Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1850]-1863 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 volumes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sir Richard Owen was born in Lancaster, in 1804. He was educated at Lancaster Grammar School and then enlisted as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. He became interested in surgery He returned to Lancaster and became indentured to a local surgeon, in 1820. He entered the University of Edinburgh medical school, in 1824 and privately attended the lectures of Dr John Barclay. He moved to London and became apprentice to John Abernethy, surgeon, philosopher and President of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1825. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1826. He became Assistant Curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, in 1827, and commenced work cataloguing the collection. He set up a private practice in Lincoln's Inn Fields. He became lecturer on comparative anatomy at St Bartholomew's Hospital, in 1829. He met Georges Cuvier in 1830 and attended the 1831 debates between Cuvier and Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, in Paris. He worked in the dissecting rooms and public galleries of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1831. He published anatomical work on the cephalopod Nautilus, and started the Zoological Magazine, in 1833. He worked on the fossil vertebrates brought back by Darwin on the Beagle. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 1834; Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, in 1836-1856; and gave his first series of Hunterian Lectures to the public, in 1837. He was awarded the Wollaston gold medal by the Geological Society, in 1838; helped found the Royal Microscopical Society, in 1839; and identified the extinct moa of New Zealand from a bone fragment, 1839. He refused a knighthood in 1842. He examined reptile-like fossil bones found in southern England which led him to identify "a distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles" he named Dinosauria, in 1842. He developed his concept of homology and of a common structural plan for all vertebrates or 'archetype'. He became Joint Conservator of the Hunterian Museum with William Clift, in 1842, and Conservator, in 1849. He was elected to 'The Club', founded by Dr Johnson, in 1845. He was a member of the government commission for inquiring into the health of London, in 1847, including Smithfield and other meat markets, in 1849. He described the anatomy of the newly discovered (in 1847) species of ape, the gorilla, [1865]. He engaged in a long running public debate with Thomas Henry Huxley on the evolution of humans from apes. He was a member of the preliminary Committee of organisation for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was Superintendent of the natural history collections at the British Museum, in 1856, and began researches on the collections, publishing many papers on specimens. He was prosector for the London Zoo, dissecting and preserving any zoo animals that died in captivity. He taught natural history to Queen Victoria's children, in 1860. He reported on the first specimen of an unusual Jurassic bird fossil from Germany, Archaeopteryx lithographica, in 1863. He lectured on fossils at the Museum of Practical Geology, and he was Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution, during 1859-1861. His taxonomic work included a number of important discoveries, as he named and described a vast number of living and fossil vertebrates. He campaigned to make the natural history departments of the British Museum into a separate museum, leading to the construction of a new building in South Kensington to house the new British Museum (Natural History), opened in 1881; [now the Natural History Museum]. He was knighted in 1884. He died in Richmond in 1892.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0114 MS0255 [1850]-1863 Collection (fonds) 2 volumes Owen , Sir , Richard , 1804-1892 , Knight , comparative anatomist and palaeontologist
Sir Richard Owen was born in Lancaster, in 1804. He was educated at Lancaster Grammar School and then enlisted as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. He became interested in surgery He returned to Lancaster and became indentured to a local surgeon, in 1820. He entered the University of Edinburgh medical school, in 1824 and privately attended the lectures of Dr John Barclay. He moved to London and became apprentice to John Abernethy, surgeon, philosopher and President of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1825. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1826. He became Assistant Curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, in 1827, and commenced work cataloguing the collection. He set up a private practice in Lincoln's Inn Fields. He became lecturer on comparative anatomy at St Bartholomew's Hospital, in 1829. He met Georges Cuvier in 1830 and attended the 1831 debates between Cuvier and Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, in Paris. He worked in the dissecting rooms and public galleries of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1831. He published anatomical work on the cephalopod Nautilus, and started the Zoological Magazine, in 1833. He worked on the fossil vertebrates brought back by Darwin on the Beagle. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 1834; Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, in 1836-1856; and gave his first series of Hunterian Lectures to the public, in 1837. He was awarded the Wollaston gold medal by the Geological Society, in 1838; helped found the Royal Microscopical Society, in 1839; and identified the extinct moa of New Zealand from a bone fragment, 1839. He refused a knighthood in 1842. He examined reptile-like fossil bones found in southern England which led him to identify "a distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles" he named Dinosauria, in 1842. He developed his concept of homology and of a common structural plan for all vertebrates or 'archetype'. He became Joint Conservator of the Hunterian Museum with William Clift, in 1842, and Conservator, in 1849. He was elected to 'The Club', founded by Dr Johnson, in 1845. He was a member of the government commission for inquiring into the health of London, in 1847, including Smithfield and other meat markets, in 1849. He described the anatomy of the newly discovered (in 1847) species of ape, the gorilla, [1865]. He engaged in a long running public debate with Thomas Henry Huxley on the evolution of humans from apes. He was a member of the preliminary Committee of organisation for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was Superintendent of the natural history collections at the British Museum, in 1856, and began researches on the collections, publishing many papers on specimens. He was prosector for the London Zoo, dissecting and preserving any zoo animals that died in captivity. He taught natural history to Queen Victoria's children, in 1860. He reported on the first specimen of an unusual Jurassic bird fossil from Germany, Archaeopteryx lithographica, in 1863. He lectured on fossils at the Museum of Practical Geology, and he was Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution, during 1859-1861. His taxonomic work included a number of important discoveries, as he named and described a vast number of living and fossil vertebrates. He campaigned to make the natural history departments of the British Museum into a separate museum, leading to the construction of a new building in South Kensington to house the new British Museum (Natural History), opened in 1881; [now the Natural History Museum]. He was knighted in 1884. He died in Richmond in 1892.
