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Thomas Blackburn (entomologist)

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Thomas Blackburn

Thomas Blackburn (16 March 1844 – 28 May 1912) was an English-born Australian entomologist who specialized in the study of beetles.

Born near Liverpool, England, Blackburn became interested in entomology in his youth. At the age of 18, with his brother, he began publishing and editing the periodical The Weekly Entomologist; this ceased publication two years later, after which he became one of the editors of the newly founded Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.[1] In 1866, he entered the University of London, from which he received a B.A. degree in 1868. Ordained a priest of the Church of England in 1870, he served for six years as a parish priest at Greenhithe, Kent.[2]

In 1876, Blackburn was transferred to the Hawaiian Islands, where he served as senior priest and chaplain to the bishop of the Church of Hawaii in Honolulu.[3] During his time there, he collected insects extensively on Oahu and also made brief collecting journeys to other islands of the archipelago.[4] "The first resident naturalist to concentrate on insects", he "supplied scientists at the British Museum in London and elsewhere with a steady stream of specimens, refuting the belief that insects were poorly represented in Hawai'i".[5] Among his discoveries were 23 previously undescribed species of carabid beetles of the tribe Platynini.[6]

Blackburn was transferred to Australia in 1882, becoming rector of St. Thomas' Church in Port Lincoln from 1882 to 1886, then of St. Margaret's in Woodville, where he remained for the rest of his life.[7] After his arrival in Australia, his entomological studies were focused almost exclusively on coleoptera, specimens of which he collected throughout South Australia, as well as on trips to the other states. He also studied, classified, and described specimens sent to him by numerous other collectors throughout the continent. In the words of his obituarist Arthur Lea, Curator of Entomology at the South Australian Museum, "He was a systematist, pure and simple, taking no interest, or, at any rate, very little, in the life histories of the insects themselves."[8] Specializing in the Scarabaeidae, he "became the foremost Australian coleopterist, and published descriptions of 3,069 Australian species".[9] He was a member of the Linnean Society of New South Wales and the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,[10] and from 1887 until his death was Honorary Curator of Entomology for the South Australian Museum.[11] A significant part of his collections, including most of his type material, is housed at the Natural History Museum, London.

Notable descendants of Thomas Blackburn include:

  • His second son, Charles Blackburn (1874 - 1972) OBE (1919) Kt (1936) KCMG (1960) FRACP (1938) (Foundation) PRACP (1938-40) Hon FRCPE (1938) FRCP (1939) Hon DLitt Syd (1965). As a child, Charles Bickerton Blackburn emigrated from England in 1876 to Honolulu and then in 1881 moved to Port Lincoln in South Australia. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Adelaide in 1893 he went on to study medicine. When the Adelaide medical school was closed in 1896 Blackburn relocated his studies to the University of Sydney, graduating with an MB in 1899 and MD in 1903. Blackburn set up in private practice in 1903. He became associated in an honorary capacity with the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the association continued throughout his life. He commenced lecturing at the University of Sydney in 1913 and became chancellor in 1941, a position he held until 1964. Blackburn also found time the serve as a councillor of the New South Wales Branch of the British Medical Association between 1911 and 1957 and was its president during 1920-21. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and served as its first president.
  • His seventh and youngest son, Arthur Blackburn (1892 - 1960) VC, CMG, CBE, Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn was a South Australian soldier, lawyer, politician, arbitration commissioner, coroner, and a Mason. In the army he was one of a very few to enter the AIF as a Private soldier, and serve in two World Wars. He was a much decorated soldier and was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in 1916 at Pozieres in France.
  • His grandson Richard Blackburn was the first son of Arthur Blackburn The Hon. Sir Richard Arthur Blackburn (1918 - 1987) OBE (Mil) graduated with a BA from the University of Adelaide and Oxford University and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Oxford University. He was a Rhodes Scholar in 1940 and attended Eldon Law School in 1949. He was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1949 and was admitted to practice as a solicitor in South Australia in 1951. Justice Blackburn also served in the Australian Imperial Forces from 1940 to 1945 and rose to the rank of Captain. After his term on the Northern Territory Supreme Court bench, from 1966 to 1971, he was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory and was appointed Chief Judge in 1977. He became the first Chief Justice of the Australian Capital Territory in 1982 and also served as a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia from 1977 to 1984. Justice Blackburn was Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of the Australian Capital Territory from 1971 to 1976, Pro-Chancellor of the Australian National University from 1976 to 1984 and Patron of the St John Council for Australian Capital Territory from 1981 to 1984. He was made an Officer of the Military Order of the British Empire in 1965, a Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 1981 and a Knight Bachelor in 1983.


References

  1. ^ Lea, Arthur M. (1912). "The Late Rev. Canon Thomas Blackburn, B.A., and His Entomological Work" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 36: vi. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  2. ^ Lea, p. v.
  3. ^ Lea, p. v.
  4. ^ Liebherr, James K. (2000). Insects of Hawaii, Volume 16: Hawaiian Carabidae (Coleoptera), Part 1: Introduction and Tribe Platynini. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-8248-2356-7. Retrieved 2009-10-29. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Howarth, F. G. (1992). Hawaiian Insects and Their Kin. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-8248-1469-X. Retrieved 2009-10-29. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Liebherr & Zimmerman, p. 14.
  7. ^ Lea, p. v.
  8. ^ Lea, pp. vii–viii.
  9. ^ John L. Capinera, ed. (2008). "Blackburn, Thomas". Encyclopedia of Entomology (2nd ed.). Springer. p. 520. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  10. ^ Lea, p. vii.
  11. ^ "Building the Entomology Collections". Building the Collections. South Australian Museum. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  12. ^ Brady, Catherine (2007). Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres: Deciphering the Ends of DNA. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-262-02622-8. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

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