G mennen williams obituary

William Swainson, Fellow of the Linnean Society and Fellow of the Royal Society (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an Englishornithologist, malacologist, entomologist and artist.

Life

[change | change source]

Swainson was born in Dover Place, St. Mary Newington, London. He was the eldest son of John Timothy Swainson, who was also of the Linnean Society.^[1] William worked at the Liverpool Customs when he was 14.^[2] He studied the ichthyology of western Sicily.

In 1815, he returned to England because he became ill.

In 1816 he went with the explorer Henry Koster to Brazil.

Soapy'' williams

They did not spend a long time on shore because of a revolution. However, Swainson brought to England over 20,000 insects, 1,200 species of plants, drawings of 120 species of fish, and about 760 bird skins.

As with many Victorian scientists, Swainson was also a member of many societies.

He was elected as a fellow to the Royal Society after his return from Brazil