John Henry Gurney (4 July 1819 – 20 April 1890) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, amateur

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 ...

, and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician of the

Gurney family A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

Life

Gurney was the only son of

Joseph John Gurney Joseph John Gurney (2 August 1788 – 4 January 1847) was a banker in Norwich, England, and a member of the Gurney family of that city. He became an evangelical minister of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), whose views and actions le ...

Earlham Hall Earlham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It is located just to the west of the city of Norwich, on Earlham Road, on the outskirts of the village of Earlham. For generations it was the home of the Gurney family. The Gurneys were kn ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. At the age of ten he was sent to a private tutor at

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

near the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...

, where he met Henry Doubleday, and commenced his first

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

collection. From there he moved to the Friends' School at

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, and whilst there met

William Yarrell William Yarrell (3 June 1784 – 1 September 1856) was an English zoologist, prolific writer, bookseller and naturalist admired by his contemporaries for his precise scientific work. Yarrell is best known as the author of ''A History of Briti ...

. At the age of seventeen he joined the family's banking business in

. Gurney published a number of articles in ''

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 ...

'' on the birds of Norfolk, for instance 'An Account of the Birds of Norfolk', with W.R. Fisher (1846-1848). Gurney also commenced a collection of

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

. In 1864 he published Part I. of his ''Descriptive Catalogue'' of this collection, and in 1872 he edited ''The Birds of Damara Land'' (

Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of South West Africa, which later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bordered roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the e ...

South-West Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

) from the notes of his friend

Charles John Andersson Charles John (Karl Johan) Andersson (4 March 1827 – 9 July 1867) was a Swedish explorer, hunter and trader as well as an amateur naturalist and ornithologist. He is most famous for the many books he published about his travels, and for being on ...

. Between 1875 and 1882 he produced a series of notes in ''

The Ibis ''Ibis'' (formerly ''The Ibis''), subtitled ''the International Journal of Avian Science'', is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. It was established in 1859. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, be ...

'' on the first volume of the ''Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum'', and in 1884 brought out a ''List of Diurnal Birds of Prey, with References and Annotations''. The archives of

Cambridge University Museum of Zoology The University Museum of Zoology is a museum of the University of Cambridge and part of the research community of the Department of Zoology. The public is welcome and admission is free (2018). The Museum of Zoology is in the David Attenborough ...

contains five volumes of correspondence between

Alfred Newton Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...

and Gurney, who was a founding member of the

Norfolk Naturalists Trust Norfolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

. For the last twenty years of his life he resided at the family's home at

Northrepps Northrepps is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is southeast of Cromer, north of Norwich and north of London. The village lies west of the A149 which runs between Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest rai ...

, near

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

. His son, John Henry Gurney Jr., was also an ornithologist, and his great-great-grandson, Henry Richard Gurney of Heggatt Hall has continued the family tradition. The southern African race of the

black-necked grebe The black-necked grebe or eared grebe (''Podiceps nigricollis'') is a member of the grebe family (biology), family of water birds. It was described in 1831 by Christian Ludwig Brehm. Its breeding plumage features distinctive ochre-coloured feat ...

, ''Podiceps nigricollis gurneyi'', was named by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n zoologist and author Austin Roberts in 1919 in honour of the father and son. John Henry Gurney Jr.'s daughter Agatha Gurney (1881–1937) married Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet. He was appointed a

High Sheriff of Norfolk The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The High Sheriff of Norfolk was originally the principal law enforcement officer in Norfolk and presided at the assizes and other im ...

Political career

He was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

at a by-election in 1854, and was re-elected unopposed in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

and

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

. He stood down from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1865 general election.See also:

Footnotes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, John Henry 1819 births 1890 deaths People from Norwich (district) English ornithologists English bankers Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 People from Northrepps John Henry Sr. 19th-century English businesspeople