Thomas Wright Blakiston (27 December 1832 – 15 October 1891) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and naturalist.

Early life and career

Born in

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, Blakiston was the son of Major John Blakiston. His grandfather was Sir Matthew Blakiston, 2nd Baronet Blakiston. His mother Jane was the daughter of Reverend Thomas Wright, Rector of

Market Bosworth Market Bosworth is a market town and civil parish in western Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle o ...

, Leicestershire. Blakiston explored western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with the Palliser Expedition between 1857 and 1859. Mount Blakiston, the highest point in

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

was named for him in 1858. In 1861, he traveled up the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

in China, going further than any Westerner before him. He spent the next part of his life in Japan and became one of the major naturalists in that country. Blakiston was the first person to notice that animals in Hokkaidō, Japan's northern island, were related to northern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n species, whereas those on Honshū to the south were related to those from southern Asia. The

Tsugaru Strait The is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles (1 ...

between the two islands was therefore established as a zoogeographical boundary, and became known as "

Blakiston's Line The Blakiston Line or Blakiston's Line is a wikt:faunal, faunal boundary line drawn between two of the four largest islands of Japan: Hokkaidō in the north and Honshū, south of it. It can be compared with faunal boundary lines like the Wallace L ...

". Blakiston collected an owl specimen in

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

, Japan in 1883. This was later described by

Henry Seebohm Henry Seebohm (12 July 1832 – 26 November 1895) was an English steel manufacturer, and amateur ornithologist, oologist and traveller. Biography Henry was the oldest son of Benjamin Seebohm (1798–1871) who was a wool merchant at Horton G ...

and named

Blakiston's fish owl Blakiston's fish owl (''Bubo blakistoni''), the largest living species of owl, is a fish owl, a sub-group of eagle-owls which specialize in hunting in riparian areas. It is native to China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. This species is a par ...

. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1885.

Personal life and death

Blakiston married Ann Mary Dun in 1885. She was the daughter of James Dun and the sister of Edwin Dun. They had one daughter and one son. Ann Mary survived him by 46 years and died in England in March 1937. Blakiston died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in October 1891 while in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California. He was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, in his wife's family plot.

References

Bibliography

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Ibis Jubilee supplement 1908
1832 births 1891 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in California People from Lymington English explorers of North America Explorers of Canada English zoologists English explorers Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) {{UK-zoologist-stub