John Freeman Milward Dovaston (30 December 1782 – 8 August 1854) was a British poet and naturalist.

Life and work

Dovaston was born in Twyford, West Felton, Shropshire in an estate called "The Nursery" that was started by his father John Dovaston (1740–1808). Dovaston Sr. became interested in botany after a trip to the West Indies and began to work with plants and planting. Dovaston junior studied at

Oswestry Grammar School Oswestry School is an ancient public school (English independent day and boarding school), located in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1407 as a 'free' school, being independent of the church. This gives it the distinction of be ...

and Shrewsbury School before going to Oxford to study law. At

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, he was nicknamed "Crazy Jack of Christ Church". After receiving a Master of Arts degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1807. He however did not like the practice and when his father died the next year, he moved back to his estate. Dovaston wrote letters to gentlemen's magazines, sometimes under the pen name of "Von Osdat" (an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of his surname) and his writings even to more learned journals such as the ''

Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') ...

'' included light-hearted verse. Dovaston became a friend of the Newcastle upon Tyne wood engraver Thomas Bewick, and offered additions and corrections to the fifth edition of his ''

History of British Birds ''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Lan ...

''. In his letters to Bewick, he introduced many of his innovations, including what he called an "ornithotrophe" (punning with "trough" and the Greek word for trophy), a hanging bird feeder. He also experimented with artificial nest boxes. In an 1825 letter to Bewick, he described the observations he made using a small spyglass that he called an "ornithoscope". John Denson, the editor of the ''Magazine of Natural History'', had also been using a spyglass since 1823, although the use of these devices for observing birds grew only after a letter in 1830 by an observer who abhorred killing birds. Dovaston also experimented with growing

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

s on trees, fencing off grasslands to study hares, and trying to document bird calls with musical notation. He made a neck ring using cello wire to ring

swallows The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

, and noted that four of the birds returned the next year. He found that individual birds had their own specific beats or haunts and rarely intruded into the territories of others. He was among the first to attempt to map and demarcate the boundaries of

robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

territories.

Works

* ''Fitz Gwarine with other rhymes'', 1812. * ''A selection of British melodies'', 1817. * ''The Dove'', 1822. * ''Lectures on natural history and national melody'', 1839.

References

External links

Dovaston - naturalist and poet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dovaston, John Freeman Milward People educated at Oswestry School 1782 births 1854 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British ornithologists British poets English naturalists British male poets