William Hincks (16 April 1794 – 10 September 1871) was an Irish Unitarian minister,

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and professor of natural history. He was the first professor of natural history at

University College, Toronto University College, popularly referred to as UC, is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university ...

and president of the

Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

(now the Royal Canadian Institute). He was also the first editor of the Unitarian magazine ''The Inquirer''.

Early life and ministries

Hincks was born on 16 April 1794 in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, the son of Thomas Dix Hincks, an orientalist and naturalist, and Anne Boult. He was educated in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and trained as a minister in Manchester College, York from 1810 to 1815. He served in Cork from 1815 to 1818, then moved to Exeter where he ministered from 1818 to 1822. In 1822 he joined the Unitarian church and served as a minister at Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

until 1827. He didn't work again as a minister until 1839, when he moved to London.

Teaching

In 1827 he returned to Manchester College, York to teach Mathematics and philosophy. While he was there he became involved with the

Philosophical Radicals The Philosophical Radicals were a philosophically-minded group of English political radicals in the nineteenth century inspired by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) and James Mill (1773–1836). Individuals within this group included Francis Place (1771 ...

. He stayed there until 1834 and in 1839 took a break from teaching to resume his work with the church, serving in 1845 as the minister at what later became

Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel The Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in Hampstead, London. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. It is also a Grade II Listed buildi ...

in Hampstead. In 1849 he became the first professor of natural history at

Queen's College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, the same year as the college started teaching and 4 years after it was founded. While there he had a major role in the development of the botanical gardens, in which he hoped to represent all the known orders of plants that he could grow in the Irish climate. He was also involved in developing the museum and

herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. In 1853 he travelled to Canada, where he became the first professor of natural history at University College, Toronto. This was a somewhat controversial appointment as he was chosen over

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 ...

who had the backing of a number of well respected botanists including

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 ...

. It was suspected that his success over Huxley was due to the influence of his brother

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Bar ...

, who was Premier of the Province of Canada at the time. He was said to be well like by his students there, although his ideas and teaching style was often seen as outdated. He was strongly opposed to Darwinism, preferring the Quinarian taxonomic system.

Other work

Hincks was elected as a 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 ...

, a society for the study of

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and natural history, in 1826. In 1828, while teaching at Manchester College, York, he became the first Honorary

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of Botany in the museum of the

Yorkshire Philosophical Society The Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) is a charitable learned society (charity reg. 529709) which aims to promote the public understanding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the archaeology and history of York and Yorkshire. ...

(latterly known as the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soc ...

). The society was formed in 1822 as a charitable organisation aimed at promoting the natural sciences, archaeology and history. Following the construction of the museum and its associated gardens, Hincks planned to organise the plants using de Candolle's system though only a small amount had been planted to this scheme by the time of his departure from the post. Hincks had spent most of time working with the herbarium collections rather than the gardens. While teaching and serving as a clergyman, Hincks also carried out editing and publishing work. He was the first editor of the Unitarian magazine ''The Inquirer'' from 1842 to 1847 during his time in London. His work there was influenced by his interest in education and his desire for an end to slavery and the death penalty. In Canada he served as president of the

from 1869 to 1871 and became editor of their journal, ''the Canadian Journal''. Through this he published a number of books including: * *

Personal life

In 1817 Hincks married Maria Ann Yandell and together they had 8 children, five boys and three girls. One of their sons Thomas Hincks (1818–1899) followed in his fathers footsteps and also became a minister and naturalist. Yandell died in 1849 and Hincks remarried Sarah Maria sometime before leaving England, her maiden name is not known. William Hincks died in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

on 10 September 1871 at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hincks, William 1794 births 1871 deaths 19th-century theologians Clergy from Cork (city) Irish naturalists Academics of Queens College Cork Academic staff of the University of Toronto Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Irish Unitarians Yorkshire Museum people Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society