Jardine, Sir William, seventh baronet (1800-1874), Scottish naturalist

Purchased from:

Stevens, London, March 1931 (acc.56483), March 1931 (acc.68133), September 1930 (acc.56557); Glendining, London, May 1935 (acc.68611) and August 1935 (possibly an error for 1934) (acc.67880);

Transferred from Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, c.1939 (acc.91800); Provenance details not recorded (acc.67430).

Sir William Jardine was born on 23 February 1800 in Edinburgh. He entered Edinburgh University in 1817 to read literature and medicine. He continued his studies in Paris from 1820 onwards, and the subjects included anatomy, geology, ornithology, botany, and ichthyology. The first of Jardine's publications was Illustrations of Ornithology, issued jointly with P. J. Selby in 1827–1835. In 1838–1841 he issued British Salmonidae with his own etched plates and in 1860 he was appointed to the royal commission which surveyed the salmon fisheries of England and Wales.

He was an editor of magazines and books, most notably of Naturalist's Library series (1833-1845) and a joint editor of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (1855-1864 ). He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and the royal societies of London and Edinburgh, as well as a member of several natural history societies He was awarded the degree of LLD by Edinburgh University in 1862 and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1826.

William Jardine was married to Jane Home Lizars from 1820 until her death in 1871. They had 7 children. Shortly after Jane's death, Jardine married Hyacinthe, daughter of the Revd W. S. Symonds. Jardine died on 21 November 1874 at Sandown on the Isle of Wight.

At Wellcome Collection:

MS.5830.