Henry Eliot Howard (13 November 1873 – 26 December 1940) was an English amateur
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, noted for being one of the first to describe
territoriality
In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less commonly) real physical aggression. ...
behaviours in birds in a detailed manner. His ideas on territoriality were influential in the work of
Max Nicholson
Edward Max Nicholson (12 July 1904 – 26 April 2003) was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.
Early life
Max Nicholson, as he was known to all, was born in Kilternan, Ir ...
.
Biography
Henry Eliot Howard was born at Stone House, at
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
, near
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
,
[Kinlen, L. J. ''Howard, (Henry) Eliot'' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry Retrieved 1 May 2015](_blank)
/ref> second son of Henry Howard and Alice Gertrude Thomson. He studied at Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common.
Etymology
In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (p ...
, Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
, and Mason College
Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of Birmingham University. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the University o ...
(the forerunner of the University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
). He entered his father's steelworks firm, Lloyd and Lloyd in Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
, becoming a director in 1896. Then in 1903 a director of the enlarged firm, Stewarts & Lloyds
Stewarts & Lloyds was a steel tube manufacturer with its headquarters in Glasgow at 41 Oswald Street. The company was created in 1903 by the amalgamation of two of the largest iron and steel makers in Britain, A. & J. Stewart & Menzies, Coatbridge ...
.
He showed from his earliest childhood an intense love of natural history. It was not until 1914 that his first work, ''British Warblers'', illustrated by Henrik Grönvold
Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heikk ...
, was fully published, having been issued in parts since 1907. Continually working on the theory of territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, he published ''Territory in Bird Life'', illustrated by George Edward Lodge
George Edward Lodge FZS, (3 December 1860 – 5 February 1954)Savory ''op. cit.'' was a British illustrator of birds and an authority on falconry.
Early life
George Edward Lodge was born at Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire. His father, Samuel Lodg ...
and Henrik Grönvold
Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heikk ...
, in 1920 (a reissue in 1948 had an introduction by Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
and James Fisher), followed by ''An Introduction to the Study of Bird Behaviour'', ''Nature of a Bird's World'' and lastly ''A Waterhen's Worlds'', in 1940. His books were published under the name "Eliot Howard".
He was a Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
and for forty-five years a member of the British Ornithologists' Union
The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...
, including a period as a vice-president.
His home was always in Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
. In 1900 he still gave his address as Stone House, but once married he and his wife lived at 'Clareland', Hartlebury
Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England which is in Wychavon district centred south of Kidderminster. The civil parish registered a population of 2,549 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census.
The Hartlebury ra ...
, which overlooked the River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
, and in whose grounds he conducted much of his ornithological research Nonetheless, much of his time was spent on the wild coast of Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
and in the north west of Ireland, shooting, fishing and studying natural history. He was attracted to the wild and beautiful area of Horn Head in the North West of Donegal, close to the Atlantic Ocean, through his marriage in 1900 to Anne Elizabeth Frances Stewart (1875–1960) whose family had lived there for many years (the 1901 census of Ireland shows his wife was born in Donegal). He died of meningitis at Clareland on 26 December 1940 and was buried at St Mary's Church, Bishops Green, Stourport, on 30 December. An obituary was published in ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' on 28 December.
His papers are in the Alexander Library, at the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
His father, Henry was a manufacturing chemist and was son of John Eliot Howard
John Eliot Howard (11 December 1807 – 22 November 1883) was an English chemist of the nineteenth century, who conducted pioneering work with the development of quinine.
Howard was born in Plaistow, Essex, the son of Luke Howard a noted Quak ...
. John's father was Luke Howard
Luke Howard, (28 November 1772 – 21 March 1864) was a British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science. His lasting contribution to science is a nomenclature system for clouds, which he proposed i ...
. The 1901 Census shows Henry Eliot as an 'Iron tube manufacturer'.
The Howards had two sons and four daughters. One daughter, Esme Eleanor Howard, married the Reverend John William Fletcher Boughey, son of the Reverend Percy Fletcher Boughey and Elsie de Strange Herring, on 25 April 1940.
Bibliography
Books
* 2 vols.
*
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*
Journal articles
*
*
*
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*
*
* 1902a: 'On Mr. Selous' Theory of the Origin of Nests'. ''The Zoologist'', 4th series, vol. 6, p. 145–148.
* 1902b: 'Cirl Bunting in Ireland'. ''The Zoologist'', 4th series, vol. 6, (section 'Notes and Queries'), p. 353/4
* 1902c: 'The Birds of Sark; and Variation in Song'. ''The Zoologist'', 4th series, vol. 6, p. 416–422.
*
Notes
References
Sources
*
* (Also available vi
BHL
)
External links
*
*
*
*
The diary of Henry Howard of Stone House – Kidderminster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Eliot
1873 births
1940 deaths
English ornithologists
People educated at Eton College
People from Kidderminster
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
English nature writers
People from Stourport-on-Severn