Horace William Wheelwright (5 January 1815 – 16 November 1865) was an English

hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, naturalist and writer who spent many years of his life in Australia and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...

was born at

Tansor Tansor is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. Lying near the River Nene, three miles north-east of the town of Oundle and a mile from the village of Cotterstock, Tansor forms part of North Northamptonshire. At th ...

, Northamptonshire. He was educated at

Reading Grammar School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

and then studied law, practising as an attorney 1843–1846 at

Thrapston Thrapston is a market town in North Northamptonshire, England. It was the headquarters of the former East Northamptonshire district, and at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, had a population of 6,239. The town's name mea ...

, Northamptonshire. He later travelled extensively through northern Europe, especially Norway and Sweden. About 1852, at the time of the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

, Wheelwright migrated to Australia. Unsuccessful at the diggings, he became a professional game shooter to supply the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

market. The book he subsequently wrote about his Australian experiences, "Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist", is an important source of information about the natural history of the area around Melbourne in the 1850s. Wheelwright eventually left Australia in the late 1850s to return to Europe, settling in Gårdsjö, in the province of

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...

, near

Karlstad, Sweden Karlstad Municipality (''Karlstads kommun'') is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Karlstad. The present municipality was established in 1971 when the former City of Karlstad was amal ...

. He died in London following a fall in the street, which aggravated a longstanding

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

condition, and the subsequent operation.

Bibliography

* 1859 – ''Comparative list of the birds of Scandinavia and Great Britain 1859''. C. Forssell: Karlstad, Sweden. * 1861 – ''Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist; or, notes on the field sports and fauna of Australia Felix''. Routledge, Warne & Routledge: London. (Written under the pseudonym of "An Old Bushman"). * 1864 – ''A Spring and Summer in Lapland, with notes on the fauna of Luleä Lapmark''. Groombridge and Sons: London. (Written under the pseudonym of "An Old Bushman"). * 1865 – ''Sporting Sketches at Home and Abroad''. Frederick Warne and Co: London. (Written under the pseudonym of "An Old Bushman").

References

* Chisholm, A.H. (1979). Foreword. In: "''Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist''" by An Old Bushman. Facsimile edition published by Oxford University Press: Melbourne. Australian naturalists 1815 births 1865 deaths People from Tansor English hunters English naturalists English ornithologists English sportswriters 19th-century English people {{hunting-stub