Charles Chilton (27 September 1860 – 25 October 1929) was a New Zealand

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

, the first rector to be appointed in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, and the first person to be awarded a D.Sc. degree in New Zealand.

Biography

Chilton was born on 27 September 1860 at Little Marstone, Pencombe, son of Thomas Chilton, (near

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...

, Herefordshire, England) but emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1862. They settled on a farm at East Eyreton,

North Canterbury Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

. He was troubled by his hips from an early age, and had his left leg

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is ...

, using an

artificial leg In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

and a

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the human leg, legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. Hi ...

thereafter. He entered Canterbury College in 1875 as an unmatriculated student, and matriculated three years later. In 1881, he gained a Master of Art with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

, having been taught by Frederick Hutton, who inspired him to take up biology, especially the study of

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s, which had been little studied in New Zealand up to that time. Chilton's first

scientific publication Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical co ...

followed that same year, when he described three new species of crustacean (two crabs and one

isopod Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

) from

Lyttelton Harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is a major inlet on the northwest side of Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand; the other major inlet is Akaroa Harbour, which enters from the southern side of the ...

and

Lake Pupuke Lake Pupuke (traditionally known in Māori as Pupukemoana) is a heart-shaped freshwater lake occupying a volcanic crater (or maar) between the suburbs of Takapuna and Milford on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The heart shape is a r ...

. He surprised the scientific world later that year by describing four species of

amphipod Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphipod species cur ...

and

from

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

s at the family farm in Eyreton. He went on to discover the isopod '' Phreatoicus typicus'' in the same location, the first example ever described of the suborder

Phreatoicidea Phreatoicidea is a suborder of isopod crustaceans. Extant species are confined to freshwater environments in South Africa, India, and Oceania. This seemingly Gondwana-derived distribution belies the fact that the group once had a cosmopolitan dis ...

, the "earliest derived isopod . Chilton gained the first BSc degree from the

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1887, and married Elizabeth Jack, whom he had met at Dunedin Training College, in 1888. In 1893, he gained the first D.Sc. awarded in New Zealand, but in 1895, the family moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where Chilton studied medicine in an attempt to improve his career. He specialised in ophthalmic surgery, working at

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Com ...

, before travelling to study at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Vienna and London in 1900. In 1901, he returned to New Zealand and in 1903 took on the Chair of Biology at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

. From 1904 to 1911, the Chilton family lived at ''

Llanmaes Llanmaes () is a small village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan near the market town of Llantwit Major. The population in 2011 was 403. Amenities Llanmaes has a long history, with remains of a Roman fort in fields next to the coast ro ...

'', a house built by

Francis Petre Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...

in central Christchurch. In 1907 Chilton was selected to be a member of the

1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition The Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition of 1907 was organised by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. The main aim of the expedition was to extend the magnetic survey of New Zealand by investigating Campbell Island and the Auckla ...

. The main aim of the expedition was to extend the magnetic survey of New Zealand by investigating Auckland and Campbell Islands but botanical, biological and zoological surveys were also conducted. The voyage also resulted in rescue of the castaways of the shipwreck the ''

Dundonald Dundonald may refer to: Places Canada * Dundonald, Ontario, Cramahe * Dundonald, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan * Dundonald Park, in Ottawa South Africa * Dundonald, Mpumalanga United Kingdom * Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland ** Dundonald ...

'' in the Auckland Islands. Chilton was the editor of the subsequent scientific reports resulting from the expedition. Chilton was instrumental in establishing the Cass Field Station (formerly Canterbury College Mountain Biological Station), the building of which was completed in 1914. In 1915, Frank Chilton, the couple's only child, a second-year medical student and a lieutenant in the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

, was killed in the Battle of Gallipoli. Charles Chilton became rector of Canterbury University College in 1921, the first time such a post had been granted in Australia or New Zealand. He was a member of the Board of Governors of Canterbury Agricultural College in Lincoln (now Lincoln University), and chairman of the board in 1927. In 1922 he was awarded the

Mueller Medal The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

by the

Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

.ANZAAS > Mueller Medal Recipients (1904-2005)
archive.is Retrieved 12 February 2025. Chilton died on 25 October 1929 of a sudden attack of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, before he could collect his life's work into a single

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

. He had published 130 papers on crustaceans, mostly amphipods, isopods and decapods, from all around the world, but especially from New Zealand, subterranean and sub-Antarctic waters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Charles New Zealand carcinologists 1860 births 1929 deaths New Zealand amputees People from Herefordshire People from North Canterbury University of Otago alumni Academic staff of the University of Canterbury Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British emigrants to New Zealand Directors of museums in New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand zoologists 19th-century New Zealand zoologists Chancellors of Lincoln University (New Zealand) Scientists with disabilities

Biography

See also

References

External links