Richard Parnell

Richard Parnell FRSE MWS (1810–28 October 1882) was a British physician remembered as an amateur zoologist, ichthyologist and agrostologist. He gives his name to Parnell's moustached bat. The grass Parnelli is also named after him.[1]

Life

He was born at Bramford Speke in Devon in 1810 the son of John Ratcliffe Parnell (1774-1826).[2]

He went to the University of Edinburgh in 1834 to study medicine. He won Professor Robert Graham's gold medal for practical botany and Professor John Lizars' silver medal for anatomy. On 8 February 1836 he was one of the founding members of the Edinburgh Botanical Society. He finished his medical training with postgraduate study in London and Paris.[3]

In 1837 (aged only 27) he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Sir William Jardine.[4]

From April 1839 well into 1840 he collected specimens in Jamaica and the West Indies, taking extensive notes and making many illustrations. He also made a tour of the museum collections of the United States.[5]

He returned to Edinburgh in the 1850s living in the Leith area at 7 James Place.[6]

He died at home, 17 Merchiston Avenue[7] in west Edinburgh on 28 October 1882.

His collection of fish is held by the National Museum of Scotland.[8]

Family

He was married to "Miss Curte".

Publications
  • Essay on the Natural and Economic History of the Fishes (Marine, Fluviatile and Lacustrine) of the River District of the Firth of Forth (1838)
  • The Grasses of Britain vol 1 (1842)
  • The Grasses of Britain vol 2 (1845)
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References
  1. Etymological Dictionary of Grasses, HT Clifford and PD Bistock
  2. "Records Available for John Ratcliffe Parnell - MyHeritage".
  3. "Richard Parnell, M.D". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 16: 6–8. 1886. doi:10.1080/03746608609468215.
  4. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  5. The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals
  6. Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1860
  7. Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1881
  8. "Parnell, Richard, 1810-1882. @ SNAC".
  9. IPNI.  Parn.



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