Donated by Miss Tremaine, of the Opthalmology department at the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1961.
Papers of Sir Richard Owen, c1850-1863, comprising 2 volumes of letters from Owen. The content is mainly personal, for instance, to his wife Caroline, and sisters Catherine and Eliza; the letters also include some professional content, for instance, to the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and to the editor of The Lancet.
The letters are arranged in chronological order.
By written appointment only.
At the discretion of the librarian.
English
Additional manuscripts catalogue.
Lecture of Sir Charles Bell written by Richard Owen - MS0007/1/3; Owen, Sir Richard (1804-1892) - MS0025; Memoir of William Clift by Richard Owen - MS0233; William White Cooper - Notes of Richard Owen's lectures, 1838-1839 - MS0245;Letter from Jean Pierre Flourens to Richard Owen, 1834 - MS0246; Letter from Lyon Playfair to Richard Owen, 1857 - MS0247; Thomas Wormald - Letters from Richard Owen to Thomas Wormald, 1856-1859 - MS0248/2; Two letters from Richard Owen to Sir Astley Cooper and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1837-1863 - MS0249; Richard Owen commemorative stamps and postcards, 1991 - MS0250.
Other collections related to the Hunterian Museum: Queckett papers - Histology of Animals plates with manuscript notes by Richard Owen.
For details of Sir Richard Owen material in other repositories, see the main collection description at MS0025.
Compiled by Anya Turner.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Sep 2008 Owen , Caroline , 1801-1873 , nee Clift , wife of Sir Richard Owen Family Letter writing Correspondence Information sources Records and correspondence Letters (documents) Owen , Sir , Richard , 1804-1892 , Knight , comparative anatomist and palaeontologist Royal College of Surgeons of England The Lancet Writing Communication skills Communication process
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by Miss Tremaine, of the Opthalmology department at the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1961.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Sir Richard Owen, c1850-1863, comprising 2 volumes of letters from Owen. The content is mainly personal, for instance, to his wife Caroline, and sisters Catherine and Eliza; the letters also include some professional content, for instance, to the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and to the editor of The Lancet.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The letters are arranged in chronological order.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
By written appointment only.
Conditions governing reproduction
At the discretion of the librarian.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Lecture of Sir Charles Bell written by Richard Owen - MS0007/1/3; Owen, Sir Richard (1804-1892) - MS0025; Memoir of William Clift by Richard Owen - MS0233; William White Cooper - Notes of Richard Owen's lectures, 1838-1839 - MS0245;Letter from Jean Pierre Flourens to Richard Owen, 1834 - MS0246; Letter from Lyon Playfair to Richard Owen, 1857 - MS0247; Thomas Wormald - Letters from Richard Owen to Thomas Wormald, 1856-1859 - MS0248/2; Two letters from Richard Owen to Sir Astley Cooper and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1837-1863 - MS0249; Richard Owen commemorative stamps and postcards, 1991 - MS0250.
Other collections related to the Hunterian Museum: Queckett papers - Histology of Animals plates with manuscript notes by Richard Owen.
Finding aids
Additional manuscripts catalogue.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
For details of Sir Richard Owen material in other repositories, see the main collection description at MS0025.
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English