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Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and
ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
. As a parson-naturalist he was an early supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution and creation.


Biography

He was the son of the Rev. Henry Baker Tristram, born at Eglingham vicarage, near
Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...
, Northumberland. He studied at Durham School and
Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, th ...
. In 1846 he was ordained a priest.


Diplomatic, scientific and missionary work

Tristram was secretary to the governor of
Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...
from 1847 to 1849. He explored the
Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
desert, and in 1858 visited Palestine, returning there in 1863 and 1872, and dividing his time between natural history observations and identifying localities mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. In 1873 he became canon of
Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...
. In 1881 he travelled again to Palestine, the
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
,
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, and
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
. He also made a voyage to Japan to visit his daughter, Katherine Alice Salvin Tristram, who was a
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
and teacher in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
. In 1858, he read the simultaneously-published papers by
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
and
Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British natural history, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution thro ...
that were read in the
Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
, and published a paper in
Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...
stating that given the "series of about 100 Larks of various species before me... I cannot help feeling convinced of the views set forth by Messrs Darwin and Wallace." He attempted to reconcile this early acceptance of
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
with creation. Following the famous Oxford Debate between
Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...
and
Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day. Natural ...
, Tristram, after early acceptance of the theory, rejected Darwinism. Tristram was a founder and original member of the
British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henr ...
, and appointed a fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1868. Edward Bartlett, an English ornithologist and son of
Abraham Dee Bartlett Abraham Dee Bartlett (27 October 1812 – 7 May 1897) was a British taxidermist and an expert on captive animals. A superintendent of the London Zoo, he was a prominent observer of animal life and a zoologist who became a popular authority on wi ...
, accompanied Tristram to Palestine in 1863–1864. During his travels he accumulated an extensive collection of bird skins, which he sold to the
World Museum Liverpool World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...
.


Published works

Tristram's publications included
''The Great Sahara''
(1860) *''The Land of Israel, a Journal of Travels in Palestine, Undertaken with Special Reference to Its Physical Character'' (1865) *''The Natural History of the Bible'' (1867)
10th edition (1911)
*''Scenes in the East'' (1870) *''The Daughters of Syria'' (1872) *''Land of Moab'' (1874) *''Pathways of Palestine'' (1882) *''The Fauna and Flora of Palestine'' (1884) *
''The Survey of Western Palestine: The Fauna and Flora of Palestine''
(1884) *''Eastern Customs in Bible Lands'' (1894) and ''Rambles in Japan'' (1895)


Legacy

A number of birds were named after him, including Tristram's starling (also called Tristram's grackle), Tristram's warbler, Tristram's woodpecker, Tristram's serin, and Tristram's storm-petrel. He also lent his name to the gerbil '' Meriones tristrami'' (also called Tristram's jird). He is also commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, '' Acanthodactylus tristrami''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Tristram", p. 268).


References


External links

* 1865:
The land of Israel: Travels in Palestine
'. * 1873:
The land of Moab; travels and discoveries on the east side of the Dead Sea and the Jordan
' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tristram, Henry Baker 1822 births 1906 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford English ornithologists English travel writers Fellows of the Royal Society Holy Land travellers Palestinologists Parson-naturalists People educated at Durham School People from Alnwick Theistic evolutionists Zoological collectors Natural history of Palestine (region)