Ronald Winckworth (1884 – 6 September 1950) was a British natural historian who became President or Vice-President of three learned societies in the field, and who wrote on the topic of British and Indian mollusca.

Life

Winckworth was born in Brighton in 1884 and attended

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orph ...

. He then taught in Weymouth (1902),

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

(1903–1905) and at St. Bees School (1905–1906) before winning an open exhibition to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

. He then taught at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

and

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

(1911) and Brighton Technical School (1912–1914). He served in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

, reaching the rank of paymaster lieutenant, before working at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Plymouth. After teaching navigation at Pangbourne Nautical College, he worked for the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

on publications, later becoming librarian, assistant secretary (1932–1937) and assistant editor (1937–1944). After retiring in 1944, he carried out occasional work as consultant editor. He was a member of the

Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland is a British-based society concerned with the study of molluscs and their shells. It was founded in 1876, and is one of the oldest such societies in the world. It is a registered UK charity (n ...

from 1913 onwards, serving as President (1930–1931). His paper on British marine mollusca, his presidential address, was the most cited of his many writings, which were mainly on British and Indian mollusca. He became a member of the

Malacological Society of London The Malacological Society of London is a British learned society and charitable organisation concerned with malacology, the study of molluscs, a large phylum of invertebrate animals divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two ar ...

in 1919, later becoming its editor, and serving as President (1939–1942). He was a member of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

from 1935 onwards, serving on the council from 1943 and as Vice President (1945–1947). He was also a Fellow of the Zoological Society and Royal Geographical Society. He died on 6 September 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winckworth, Ronald 1884 births 1950 deaths British naturalists People educated at Epsom College Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Royal Navy officers of World War I 20th-century naturalists

Life

See also

References