William Chapman Hewitson (9 January 1806, in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

– 28 May 1878, in

Oatlands Park Oatlands Palace is a former Tudor and Stuart royal palace which took the place of the former manor of the village of Oatlands near Weybridge, Surrey. Little remains of the original building, so excavations of the palace took place in 1964 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

) was a British naturalist. A wealthy collector, Hewitson was particularly devoted to Coleoptera (beetles) and

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

(butterflies and moths) and, also, to birds' nests and

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. His collection of butterflies, collected by him as well as purchased from travellers throughout the world, was one of the largest and most important of his time. He contributed to and published many works on entomology and ornithology and was an accomplished scientific illustrator.

Life

William Hewitson was educated in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. He became a land-surveyor and was for some time employed under

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

on the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

. Delicate health and the accession to an ample fortune through the death of a relative led him to give up his profession and he afterwards devoted himself to scientific studies. He lived for a time at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. In 1848 he purchased ten or twelve acres of

, Surrey, and built a house there. He remained at Oatlands for the rest of his life.

Learned societies

Hewitson was a founding member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne in 1829, a member of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

in 1846, the Zoological Society in 1859, and 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 ...

in 1862.

People associated with Hewitson

* Jean Baptiste Boisduval * Baron Cajetan von Felder *

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

William Wilson Saunders William Wilson Saunders FRS (4 June 1809 – 13 September 1879) was a British insurance broker, entomologist and botanist. Saunders was an underwriter at Lloyd's of London. He served as president of the Entomological Society from 1841 to 18 ...

* Alfred Russel Wallace

Works

*(1831).
British Oology: Being Illustrations of the Eggs of British Birds, With Figures of Each Species, As Far As Practicable, Drawn and Coloured from Nature: Accompanied by Descriptions of the Materials and Situation of Their Nests, Number of Eggs, &c.
' Published for the author, by Charles Empson, Newcastle upon Tyne. *(1851, 1862–1871, 1878).
Illustrations of New Species of Exotic Butterflies, Selected Chiefly from the Collections of W. Wilson Saunders and William C. Hewitson
'. Five volumes. London:

John Van Voorst John Van Voorst (1804–1898) was an English publisher of natural history books. His publications were noted for their good quality, reasonable prices and the frequent inclusion of superior illustrations by notable artists. Biography John Va ...

. Hewitson paid for the last volume when the trustees of the British Museum refused. *(1862–1878).
Illustrations of Diurnal Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae
'. London: John Van Voorst. Volume 1 Text Volume 2 plates. *(1862).
Specimen of a Catalogue of Lycaenidae in the British Museum by W.C. Hewitson
'. London: Printed by order of the Trustees *(1867–1868). ''Descriptions of One Hundred New Species of Hesperidae''. London: John Van Voorst *with

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

(1879–1888).
Descriptions of New Indian Lepidopterous Insects: From the Collection of the Late Mr. W.S. Atkinson, M.A., F.L.S., &c
'. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society of Bengal.

References

External links

Digitized works by or about W. C. Hewitson
at the Biodiversity Heritage Library *Foote, Yolanda
"Hewitson, William Chapman (1806–1878)"
at the

Oxford 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitson, William Chapman 1806 births 1878 deaths People from Newcastle upon Tyne Fellows of the Linnean Society of London English lepidopterists Egg collectors Oologists People from Surrey (before 1889) People from Hampstead Entomologists from London Scientists from Bristol