Alexander Frederick Richmond Wollaston (22 May 1875, Clifton, Gloucestershire – 3 June 1930,

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 ...

) was an English

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

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 ...

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 ...

, climber and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. After qualifying as a surgeon in 1903, Wollaston decided to spend his life on exploration and natural history, travelling extensively; he wrote books about his travels and work, and was elected a Fellow 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 ...

in 1907. As a tutor at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, he was shot dead by a deranged student.

Early life and education

The second son of George Hyde Wollaston (1844-1926), a schoolmaster at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

, formerly a geologist, and his wife Sarah Constance (née Richmond), Sandy Wollaston's paternal grandfather was the amateur scientist

Alexander Luard Wollaston Alexander Luard Wollaston FRS (14 June 1804 – 10 June 1874) was an amateur scientist. The fourth son of George Hyde Wollaston (1765–1841) and Mary Anne Luard (aunt of Sir William Luard and John Luard), Wollaston was educated at Hackney and ...

, who was himself grandson of the astronomer Francis Wollaston, whose sons included- alongside A. L. Wollaston's father George Hyde Wollaston (1765-1841)- the philosopher

Francis John Hyde Wollaston Francis John Hyde Wollaston (13 April 1762, London – 12 October 1823) was an English natural philosopher and Jacksonian Professor at the University of Cambridge. Life Francis John Hyde Wollaston was the son of Francis Wollaston (1731–1815) ...

and the chemist

William Hyde Wollaston William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable i ...

. They descended from the theologian and philosopher

William Wollaston William Wollaston (; 26 March 165929 October 1724) was an English school teacher, Church of England priest, scholar of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, theologian, and a major Enlightenment era English philosopher. He is remembered today for one book, ...

. The Wollaston family were landed gentry, of

Shenton Hall Shenton Hall is a country house opposite the church of St John the Evangelist, within the village of Shenton, in Leicestershire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The ...

, Leicestershire, appearing in deeds dating back to the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

. Wollaston was educated at Clifton College before studying medicine at

, graduating in 1896 and qualifying as a surgeon in 1903. However, he disliked the medical profession and preferred to spend his life on exploration and

natural history 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 travelled extensively, visiting Lapland, the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and Japan, as well as participating in the British Museum expedition to the

Ruwenzori Mountains The Rwenzori (also known as the Ruwenzori, Rwenzururu or Rwenjura) are a mountain range, range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruw ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in 1905-1906.

Expeditions to New Guinea

Wollaston participated in the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...

Expedition to the

Snow Mountains The Sudirman Range, also known as the Snow Mountains,"Sudirman Mountains (Snow Mountains)". Papua Insects Foundation. Accessed 5 August 2021/ref> Dugunduguoo, or Nassau Range is a mountain range in Central Papua province, Indonesia. It is named a ...

Netherlands New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the Western New Guinea, western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas administrative territorial entity, overseas territory of ...

in 1910–11. The main aim was to climb the highest mountains there as well as to collect biological and

ethnological Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropology, so ...

specimens. However, the expedition was unsuccessful in its primary aim largely because of obfuscation by the Dutch authorities. In 1912 and 1913 Wollaston led a second expedition (the Wollaston Expedition) to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. There he succeeded in climbing to within 150 m of the summit of the

Carstensz Pyramid Puncak Jaya (; literally "Victorious Peak", Amungme: ''Nemangkawi Ninggok'') or Carstensz Pyramid (, , ) on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of , is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indones ...

, at 4884 m the highest peak on the island, and one not summited until 1962. He is commemorated in the names of a bat, a skink (lizard) and a frog from

: *

Wollaston's roundleaf bat Wollaston's roundleaf bat (''Hipposideros wollastoni'') is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It was named after the explorer Sandy Wollaston. Taxonomy and etymology It was ...

, ''Hipposideros wollastoni'' * Wollaston's forest skink, ''Sphenomorphus wollastoni'' * Highland treefrog, ''Litoria wollastoni'' A third expedition to New Guinea was planned but fell through because of the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, during which he served as a surgeon in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

and was mentioned in dispatches for his war work. Wollaston took part (as doctor, ornithologist and botanist) in the 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

. It was in the course of this expedition that he discovered a new ''

Primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common specie ...

'', a flower which was subsequently named after him as Wollaston's primrose, '' Primula wollastonii''. In 1923 Wollaston married Mary "Polly" Meinertzhagen, the sister of

Richard Meinertzhagen Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating an ...

, with whom he had three children. He was elected to a Fellowship in the

(RGS) in 1907, and received the Gill Memorial in 1914, followed by the society's

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

in 1925 for his expeditions into Africa and New Guinea. He was appointed honorary secretary of the RGS in 1928. Wollaston was invited by

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

to be a tutor at

. He was killed in 1930 in his rooms at King's by an undergraduate student, Douglas Newton Potts, 19, who fatally shot Wollaston and a police officer Francis Willis before shooting himself in a triple

murder–suicide A murder–suicide is an act where an individual intentionally kills one or more people before killing themselves. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms: * Suicide after or during murder inflicted on others ** Suicide af ...

.Garfield, Brian. (2007). ''The Meinertzhagen Mystery. The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud''. Potomac Books: Washington. p.174. The

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

verdict was murder "during temporary insanity". Wollaston's ashes were deposited in the crypt at

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

Bibliography

Books authored by Wollaston include: * 1908 �
''From Ruwenzori to the Congo: a Naturalist's Journey Across Africa''
John Murray: London. * 1912 �
''Pygmies and Papuans: the Stone Age to-day in Dutch New Guinea''
Smith, Elder & Co: London. * 1921 �
''Life of Alfred Newton, Professor of Comparative Anatomy Cambridge University, 1866–1907''
John Murray: London.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollaston, Sandy 1875 births 1930 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Deaths by firearm in England English explorers English mountain climbers English murder victims English ornithologists Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society People educated at Clifton College People murdered in England Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy officers of World War I

Early life and education

Expeditions to New Guinea

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links