William MacGillivray
FRSE (25 January 1796 – 4 September 1852) was a
Scottish naturalist and
ornithologist.
Life and work
MacGillivray was born in
Old Aberdeen
Old Aberdeen is part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It ret ...
and brought up on
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
. He returned to Aberdeen where he studied Medicine at
King's College, graduating MA in 1815.
In Old Aberdeen he lived at 107 High Street.
He then became an assistant Dissector in the Anatomy classes. In 1823 he became assistant to
Robert Jameson
Robert Jameson
Robert Jameson FRS FRSE (11 July 1774 – 19 April 1854) was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist.
As Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, developing his predecessor John ...
, the
Regius Professor of Natural History at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. He was curator of the museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...
from 1831, resigning in 1841 to become
Regius Professor of Natural History at
Marischal College
Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...
, Aberdeen.
MacGillivray was a friend of American bird expert
John James Audubon, and wrote a large part of Audubon's ''Ornithological Biographies'' from 1830 to 1839. Audubon named
MacGillivray's warbler
MacGillivray's warbler (''Geothlypis tolmiei'') is a species of New World warbler. These birds are sluggish and heavy warblers, preferring to spend most of their time on, or near the ground, except when singing.
left, A MacGillivray's warbler p ...
for him.
He died at 67 Crown Street in Aberdeen on 5 September 1852 but is buried in
New Calton Cemetery in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
.
The grave faces east onto the eastern path.
Family
In 1820 he married Marion Askill from Harris. The couple had 10 children, two of whom died in infancy.
Two of MacGillivray's sons achieved recognition as naturalists. His eldest son,
John MacGillivray
John MacGillivray (18 December 1821 – 6 June 1867) was a Scottish naturalist, active in Australia between 1842 and 1867.
MacGillivray was born in Aberdeen, the son of ornithologist William MacGillivray. He took part in three of the Royal ...
(1822–1867), published an account of the voyage round the world of
HMS ''Rattlesnake'', to which he was the onboard naturalist. Another son,
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, published an ''Aberdeen Flora'' in 1853, and donated 214 of his father's paintings to the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
.
Legacy
A detailed version of MacGillivray's life, written by a namesake, was published 49 years after the ornithologist's death.
MacGillivray correctly distinguished between the
hooded crow
The hooded crow (''Corvus cornix''), also called the scald-crow or hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus ''Corvus''. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle Eas ...
and
carrion crow
The carrion crow (''Corvus corone'') is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae and the genus ''Corvus'' which is native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic.
Taxonomy and systematics
The carrion crow was one of the many species or ...
, but they were considered only to be
subspecies for the next one and a half centuries until, in 2002, on
DNA evidence, the hooded crow was awarded species status.
Works
MacGillivray's works include:
*''Lives of Eminent Zoologists from Aristotle to Linnaeus'' (1830)
*''A Systematic Arrangement of British Plants'' (1830)
*''The Travels and Researches of Alexander von Humboldt.'' (1832)
*''A History of British Quadrupeds'' (1838)
*''A Manual of Botany, Comprising Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology'' (1840)
*''A History of the Molluscous Animals of Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine'' (1843)
*''A Manual of British Ornithology'' (1840–1842)
*''A History of British Birds, indigenous and migratory'', in five volumes (1837–1852)
*''Natural History of Deeside and Braemar'' (1855), published posthumously
*''A Hebridean Naturalist's Journal 1817-1818'' (1996), published posthumously
*''A Walk to London'' (1998), published posthumously
MacGillivray illustrated
Henry Witham
Henry Thomas Maire Witham FRSE FGS (1779–1844) was a British landowner remembered as an amateur palaeontologist and mineralogist.
He was an early researcher into the internal structure of fossil plants.
Life
He was born Henry Silvertop ...
's 1833 ''The Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables found in the Carboniferous and Oolitic deposits of Great Britain'', and edited ''The Conchologist's Text-Book'' through several editions.
See also
*
Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...
*
William Yarrell
William Yarrell (3 June 1784 – 1 September 1856) was an English zoologist, prolific writer, bookseller and naturalist admired by his contemporaries for his precise scientific work.
Yarrell is best known as the author of ''The History of Br ...
References
External links
*
Biography at Natural History Museum MacGillivray art collection at Natural History Museum* C. Michael Hogan (2009)
''Hooded Crow: Corvus cornix'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed, N. Stromberg* William MacGillivray (1901)
''A memorial tribute to William MacGillivray, ornithologist'' Edinburgh
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgillivray, William
1796 births
1852 deaths
People from Aberdeen
Scottish artists
Scottish ornithologists
Scottish biologists
Scottish naturalists
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Scottish zoologists
Burials at the New Calton Burial Ground
Scottish curators