Joseph Sabine FRS ( ; 6 June 1770 – 24 January 1837) was an English lawyer, naturalist and writer on horticulture.

Life and work

Sabine was born into a prominent Anglo-Irish family in

Tewin Tewin is an English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England between the towns of Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn (village) and the county town Hertford, it is within commuting distance of London. Tewin Wood is a very affluent re ...

, Hertfordshire, the eldest son of Joseph Sabine. His younger brother was Sir Edward Sabine. Sabine practised law until 1808, when he was appointed Inspector General of Taxes, a position he held until 1835. He had a lifelong interest in natural history and was an original fellow of 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 ...

, elected on 7 November 1779. Sabine was honorary secretary of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

from 1810 to 1830, and treasurer, and received their gold medal for organising the accounts left in a state of disarray by

Richard Anthony Salisbury Richard Anthony Salisbury, FRS (born Richard Anthony Markham; 2 May 1761 – 23 March 1829) was a British botanist. While he carried out valuable work in horticultural and botanical sciences, several bitter disputes caused him to be ostracised ...

. The society's gardens at Hammersmith, then Chiswick, were established under his guidance. He sent David Douglas and others to collect specimens, and initiated local societies as extensions of the society. He contributed around forty papers for their ''Transactions'', on garden flowers and vegetables. His management of the accounts led to large debts, and after a threat of censure by a committee he resigned in 1830. Sabine then focused on the position of secretary and vice-chairman of the Zoological Society of London, significantly increasing their collection of animals. He was a recognised authority on the moulting, migration, and habit of British birds. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in November 1799. Edward Sabine was a member of John Ross's Arctic voyage in 1818. He sent Joseph a specimen of a new gull which had been discovered during the expedition, which Joseph named

Sabine's gull Sabine's gull ( ) (''Xema sabini'') also known as the fork-tailed gull or xeme, is a small gull. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Xema''. It breeds in colonies on coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a gr ...

(''Larus sabini'') in honour of his brother. Sabine died in Mill Street,

Hanover Square, London Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover ...

, on 24 Jan. 1837, and was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

on 1 February. There is a lithograph of him after a portrait by Eddis, and his name was commemorated by

de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

for a leguminous genus ''Sabinea''.

List of selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabine, Joseph 1770 births 1837 deaths People from East Hertfordshire District 18th-century British botanists Botanists with author abbreviations English zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century British botanists