Edwin John Quekett FRMS (1808–1847) was an early worker in botany and histology, and a

microscopist Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...

Biography

E.J. Quekett, born at

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

in 1808, was the son of William Quekett and Mary, daughter of John Bartlett. His younger brother was John Thomas Quekett, whose contributions to the same fields of research have a greater renown. Their eldest brother, William Quekett, was a rector and author. He received his medical training at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lond ...

, and practised as a surgeon in

Wellclose Square Wellclose Square is a public square in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south. The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was ca ...

, Whitechapel. In 1835 he became lecturer on

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

; he was elected a fellow of 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 1836. It was at his house in 1839 that the meetings were held in which the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained its ...

originated. He died on 28 June 1847 of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

, and was buried at Sea Salter, Kent, near the grave of Elizabeth Hyder, to whom he had been engaged, but who had died of consumption on the day arranged for their marriage in September 1841. His name was commemorated by John Lindley in the Brazilian genus of orchids, '' Quekettia'', which contains numerous microscopic crystals. Fifteen papers stand to Edwin Quekett's name in the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's ''Catalogue of Scientific Papers'' (v. 53), mostly dealing with vegetable

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

, and contributed to the ''Transactions'' of the Linnean and Microscopical Societies, ''

The Phytologist ''The Phytologist'' was a British botanical journal, appearing first as ''Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany''. It was founded in 1841 as a monthly, edited by George Luxford. Luxford died in 1854, and the title was taken over by Alexa ...

,'' the ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' and the ''London Physiological Journal'' between 1838 and the date of his death. In 1843–4 he was one of the editors of the last-named journal.(''Proceedings of Linnean Society'', i. 378)

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Quekett, Edwin John 1808 births 1847 deaths English botanists Microscopists Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society