Moses Harvey (March 21, 1820 – September 3, 1901) was an Irish-born Newfoundland

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

and

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 ...

. He is notable for his contributions to the fields of natural history and literature.

Biography

Harvey was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent and was educated at the Royal Academical Institute at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He became an ordained minister in the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

ministry in 1844. Harvey served at the

John Street Presbyterian Church John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, until he emigrated to St. John's in 1852 with his bride Sarah Anne Browne. He served at St. Andrews Free Presbyterian Church in St. John's. He wrote over 900 articles for the ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' over a 24-year period, some under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

''Delta''. Harvey is the co-founder of the '' Evening Mercury'' newspaper. Harvey studied many aspects of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

's natural history, most notably the habits of the

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, ...

. One species, '' Architeuthis harveyi'', was named in recognition of his work. It was largely through his efforts that the giant squid became known to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

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zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

. Harvey's interests in Newfoundland were varied: he had called for the creation of a cross-island railroad, he was president of the St. John's Athenaeum Society, he pressed for the development of mining in Newfoundland and he also catalogued the rocks, birds and wild flowers of the island. In 1885 he published the book ''Text Book of Newfoundland History.'' His best-known and most prominent book was ''Newfoundland, The Oldest British Colony'', which he co-authored with Joseph Hatton and published in 1883. In 1886, he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

in 1891. Harvey was awarded the honorary degree of LL.D. from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1891. Harvey served as Secretary to the

Newfoundland Fisheries Commission Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland and the continent ...

and wrote and lectured a remarkable document entitled ''The Artificial Propagation of Marine Food Fishes and Edible Crustaceans'', which was published in the Royal Society's transactions for 1892–1893 (volume 9). He died in 1901.

References

External links

* *
ITIS Report on Taxonomic Serial No.: 82393
* 1820 births 1901 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Canadian Presbyterian ministers People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Newfoundland People from Armagh (city) Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent {{canada-clergy-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links