Sir Charles Maurice Yonge,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(9 December 1899 – 17 March 1986) was an English marine zoologist.

Life

Charles Maurice Yonge was born in Silcoates School near

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1899 the son of John Arthur Yonge (1865–1946) and his wife, Sarah Edith Carr. He was educated at Silcoates School, where his father was headmaster. After leaving school at 17, and enrolling in the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, Yonge joined the Army Training Corps during 1917-1918. After the war ended, Yonge read history at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, before transferring to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1919 to study forestry and later zoology. He was a Baxter Natural Science Scholar while at Edinburgh, working as an Assistant Naturalist with the

Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hil ...

, mainly at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. After graduation with a B.Sc. in 1922, Yonge proceeded to a PhD on the digestive system of marine invertebrates. He took his D.Sc in 1927, for his research into oysters, and then moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1927 as a Balfour student, where he was invited to join and lead the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928–1929. Yonge, his wife Mattie and his colleagues in the expedition spent a year off the coast of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, studying Australia's

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, in particular

Low Isles Low Island is an island lying about north-east of Port Douglas in Trinity Bay, North Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-l ...

Reef. Their work was published in the book, ''A year on the Great Barrier Reef,'' as well as other publications. In 1933, Yonge became Professor of Zoology at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, and was made Regius Professor of Zoology at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1944. Yonge returned to Australia in 1967 to review the Great Barrier Reef with Thomas Goreau and observed some of the Belgian Scientific Expedition to the reef of the same year. He was also supportive of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and Universities of Queensland Expedition to the northern Great Barrier Reef in 1973. He returned to Australia in 1975 to open the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...

Lizard Island Lizard Island, also known as Jiigurru or Dyiigurra, is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island, Queensland, Palfrey Island, and ...

Marine Station. He and Lady Phyllis returned to the Great Barrier Reef and visited Low Isles Reef in 1978. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 17 March 1986.

Publications

*''A Year on the

'' *''The Sea Shore'' *''British Marine Life''

Recognition

In 1945 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Francis Balfour-Browne, James Ritchie, Sir

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

, and Alexander Charles Stephen. He served as Vice President of the Society from 1953 to 1956 and 1969 to 1970 and as President from 1970 to 1973. Yonge was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1946 and won its

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

in 1968. He was knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1967. Yonge received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 1971. In 1927 Yonge married Dr Martha "Mattie" Lennox, a fellow student he had met during their days at

, where she was reading medicine. They had two children, Elspeth (born 1931) and Robin (born 1934). Mattie Lennox Yonge died in 1945. In 1955, Yonge became father-in-law of the physicist Bruno Touschek due to Elspeth's marriage. Sir Maurice Yonge died in 1986. He was survived by his second wife, Phyllis Fraser, whom he married in 1954. They had a son, Christopher (born 1955).

Legacy

Yonge's extensive private marine biology library was sold to the

Australian Institute of Marine Science Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

in 1982. It is now housed at

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

Library. A reef off the northern coast of Queensland was also named for him. A sculpture of Sir Maurice Yonge was created by

Jason deCaires Taylor Jason deCaires Taylor (born 12 August 1974 in Dover) is a British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park – the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park – and underwater museum – Cancún Underwater Museum (MUSA). He is ...

for the Museum of Underwater Art as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition in 2022 The Seawhip Goby, ''Bryaninops yongei'' (Davis & Cohen 1968) was named yongei for Sir Maurice Yonge "our shipmate on Cruise 6 of TE VEGA".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yonge, Charles Maurice 1899 births 1986 deaths People from the City of Wakefield People educated at Silcoates School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of the University of Glasgow Knights Bachelor English knights English marine biologists 20th-century English zoologists Marine zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Great Barrier Reef Green Howards officers British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Naturalist writers Military personnel from West Yorkshire Alumni of the University of Leeds