Henry Horrocks Slater (1851–26 November 1934) was an English

parson-naturalist A parson-naturalist was a cleric (a "parson", strictly defined as a country priest who held the living of a parish, but the term is generally extended to other clergy), who often saw the study of natural science as an extension of his religious wor ...

who studied ornithology,

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

, and botany.

Early life and clerical career

Slater was born in Stanhope,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, the son of the priest Henry Slater and his wife Mary Sarah Horrocks. He was matriculated at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

in 1870, and graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1880 (made Master of Arts in 1887). In 1879 he was ordained a deacon in Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire. In 1881 he was ordained as a priest. From 1879 to 1882 he was chaplain in

Sharow Sharow is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate (borough), Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about north-east of Ripon. The name Sharow derives from the Old English of 'Scearu' and 'Hōh' which translates as boundary ...

, near Ripon, and from 1882 to 1883 he was chaplain in Chearsley,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. From 1883 to 1893 he was vicar of Irchester. From 1893 to 1906 he was rector of Thornhaugh, Northamptonshire. He retired at

Bishops Lydeard Bishops Lydeard () is a village and civil parish located in Somerset, England, north-west of Taunton in the district of Somerset West and Taunton. The civil parish encompasses the hamlets of East Lydeard, Terhill, and East Bagborough, and had a ...

and died there in 1934.

Natural history work

In 1874 he accompanied the botanist

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...

and

George Gulliver George Gulliver (4 June 1804 – 17 November 1882), was an English anatomist and physiologist. Life and work Gulliver was born at Banbury, Oxfordshire, on 4 June 1804, and after an apprenticeship with local surgeons entered at St. Bartholomew's ...

aboard HMS ''Shearwater'' on an expedition to observe the transit of Venus on Rodrigues. In addition to studies of the flora and fauna, Slater excavated the subfossil bones of extinct birds, including the Rodrigues solitaire (''Pezophaps solitaria'') and Rodrigues starling (''Necropsar rodericanus''). His records were used by the zoologists Albert Günther and Alfred Newton to write the first scientific description of the Rodrigues starling in 1879. During a stay in Mauritius in 1875 he and George Gulliver explored the flora, the herpetofauna, and the aquatic avifauna. In 1885 he traveled with Thomas Carter to Iceland. In 1897 Slater described the short-tailed parrotbill (''Paradoxornis davidianus'') and the

sulphur-breasted warbler The sulphur-breasted warbler (''Phylloscopus ricketti'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Phylloscopidae. It breeds in China; it winters to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Its natural habitats are temperate forest A forest is ...

(''Phylloscopus ricketti''). Together with William Bernhardt Tegetmeier he wrote the fifth volume of ''British Birds With Their Nests and Eggs'' (1898), that was illustrated by Frederick William Frohawk. He visited Iceland three times and wrote the ''Manual of the Birds of Iceland'', published in 1901. Slater was elected a

Fellow of the Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

(FZS) in December 1877. He was also 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 ...

(MBOU) since 1882, but he resigned from both organizations in 1906, when he left Thornhaugh.

Bibliography

* second part
an
third part
/ref> * * (in six volumes; Slater wrote the chapter on the Order Limicolæ in vol. 5). *

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Henry Horrocks 1851 births 1934 deaths English naturalists English ornithologists People from Stanhope, County Durham 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge People from Irchester People from Northamptonshire (before 1974)