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

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 ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. 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 port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, 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 Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

briefly for health. He joined

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

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

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

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 (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. (1821� ...

before visiting the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

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

Nelson Annandale Thomas Nelson Annandale Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 June 1876, in Edinburgh – 10 April 1924, in Calcutta) was a British zoology, zoologist, entomologist, anthropology, anthropologist, a ...

, led an expedition to

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, 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, Kel ...

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 the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

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 (), is the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia with an elevation of above sea level, on the border between the states of Pahang and Kelantan, with the peak lying on the Pahangite side. It is part of the Taman Negara that straddles ...

, 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 service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

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

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located 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 area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. 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 status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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 Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

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 ...

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, is e ...

'' and '' Tropidophorus robinsoni''.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