Hamlet Clark (30 March 182310 June 1867) was an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and

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 ...

specialising in

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

, especially water beetles and

leaf beetle The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...

s. Hamlet Clark was born in Navenby,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

on 30 March 1823. He was the eldest son of Rev. Henry Clark of Harmston, Lincolnshire. His first schooling was at the Beverly Grammar School after which he studied with the Rev. Scott who ignited his interest in natural history. Hamlet was a sickly child and avoided strenuous activities. He enrolled at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

and studied under the coleopterist Thomas Vernon Wollaston (

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

). Cambridge's tuition in natural history at that time was not of a high standard, but Clark devised his own reading list and purchased specimens from local residents. His interests during that period were birds, spiders, and Lepidoptera. Later on he devoted his time to Coleoptera, in particular the water and leaf beetles. Clark published his first article 'Captures near Towcester' in ''

The Entomologist The ''Entomological Magazine'' was a publication devoted to entomology. The ''Entomological Magazine'' was published between September 1832 and October 1838 by the Society of Entomologists of London. The editor was Edward Newman (entomologist), ...

'' volume 1, 1842, pp. 409–410. He followed up with notes on specimens from Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and at Whittlesea Mere, and in 1855 with 'Synonymic list of the British carnivorous water beetles, together with critical remarks and notices of foreign allied species' (''

The Zoologist ''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896 ...

'', volume 13, pp. 4846–4869). 'A synonymic list of the British species of Philhydrida' appeared the following year in the same journal. He collaborated with John Frederic Dawson on a revision of the classification and taxonomy of the British

Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal ...

. After this date Clark worked almost exclusively on foreign beetles. A world catalogue of Phytophaga, a joint work with

Henry Walter Bates Henry Walter Bates (8 February 1825 – 16 February 1892) was an English natural history, naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the Tropical rainforest ...

, was unfinished at his death, only the first part having been published in 1866. Clark collected extensively throughout Great Britain. In 1856 he joined

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

on a two-month cruise to Spain and Algeria. In December of the same year he accompanied Gray once again on a trip to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Clark was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the Entomological Society of London in 1850, and of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

in 1860.

External links

'Letters Home from Spain, Algeria and Brazil'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Hamlet 1823 births 1867 deaths English entomologists English coleopterists People from North Kesteven District 19th-century Church of England clergy Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London