Oxley Grabham (1864-1939) MA was a British naturalist, ornithologist, and museum curator.

Career

Grabham was a

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

graduate of Cambridge University and Keeper of the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

from 1904 to 1919. He was appointed by the

Yorkshire Philosophical Society The Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) is a charitable learned society (charity reg. 529709) which aims to promote the public understanding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the archaeology and history of York and Yorkshire. ...

to the position of Keeper in 1904 following the retirement of the previous incumbent, Henry Maurice Platnauer. He was 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 ...

and a committee member of the

Yorkshire Naturalists' Union The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union is an association of amateur and professional naturalists covering a wide range of aspects of natural history. It is one of United Kingdom's oldest extant wildlife organisations and oldest natural history federat ...

. Grabham was occasionally involved in archaeological excavations. In February 1911 he worked with John Kirk on the excavation of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

near Pickering and of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

chariot burial Chariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with their chariot, usually including their horses and other possessions. An instance of a person being buried with their horse (without the chariot) is called horse burial. Fin ...

Pexton Moor Pexton Moor is an archaeological site in North Yorkshire containing a prehistoric cemetery. It is located at the western edge of Dalby Forest, north of Thornton-le-Dale. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevale ...

. He was also involved in the excavation of

Wade's Causeway Wade's Causeway is a sinuous, linear monument up to 6,000 years old in the North York Moors national park in North Yorkshire, England. The name may refer to either Scheduled monument, scheduled ancient monument number —a length of stone cou ...

. Grabham published in several journals, like ''

The Zoologist ''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896) ...

'' and '' British Birds''. He was described in his obituary in the

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

as "a naturalist of some distinction, he formed a collection of Yorkshire mammals which became famous on account of the specimens which illustrated the variety of types, many of which are rare and some unique."

Personal life

In 1914 Grabham was an

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used. Overview An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...

of the will of

Tempest Anderson Tempest Anderson (7 December 1846–26 August 1913)) was an Ophthalmology, ophthalmic surgeon at York County Hospital in the United Kingdom, and an expert amateur photographer and vulcanologist. He was a member of the Royal Society of London ...

. Upon his retirement due to ill health he was granted £150 a year for five years, plus a gratuity of £100 for special treatment. He was succeeded as Keeper by Walter Collinge, and voted an honorary member of the

upon his retirement. After retirement he was a resident of

Thornton Dale Thornton-le-Dale (also called Thornton Dale) is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Pickering, North Yorkshire, Pickering on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The area of ...

Publications

* 1897. "Owls and their Longevity", ''The Naturalist''. p129. * 1899. "Yorkshire's Bats", ''The Naturalist''. p69-75. * 1907. (With Metcalfe, T.A., Smith, Sydney H., and Kirk, Charles) ''British Mammals. Sixty Photographs from Life''. London, Gowans & Gray, Ltd. * 1907. "Mammalia". In Page, W. (ed.) ''Victoria History of the Counties of England: Yorkshire, Vol.1''. London: Archibald Constable. p351-356. * 1908.
The colony of Little Terns at Spurn Point, Yorkshire
, ''British Birds'', p317–32. * 1909. "The Dormouse at home". ''Country Life'' (16 October 1909). p521-522. * 1916.
Yorkshire Potteries, Pots, and Potters
'. York: Yorkshire Philosophical Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grabham, Oxley 1864 births British curators 1939 deaths British ornithologists Yorkshire Museum people Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Taxidermists