and 1946, Hudson recorded information in three handwritten volumes that described thousands of species, inventing his own coding system. In 2018, Te Papa launched a crowd-sourcing project calling for digital volunteers to help decipher those codes, which will then allow conservation entomologists to compare Hudson's records with the status of those same insects today.

Honours and awards

* 1919 – Original Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand * 1923 –

Hector Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different science ...

* 1929 –

Hutton Medal The Hutton Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society Te Apārangi to a researcher who, working within New Zealand, has significantly advanced understanding through work of outstanding scientific or technological merit. Requirements Prior ...

* 1933 – T. K. Sidey Medal (together with

)

Personal life

Hudson's wife, Florence, died in 1935. They left one daughter, Florence Stella Gibbs. Hudson died on 5 April 1946 at his home "Hillview" in the Wellington suburb of

Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...

Works

*1892
''An Elementary'' ''Manual of New Zealand entomology: Being an introduction to the study of our native insects.''
London: West, Newman, & Co. *1898:
New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-Lepidoptera)
' London: West, Newman, & Co. *1904: *1928: *1950:

References

External links

G V Hudson collection
at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Record of George Vernon Hudson in Collections Online, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, George 1867 births 1946 deaths New Zealand entomologists Entomologists from London English emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand scientists 20th-century British scientists