Dr. Laurence Edmondston (9 February 1795 – 7 March 1879) was a Scottish-born

naturalist 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 ...

and

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

who was from

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom. Laurence Edmondston was born in

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

, the capital of Shetland, in 1795. His mother was Mary Sanderson (1751–1831) and his father Laurence Edmondston (1740–1814). He was the youngest brother of Arthur Edmondston (1776–1841). He worked in London at a mercantile office, and resided and travelled on the continent for that office for some time. He then studied medicine in Edinburgh. Although his family originally lived on the island of

Hascosay Hascosay (; Old Norse "Hafskotsey") is a small island lying between Yell and Fetlar in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Geography and geology The island's rock is coarse micaceous gneiss. It has several pools, but the fresh water in them is frequ ...

in Shetland, Laurence settled as a medical practitioner on

Unst Unst (; ) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Shetland Mainland, Mainland and Yell (island), Yell. It has an area o ...

, living at Halligarth, where he established a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

in the late 1830s (trees are scarce in the islands). In his teens, he acquired

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

s of

glaucous gull The glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus'') is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world. The genus name is from Latin , which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific name is Latin for "northern" from the A ...

(''Larus hyperboreus)'' and

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mo ...

(''Bubo scandiacus)'', which were both later recognised as the first British records. In 1822 and 1823, while completing his medical studies in Edinburgh, Edmondston published several papers in the ''Memoirs of the

Wernerian Society The Wernerian Natural History Society (12 January 1808 – 16 April 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as m ...

'', adding two more species to the British List,

Iceland gull The Iceland gull (''Larus glaucoides'') is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not in Iceland (as its name suggests), where it is only seen during winter. The genus name is from Latin ''larus'', wh ...

(''Larus glaucoides'') and ivory gull (''Pagophila eburnea)''. Edmondston's publications revealed a careful observer, capable of recognising that several 'species' recognised at the time were others in juvenile or winter plumages; for example, 'speckled diver' was winter-plumaged

red-throated diver The red-throated loon (North America) or red-throated diver (Britain and Ireland) (''Gavia stellata'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds prim ...

(''Gavia stellata)'' and 'black-billed auk' was juvenile

razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

(''Alca torda)''. He was also a pioneer conservationist as, in 1831, he instructed the shepherds on

Hermaness Hermaness is the northernmost headland of Unst, the most northerly inhabited island of Shetland, Scotland. It consists of huge sea cliffs and moorland, making it an ideal habitat for a variety of birds. Hermaness was designated a national natur ...

to ensure the safety of the tiny population of breeding

great skua The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken fro ...

s. His children included Thomas Edmondston the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

Jessie Saxby Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby (30 June 1842 – 27 December 1940) was a writer and folklorist from Unst, one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. She also had political interests and was a suffragette. Family Born on 30 June 1842 at Hal ...

, an author and wife of the

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 ...

Henry Saxby.

Sources

*Pennington, M. G., Osborn, K., Harvey, P. V., Riddington, R., Okill, J. D., Ellis, P. M. & Heubeck, M. 2004. ''The Birds of Shetland''. Christopher Helm, London. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonston, Laurence 1795 births 1879 deaths People associated with Shetland British ornithologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh