Thomas Workman (1843–1900) was an Irish

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

who travelled widely collecting

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and studying

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

. He is best known for his book ''Malaysian Spiders'', published in 1896, in which he described several new

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

Biography

Thomas Workman was born at Ceara, Windsor Avenue,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Ireland on 14 August 1843 into a wealthy family involved in muslin, linen and commerce. He became a successful businessman, at first in the linen trade and then in shipbuilding. He was the elder brother of Frank Workman, born in 1856, who founded the Belfast shipyard of Workman Clark in 1879.

Travel

In the years 1869 and 1870 Workman travelled in Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North America spending his time mainly in the West, much with native tribes. His trip journals and accounts of the natural history of the Great Plains, American plains and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans (Thomas Workman, Illustrated Notebook, ''Letters from the Far West'') are now in the Public Records Office in Belfast. His collection of North American Indian Artifact (archaeology), artefacts is in the Ulster Museum. Each year, when business and family permitted, Workman spent lengthy periods in foreign lands, collecting insects, especially butterflies and spiders. His ethnography, ethnographic collections are in the Ulster Museum in Belfast. His most significant trips were * 1881 - Brazil * 1883 - India, Burma, Singapore, China and the Philippines * 1888 - Singapore and Ceylon * 1890 - Singapore and Java (island), Java * 1892 - Ceylon, Singapore and India Diarmid A.

Societies

Workman was, as well as being actively involved in the civic administration of Belfast, the Honorary Librarian of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society becoming president in 1898.He was a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.Their 1852 meeting was held in his warehouse on Belfast's Bedford Street. He died in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A in 1900, having caught a chill en route from Vancouver following a trip to the Rocky Mountains.Finnegan, Diarmid A. 2015 ''Webs of Science, Webs of Commerce.The Life-Worlds of a Merchant Naturalist'' In Spaces of Global Knowledge ImprintRoutledge eBook

Achievements

Aside from his work on spiders, especially those of the Far East, Workman was a lepidoptera, lepidopterist.He had an extensive world butterfly collection including specimens purchased. from Hans Fruhstorfer and Otto Staudinger. Included are specimens figured in ''Macrolepidoptera of the World. A systematic description of the hitherto known Macrolepidoptera, edited in collaboration with well-known specialists'' published in Stuttgart by Alfred Kermen. edited by Adalbert Seitz.

Contacts

*Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828–1917) England *Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (1830–1901) Sweden *Adalbert Seitz (1860–1938) Germany

Spiders named after Workman

*''Damarchus workmanii'' Thorell *''Theridium workmanii'' Thorell *''Phidippus workmanii'' Peckham & Peckham *''Goleta workmanii'' Peckham & Peckham

Published work

*1880 Irish Spiders in ''The Entomologist'' *1896 ''Malaysian Spiders'' Volume 1 Privately published in Belfast.

Collections

*Campbell College, Belfast: Lepidoptera *Ulster Museum, Belfast: Lepidoptera *National Museum of Ireland, Dublin Irish spiders: Lepidoptera *Natural History Museum, London World spiders: Lepidoptera

Correspondence

Workman's correspondence, diaries etc. are in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Public records Office Belfast

References

*''Irish Naturalist'' 9:241 *''Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society Centennial Volume'' 1821-1891 144pp., portrait.

External links

Dictionary Irish Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Workman, Thomas 1843 births 1900 deaths Irish entomologists British arachnologists Scientists from Belfast People educated at Campbell College 19th-century British zoologists Irish lepidopterists 19th-century Irish anthropologists