James Edge Partington (or Edge-Partington, 1854–1930) was a British anthropologist, acknowledged as an authority on Pacific

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

. He collected materials of the peoples of the Pacific and Australasian regions, but also took an interest in the peasant culture of Europe, especially in the area of the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

Life and legacy

Born 6 February 1854, his family moved from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to London, though he maintained close connections with the North of the country. His education was at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, and after reading law he began a career as a solicitor. He made an extended expedition to the Pacific, starting in 1879. Partington was a long serving member of the

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

, frequently attending its meetings and publishing in its journal, and volunteered his time to the ethnological department of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He built up a substantial library of books during his lifetime. The sale catalogue for these ran to 190 pages. There were 2,682 items just relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Before he died on 4 November 1930, his extensive collections and some volumes from his library were donated to the British,

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, and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

museums.136. "James Edge-Partington, Born 6th February, 1854, Died 4th November, 1930." O. M. Dalton, ''Man'' Vol. 31, (Jul., 1931), pp. 129-131

References

1854 births 1930 deaths British anthropologists Australian book and manuscript collectors People educated at Rugby School {{UK-anthropologist-stub