Norman Denbigh Riley

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(26 September 1890

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 26 May 1979) was a British entomologist with a special interest in the

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

and in particular the

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

. For many years he was keeper of entomology at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. His first schooling took place at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

where his interest in natural history and Lepidoptera became evident.

Richard South Richard South FRES (July 1846 – 28 March 1932) was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), particularly the smaller moths. Life and work South was born at Cochran Terrace in Marylebone, London, England ...

, the prominent entomologist was the Riley family's neighbour in

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

and encouraged Norman Riley in his hobby. After he finishing school Riley enrolled at the

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in order to take a course in entomology, and managed to find work there as a demonstrator under

Ray Lankester Sir Edwin Ray Lankester (15 May 1847 – 13 August 1929) was a British zoologist.New International Encyclopaedia. An invertebrate zoologist and evolutionary biologist, he held chairs at University College London and Oxford University. He was th ...

, who was then director of the

. At age 21 he was appointed as an assistant in the Entomology Department. With the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Riley joined the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

, and saw service in France. At the end of the war he was discharged with the rank of captain and resumed his work at the museum, becoming keeper of entomology in 1932. He became dedicated to acquiring gifts and purchases of specimens to expand the collection of the museum, and succeeded in creating a research resource of international renown. Because of his easy and affable manner, Riley became popular as a committee-man and competently steered projects through financial and political pitfalls, becoming involved in national and international entomological matters. He served as both secretary and treasurer to the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

between 1926 and 1951, and was elected president in 1952. He was also a charter member of the Lepidopterists' Society and served on their council, being elected vice-president in 1954 and president in 1958. He also found time to be active in 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 ...

. In 1923, on the retirement of

, his boyhood mentor, Riley took over the running of a small, but popular periodical called the ''

Entomologist's Monthly Magazine ''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' is a British entomological journal, founded by a staff of five editors – T. Blackburn, H. G. Knaggs, M.D., R. McLachlan, F.L.S., E. C. Rye and H. T. Stainton – and first published in 1864.Wale, Matthew ...

''.Obituary by Lionel Higgins
/ref>

Works

*1944 ''Some British Moths'' – Norman Denbigh Riley *1964 ''The Department of Entomology of the British Museum, 1904-1964'' – Norman Denbigh Riley *1970 ''Butterflies and Moths'' – Alfred Werner, Josef Bijok edited by Norman Denbigh Riley, New York Studio/The Viking Press *1975 ''A Field Guide to the Butterflies of the West Indies'' – Norman D. Riley, Quadrangle Publishers *1980 ''A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe'' – Lionel George Higgins, Norman Denbigh Riley

References

Obituary, ''Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature'', 1 August 1979, vol 36, part 2, pp 137-138

External links

* including a list of works and taxa named 1890 births 1979 deaths British entomologists British lepidopterists People educated at Dulwich College Employees of the Natural History Museum, London British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British zoologists Royal Army Service Corps officers {{UK-entomologist-stub