Thomas Garnett (1799 – 21 May 1878) was a manufacturer and naturalist.

Life

Thomas, younger brother of

Richard Garnett (philologist) Richard Garnett (25 July 1789 – 27 September 1850) was an English philologist (historical linguist), author and librarian at the British Museum, in the museum's department that is now the British Library. Of his six children, his son Richard Ga ...

and

Jeremiah Garnett Jeremiah Garnett (1793–1870) was an English journalist, active in the politics of London and the founding of ''The Manchester Guardian'' alongside his nephew Anthony Garnett. Life Jeremiah, younger brother of Richard Garnett (1789–1850) and ...

was born at

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England, on 18 January 1799. In his early days he supported himself by weaving pieces on his own account, but about the age or twenty-one he obtained employment in the great manufacturing establishment of Garnett & Horsfall, Low Moor,

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

, founded and then directed by his uncle, Jeremiah Garnett, esq., of Roe Field. He successively became manager and partner, and at the time of his death had for many years been head of the firm. He was one of the first to propose the artificial propagation of fish (

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

), on which he wrote in the ''

Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') ...

'' in 1832; he also first discovered the economical value of

alpaca wool Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an alpaca. There are two different types of alpaca fleece. The most common fleece type comes from a Huacaya. Huacaya fiber grows and looks similar to sheep wool in that the animal looks "fluf ...

, which he failed in inducing his partners to take up; and he was one of the earliest experimenters with

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

. His papers on natural history and kindred subjects, observations compared to those of

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

, were collected and privately printed by his nephew, Richard Garnett, in 1883. The same author said in his entry in the

Dictionary Of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, " homas Garnett'scharacter was strong and decided; he was an active, useful citizen," and mentions that he was mayor of Clitheroe several times. He also said his uncle, "… possessed an inquiring and speculative intellect, and was an unwearied observer and experimenter in agriculture, medicine, and natural history." He died on 21 May 1878.

References

;Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Thomas 1799 births 1878 deaths English industrialists English naturalists Mayors of places in Lancashire People from Otley 19th-century English businesspeople