List of parson-naturalists

Parson-naturalists were ministers of religion who also studied natural history. The archetypical parson-naturalist was a priest in the Church of England in charge of a country parish, who saw the study of science as an extension of his religious work. The philosophy entailed the belief that God, as the Creator of all things, wanted man to understand his Creations and thus to study them through scientific techniques.[1] They often collected and preserved natural artefacts such as leaves, flowers, birds' eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals to classify and study. Some wrote books or kept nature diaries.

Parson-naturalists

Leading parson-naturalists

Name	Dates	Description	Known for	Portrait
Turner, William[2]	1508?–1568	Dean of Wells Cathedral	Herbalism Libellus de Re Herbaria
White, Gilbert[3]	1720–1793	Curate of Selborne, Hampshire ornithology	Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne	Probably not authentic
Ray, John[4]	1627–1705	Father of English natural history; taxonomy; empiricism	Historia Plantarum
Derham, William[5]	1657–1735	Physico-Theology, (Natural theology)	Estimated speed of sound Astronomy, listed nebulae
Lightfoot, John[6]	1735–1788	Botanist Conchologist	Flora Scotica (1789)
Henslow, John Stevens[7]	1796–1861	Botanist, Geologist	Mentor and friend of his pupil Charles Darwin
Jenyns, Leonard[8]	1800–1893	Priest, founder of Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club	Phenology and meteorology observations
Fox, William Darwin[9]	1805–1880	Priest, Entomologist, collector of beetles	Tutored his second cousin Charles Darwin in natural history
Tristram, Henry Baker[10]	1822–1906	Biblical scholar, Ornithologist	Early acceptance of Darwinism, tried to reconcile it with creation
Wood, John George[11]	1827–1889	Natural history populariser and lecturer	Common Objects of the Country
Dallinger, William[12]	1839–1909	Methodist minister, microbiology	Research on monads Opposition to spontaneous generation
Cowper, Spencer[13]	1713–1774	Dean of Durham 1746–1774	Meteorology
Morris, Francis Orpen[14]	1810–1893	Irascible Irish clergyman Hated Darwinism, fox-hunting Campaigned for bird conservation law	History of British Birds A Bible Natural History Records of Animal Sagacity and Character Dogs and Their Doings
Bloxam, Andrew[15]	1801–1878	Naturalist on HMS Blonde Later priest and naturalist	Recorded and collected Hawaiian birds, some now extinct Later particularly known for fungi, Rubus and Rosa
Berkeley, Miles Joseph[16]	1803–1889	Vicar of Sibbertoft for much of his life Known as the founder of British mycology	Account of native British fungi in Sir William Jackson Hooker's British Flora (1836) Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany (1857) Outlines of British Fungology (1860)
Linton, William Richardson[17]	1850–1908	Botanist, Vicar of Shirley, Derbyshire	Work on brambles of Derbyshire, including Rubus durescens Flora of Derbyshire: Flowering Plants, Higher Cryptogams, Mosses and Hepatics, Characeae

See also

• List of Christian thinkers in science
• Science in the Age of Enlightenment

References

1. Armstrong, 2000.
2. Raven, Charles E. 1947. English naturalists from Neckam to Ray: a study of the making of the modern world. Cambridge. p38
3. Newton, Alfred (1900). "White, Gilbert" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
4. "Biography: John Ray". UCMP Berkeley. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
5. Mabey, Richard (1986). Gilbert White. A biography of the author of The Natural History of Selborne. Century Hutchinson. p. 11.
6. Boulger, George Simonds. DNB, 1885-1900, Volume 33: Lightfoot, John
7. Jenyns, Leonard (1862). Memoir of the Rev. John Stevens Henslow. John Van Voorst.
8. "The Life of Jenyns". Archived from the original on 5 February 2006.
9. Larkum, A.W.D. (2009). A Natural Calling: Life, Letters and Diaries of Charles Darwin and William Darwin Fox. Springer Verlag.
10. Armstrong, 2000. p. 6
11.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wood, John George". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
12. Haas, J. W., Jr (January 2000). "The Reverend Dr William Henry Dallinger, F.R.S. (1839-1909)". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 54 (1): 53–65. doi:10.1098/rsnr.2000.0096. JSTOR 532058. PMID 11624308.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Kenworthy, Joan M; McCollum, Margaret S (March 2009). "A Contribution to Meteorology by Spencer Cowper, Dean of Durham 1746-74". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 63 (1): 57–80. doi:10.1098/rsnr.2007.0047. JSTOR 40647193.
14. Armstrong, 2000. pp. 74–78
15. Berkeley, M.J. (1878). "The Rev. Andrew Bloxam: A Memoir". Midland Naturalist. 1: 88–90.
16. Massee, George (1913). "Miles Joseph Berkeley 1803—1889" . In Oliver, Francis Wall (ed.). Makers of British Botany. Cambridge University Press. pp. 225–232.
17. Edees, Eric Smoothey (1963). "Notes on Derbyshire bramble" (PDF). BSBI Proceedings. 5: 13–19.

Bibliography

• Armstrong, Patrick (2000). The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion. Gracewing Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85244-516-7.