Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches



Godman, Frederick Du Cane (England 1834-1919)
natural history

 During his school days at Cambridge Godman befriended Osbert Salvin and Alfred and Edward Newton, all ornithologists, and it wasn't long before his interests turned to ornithology and entomology. In 1861 he joined Salvin for a natural history expedition to Central America; this laid the groundwork for the first section of his and Salvin's magnum opus, the Biologia Centrali-Americana, published in five volumes between 1879 and 1888. Godman continued as editor of the series even after Salvin died in 1898, with the set eventually extending to sixty-three volumes. His other important works include Natural History of the Azores in 1870, and Monograph of the Petrels in 1910. An avid collector, his private collection of specimens, which he donated to the British Museum, approached 200,000 in number.

Life Chronology

--born in Park Hatch, Surrey, England, in January 1834.
--1844: attends Eton
--1855: travels to Crimea during the Crimean War to visit his brother
--1858: enters Trinity College, Cambridge; meets Osbert Salvin
--1861: explores Guatemala with Osbert Salvin
--1865-1870: studies the fauna of the Azores
--1870: publishes his Natural History of the Azores, or Western Islands
--1871: visits Madeira and the Canary Islands
--1879: releases the first volume of the Biologia Centrali-Americana series
--1880: visits India and the Himalayas
--1882: elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
--1885: collecting trip to Mexico
--1891-1892: president of the British Museum
--1892: president, Royal Entomological Society
--1897-1919: trustee of the British Museum
--1907-1910: publishes his A Monograph of the Petrels
--1915: oversees publication of the final volume of the Biologia Centrali-Americana series
--1918: awarded the Linnean Society's gold medal
--dies at London, England, on 19 February 1919.

For Additional Information, See:

--Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 76 (1920): liv-lv.
--Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Ser. B., Vol. 91(641) (1920): i-vi.
--Science, Vol. 50(1287) (1919): 204-205.
--Ibis, Series 11, Vol. 1 (1919): 326-335.


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Copyright 2005 by Charles H. Smith. All rights reserved.
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/GODM1834.htm

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