Richard Parnell

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

MWS (1810–28 October 1882) was a British physician as well as an amateur zoologist,

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

and agrostologist. He gives his name to

Parnell's moustached bat Parnell's mustached bat (''Pteronotus parnellii'') is an insectivorous bat native to the Americas. It ranges from southern Sonora, Mexico, south to Brazil. It has a wider historical range; fossil specimens have been collected on the island of Ne ...

. The grass ''Parnelli'' is also named after him. He was born at

Bramford Speke Brampford Speke ( ) is a small village in Devon, to the north of Exeter. The population is 419. It is located on red sandstone cliffs overlooking the river Exe. Its sister village of Upton Pyne lies to its southwest, and Stoke Canon is across ...

in Devon in 1810 the son of John Ratcliffe Parnell (1774-1826). He went to the University of Edinburgh in 1834 to study medicine. He won Professor Robert Graham's gold medal for practical botany and Professor John Lizars' silver medal for anatomy. On 8 February 1836 he was one of the founding members of the

Edinburgh Botanical Society The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities includ ...

. He finished his medical training with postgraduate study in London and Paris. In 1837 (aged 27) he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

, his proposer being

Sir William Jardine Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegarth FRS FRSE FLS FSA (23 February 1800 – 21 November 1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is known for his editing of a long series of natural history books, ''The Naturalist's Library''. Life a ...

. From April 1839 well into 1840 he collected specimens in Jamaica and the West Indies, taking extensive notes and making many illustrations. He also made a tour of the museum collections of the United States. He returned to Edinburgh in the 1850s living in the Leith area at 7 James Place. He was married to a daughter of James Curle of Evelaw. He died at home, 17 Merchiston Avenue in west Edinburgh on 28 October 1882. His collection of fish is held by the National Museum of Scotland.

Publications

*''Essay on the Natural and Economic History of the Fishes (Marine, Fluviatile and Lacustrine) of the River District of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

'' (1838) *''The Grasses of Britain'' vol 1 (1842) *''The Grasses of Britain'' vol 2 (1845)

References

External links

* * 1810 births 1882 deaths Medical doctors from Exeter Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British botanists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scientists from Edinburgh {{UK-bio-stub