Harold Stuart Ferguson

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(10 February 1851 – 5 January 1921) was a Scottish

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

who worked in the south Indian princely state of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

, contributing to the local museum.

Family

He was born in Park Street, near Grosvenor Square, London, the fourth child of Robert Ferguson (1799–1865) and Mary Mcleod of Skye. His father was born in India, a close friend of Sir John Macpherson, Governor-General of India, and

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

. Robert was an eminent physician who also took an interest in insects, literature and other matters becoming Physician Extraordinary to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. Harold spent most of his life in India in

. He was married to Isabel Julia Maxwell, niece of

Field Marshal Lord Roberts Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his tim ...

and daughter of Colonel Hamilton Maxwell of the

Bengal Staff Corps Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Military career

He joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and around the mid-1880s was a lieutenant in command of the Nair Brigade of the Rajah of Travancore.

Sporting career

He made two appearances for the Scottish XI against England in the football pseudo-internationals in 1871 and 1872.

Career as zoologist

He was connected to the State Museum at

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

from 1880 onwards, and from 1894 until his retirement from India in 1904 was director of the museum. Ferguson was interested in all aspects of natural history of the region and he contributed to the herpetology of the state. He became a member of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1886Anon. 1890
British Ornithologists' Union
''Ibis'' Volume 6 part 2. page 7 and was elected a fellow of the Zoological Society in 1891. He is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Indian snake, '' Rhinophis fergusonianus''. Ferguson's toad '' Bufo scaber'' is named after him. He discovered a species of butterfly endemic to the southern Western Ghats, the Travancore evening brown butterfly ('' Parantirrhoea marshalli'' ) as well as '' Mycalesis oculus''. He contributed numerous specimens to the collections of the British Museum.Anon. 1906
The history of the collections contained in the natural history departments of the British Museum. Volume 2.
British Museum, London. pp. 351, 670, 673

References

Other sources

Travancore museum

Public gardens of Travancore

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Harold S. 1851 births 1921 deaths British herpetologists England v Scotland representative footballers (1870–1872) Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Naturalists of British India Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality