Philip Pearsall Carpenter (4 November 1819 – 24 May 1877) was an English minister who emigrated to Canada, where his field work as a
malacologist
Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...
or
conchologist is still well regarded today. A man of many talents, he wrote, published, taught, and was a volunteer explaining the growing study of
shells in North America.
Life
Philip P. Carpenter was born in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, England on 4 November 1819. His father was
Lant Carpenter, a notable educator and Unitarian minister. His mother was Anna or Hannah Penn, daughter of John Penn and Mary. Anna was christened on 11 May 1787 in
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...
,
Worcester.
[Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009, DVD format. The subject in RIN 25572.]
P. P. Carpenter, as he was called, was educated at
Trinity Bristol College, and then
Manchester College (then at
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, now at Oxford), gaining a BA from the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1841, the year of his ordination as a minister. Carpenter was a vegetarian and joined the
Vegetarian Society
The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...
in 1851.
Carpenter was a Presbyterian minister in
Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
between 1846 and 1862 and he studied the collection of shells in
the local museum between 1860 and 1865, before moving to Canada. He earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1860. He married Minnie Meyer in 1860. Minnie was born about 1830 in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany. Her parents are unknown.
Carpenter died 24 May 1877 in the
Saint Antoine Ward of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, of
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
complicated by
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
. His widow was still living in their house in 1881.
[Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009, DVD format. Canada census schedules 1881, Department of Agriculture, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; nos.: C-13162 – C-13286, Rec. group 31 – C-13219 page 79, household 347.]
The town of his birth erected a memorial
drinking fountain
A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...
to him, in Bank Gardens by
the town hall.
Notable siblings
Mary Carpenter was born on 3 April 1807 in
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...
, Worcester. She was a social reformer.
who founded of the
Ragged school
Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th-century Great Britain, Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts and intended for society's most impoverished youngste ...
movement. She died on 14 June 1877 and was buried in
Arnos Vale, Bristol, England. She is mentioned in brother William's insert in the ''
Dictionary of Scientific Biography
The ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980 by publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, with main editor the science historian Charles Coulston Gillispie, Charles Gillispie, from Pri ...
'' by
Charles Coulton Gillispie.
William Benjamin Carpenter
William Benjamin Carpenter CB FRS (29 October 1813 – 19 November 1885)
was an English physician, invertebrate zoologist, and physiologist. He was instrumental in the early stages of the unified University of London.
Life
Carpenter was bor ...
was born on 29 October 1813 in
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
, Devon, England. He became a zoologist and worked as his brother did on invertebrates. He died on 19 November 1885 in London and was buried in
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...
, London.
[
]
Partial bibliography
* Gould, A.A., and P.P. Carpenter. 1856. Descriptions of shells from the Gulf of California and the Pacific coasts of Mexico and California. Part II. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24): 198–208.
* Carpenter, P.P. 1856. Monograph of the shells collected by T. Nuttall, Esq., on the California coast, in the years 1834–5. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24):209–229.
* Carpenter, P.P. 1857. Report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1856: 159–368 + 4 plates.
* Carpenter, P.P. 1857. Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. London. 552 pp.
* Carpenter, P.P. 1857
Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. 2nd ed. Oberlin Press, Warrington i–viii + i–xii + 552 pp.
* Carpenter, P.P. 8571967. eprint ofCatalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. ritish Museum, LondonPaleontological Research Institute, Ithaca, NY i–iv + ix–xvi + 552 pp.
* Carpenter, P.P. 1860. Lectures on molluscs. Smithsonian Report 1860:117.Carpenter, P.P. 1872. The molluscs of Western North America, 1872. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 12: 1–446.
See also
* :Taxa named by Philip Pearsall Carpenter
References
Further reading
* Galbraith, I.C.J., and P. Dance. 1961. British Museum (Natural History). memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 10–12.
* Gould, A.A., and P.P. Carpenter. 1856. Descriptions of shells from the Gulf of California and the Pacific coasts of Mexico and California. Part II. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24): 198–208.
* Hanna, G.D., L.G. Hertlein, and A.G. Smith. 1961. California Academy of Sciences. memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 9–10.
* Kellogg, R., and H.A. Rehder. 1961. Smithsonian Institution. memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 12.
*
External links
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Philip Pearsall
1819 births
1877 deaths
19th-century British Presbyterian ministers
Alumni of the University of London
Clergy from Bristol
British conchologists
English Christian religious leaders
English malacologists
English naturalists
People associated with the Vegetarian Society
Scientists from Bristol