William Chapman Hewitson

William Chapman Hewitson (before 1878)

William Chapman Hewitson was a British naturalist, born on 9 January 1806 in Newcastle upon Tyne and died at Oatlands Park, Surrey on 28 May 1878.^[1] A wealthy collector, Hewitson was particularly devoted to the Coleoptera and the Lepidoptera and, also, to bird's nests and eggs. His collection of butterflies, collected by him as well as purchased from travellers throughout the world, was one of the largest and most important of his time.^[1][2] He was also an accomplished scientific illustrator.

Life

William Hewitson was educated in York.^[1] He became a land-surveyor and was for some time employed under George Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway. Delicate health and the accession to an ample fortune through the death of a relative led him to give up his profession and he afterwards devoted himself to scientific studies.^[1] He lived for a time at Bristol and Hampstead. In 1848 he purchased ten or twelve acres of Oatlands Park, Surrey, and built a house there. He remained at of Oatlands for the rest of his life.^[1]

Learned Societies

Hewitson was a founding member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne in 1829,^[3] a member of the Entomological Society of London in 1846, the Zoological Society in 1859, and the Linnean Society in 1862, and contributed to and published many works on entomology and ornithology.^[1]

People associated with Hewitson

• Jean Baptiste Boisduval
• Baron Cajetan von Felder
• John Edward Gray
• William Wilson Saunders
• Alfred Russel Wallace

Works

Plate II of Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera, Lycænidæ

• British oology: being illustrations of the eggs of British birds, with figures of each species, as far as practicable, drawn and coloured from nature : accompanied by descriptions of the materials and situation of their nests, number of eggs, &c.Published for the author, by Charles Empson, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1831 Online
• Illustrations of new species of exotic Butterflies, selected chiefly from the Collections of W.Wilson Saunders and William C. Hewitson. Vols 1–5 (1851, 1862–1871, 1878) Van Voorst, London. Hewitson paid for the last volume when the Trustees of the British Museum refused.Online
• Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera, Lycænidæ John Van Voorst,London (1862–1878). Online Volume 1 Text Volume 2 plates.
• Specimen of a catalogue of Lycaenidae in the British Museum by W.C. Hewitson. London Printed by order of the Trustees 1862 Online
• Descriptions of one Hundred new Species of Hesperidae London : John Van Voorst, 1867-68.
• Descriptions of new Indian lepidopterous insects from the collection of the late Mr. W.S. Atkinson. Rhopalocera, by William C. Hewitson. Heterocera, by Frederic Moore. With an introductory notice by Arthur Grote. Calcutta,Asiatic Society of Bengal,1879-88. Online

References

1. "Mr W. C. Hewitson". The Ibis Jubilee Supplement 2: 182–185. 1908. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
2. Hewitson, William C.; Kirby, W. F. (1879). Catalogue of the collection of diurnal Lepidoptera formed by the late William Chapman Hewitson, of Otlands, Walton-on Thames; and bequeathed by him to the British Museum. London, U.K.: John Van Voorst. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
3. "Officers of the Society". Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and New Castle Upon Tyne 1: iv. 1831. Retrieved 19 January 2016.

External links

• Digitized works by or about W. C. Hewitson at Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Foote,Y., 2004 William Chapman Hewitson (1806–1878) Naturalist at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography