Robert William Theodore Gunther (23 August 1869 – 9 March 1940) was a

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, and founder of the

Museum of the History of Science The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Gunther's father,

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

, was

Keeper of Zoology The Keeper of Zoology was a zoological academic position within the Natural History Museum in London, England. The Keeper of Zoology acted as the head of the Department of Zoology. The following is a list of those who have held this position, whic ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Robert Gunther was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

, attached to

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Towards the end of his schooling he attended lectures at University College itself. He was elected to a four-year

demyship A demyship (also "demy" for the recipient) is a form of scholarship at Magdalen College, Oxford. The term is derived from ''demi-socii'' or ''half-fellows'', being historically entitled to half the allowance awarded to Fellows. The allowance is n ...

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, in 1887 and took this up in 1888. He joined the Oxford University Scientific Club in his first term at Magdalen and subsequently he took up a Fellowship at the College. In 1911, Gunther and his family moved to 5

Folly Bridge Folly Bridge is a stone bridge over the River Thames carrying the Abingdon Road south from the centre of Oxford, England. It was erected in 1825–27, to designs of a little-known architect, Ebenezer Perry (died 1850), who practised in London. ...

, an unusual and distinctive tall house on a small island in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

next to the bridge. This made the river central to his life. He was a pioneer of

environmental conservation *Environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, w ...

in Oxford. From 1923, Robert Gunther produced a fourteen volume set of books on ''Early Science in Oxford'', his ''magnum opus'', the last appearing in 1945. These were initially produced under the auspices of the

Oxford Historical Society The Oxford Historical Society (OHS) is a text publication society concerned with the history of the city of Oxford and the surrounding area in the historic county of Oxfordshire in southern England. History The Oxford Historical Society was ...

and printed at the

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. A fifteenth volume by his son A. E. Gunther in 1967 covered Robert Gunther himself. Between 1926 and 1930, Gunther founded the

in the Old

Ashmolean The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

building, with some difficulty: it is apparent that few of his contemporaries shared his passion for historical scientific instruments, and indeed the Early Science series makes barbed comments about the failure of predecessors in various august bodies to preserve such things. The museum's initial collection was based on the scientific instrument collection of his friend Lewis Evans, donated in 1924. Gunther died after a short illness, while staying at a friend's house in the south

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

village of South Stoke. He and his wife, Amy, are buried at

Heacham Heacham is a large village in West Norfolk, England, overlooking The Wash. It lies between King's Lynn, to the south, and Hunstanton, about to the north. It has been a seaside resort for over a century and a half. History There is evidence o ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, in the Rolfe family plot, having written their family history. He was succeeded as Curator of the Museum of the History of Science by Frank Sherwood Taylor. An archive of manuscripts collected by Gunther is held by the Museum of the History of Science.MSS Gunther
Manuscript Summary
,

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from th ...

, UK.

Family

He was the son of Albert Günther, and his first wife Roberta Mitchell née McIntosh (1842–1869), sister of William M‘Intosh. He married, in 1900, Amy née Neville-Rolfe, daughter of Eustace Neville-Rolfe CVO (1845–1908), HM Consul-General at Naples, and Emily Auber Frances née Thornhill (1844–1900). They had two sons: Eustace Rolfe Gunther (1902–1940) and Albert Everard Gunther (1903–1998).

Selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Robert 1869 births 1940 deaths People educated at University College School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of University College London English curators 20th-century English historians English science writers English environmentalists English zoologists Historians of science Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Museum founders Directors of museums in the United Kingdom Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure