Herbert Christopher Robinson (4 November 1874 – 20 May 1929) was a British

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. He is principally known for conceiving and initiating the major ornithological reference ''

The Birds of the Malay Peninsula ''The Birds of the Malay Peninsula'' is a major illustrated ornithological reference work conceived and started by Herbert Christopher Robinson. The full title is ''The Birds of the Malay Peninsula: a general account of the birds inhabiting the ...

''. Robinson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in a large family that included several brokers, barristers and academics. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, and received a scholarship for the Royal School of Mines though he was unable to complete his studies there due to a lung infection. He lived in Davos briefly for health. He joined

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

where an uncle was bursar, but gave up in 1896. An attempted collecting expedition to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

was again abortive because of illness. He worked at the

Liverpool Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

with

Henry Ogg Forbes Henry Ogg Forbes LLD (30 January 1851 – 27 October 1932) was a Scottish explorer, ornithologist, and botanist. He also described a new species of spider, '' Thomisus decipiens''. Biography Forbes was the son of Rev Alexander Forbes M.A. (18 ...

before visiting the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, ms, Negeri-negeri Melayu Bersekutu, Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula—Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang—established by the United Ki ...

where he later accepted the Directorship of Museums. In 1901–1902 he, with

Nelson Annandale Thomas Nelson Annandale CIE FRSE (15 June 1876, in Edinburgh – 10 April 1924, in Calcutta) was a British zoologist, entomologist, anthropologist, and herpetologist. He was the founding director of the Zoological Survey of India. Life The e ...

, led an expedition to

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

and the Siamese Malay States; Robinson wrote a report on

tiger beetle Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, '' Rivacindela hudsoni'', can run at a speed of , or about 125 body lengths per second. ...

s. He was curator of the

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

Museum in Kuala Lumpur from 1903 to 1926, becoming director of fisheries in 1906. In 1905 he led an expedition to

Gunung Tahan Mount Tahan ( ms, Gunung Tahan), is the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia with an elevation of above sea level. It is located within the Taman Negara national forest, in the state of Pahang. The mountain is part of the Tahan Range in the Ten ...

, becoming the first European to reach the summit. He made a return visit to England in 1920. He retired from the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1926 and began preparing a comprehensive illustrated account of the birds of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The are ...

. Of this work he produced the first two volumes and much of the manuscript of a third before he died in a nursing home in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

after a long illness. His work was eventually completed in five volumes by others including F. N. Chasen who died in 1941. The fifth and last volume was published in 1975, written by Lord Medway and David Wells. Acknowledgement of his contributions to zoology include a species of bat, ''

Nyctimene robinsoni The eastern or Queensland tube-nosed bat (''Nyctimene robinsoni'') is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae that lives in north-eastern Australia. ''N. robinsoni'' is one of the few species of megabat that roosts solitarily. They get their common ...

'', named by Oldfield Thomas when describing the specimens Robinson had obtained at

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repai ...

in eastern Australia. Robinson is commemorated in the scientific names of two species of lizards: ''

Malayodracon robinsonii ''Malayodracon'' is a genus of lizard within the family Agamidae. The genus is monotypic, containing the sole species ''Malayodracon robinsonii''. The species, also known commonly as Robinson's anglehead lizard and Robinson's forest dragon, i ...

'' and ''

Tropidophorus robinsoni ''Tropidophorus robinsoni'', Robinson's water skink or Robinson's keeled skink, is a species of skink found in Myanmar and Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in S ...

''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Robinson, H. C.", p. 223).

References

External links

Birds of the Malay Peninsula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Herbert Christopher 1874 births 1929 deaths British zoologists British ornithologists British curators Museum directors British science writers Scientists from Liverpool People educated at Marlborough College