Simon Wilkin (27 July 1790, in

Costessey Costessey ( ) is a civil parish centred WNW of Norwich in Norfolk, England. Three centres of population exist: the long-established town/village of Costessey (now commonly Old Costessey) (2011 population 7,265); New Costessey of similar popu ...

− 1862, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

scholar and naturalist whose main interest was

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Life

He was the second of the three children of William Wilkin Wilkin (1762–1799), a Norfolk

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

er, and Cecilia Lucy Wilkin (d. 1796), daughter of

William Jacomb William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

of London. When his father died Wilkin moved to

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

to live with his guardian,

Joseph Kinghorn Joseph Kinghorn (1766–1832) was an English particular Baptist and a life-long minister of St. Mary's Baptist Church in Norwich. Life Kinghorn was born at Gateshead-on-Tyne, County Durham, on 17 January 1766. His father, David Kinghorn (3 Oc ...

, who educated him. He was a close friend of John Curtis, William Kirby, John Burrell and

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

who shared his interest in entomology. Wilkin lost his inherited wealth in 1811 when the

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

in which he was a partner failed, and in 1832 his guardian's death was another financial disaster. Bankruptcy forced the sale of his insect collection to the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. He was then able to establish a printing and publishing business in Norwich. He published the work of

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoreti ...

Amelia Opie Amelia Opie (née Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic period up to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Hers was the first of 187,000 name ...

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

, and William Taylor. In 1825 he married Emma, daughter of John Culley of Costessey, and they had two daughters and a son and in 1834 they moved to London. Wilkin spent thirteen years compiling a complete edition of

Sir Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne (; 19 October 1605 – 19 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a ...

(1835-6; reissued in 1846 and 1852), for which he researched Browne's correspondence in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

and

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

. This edition was said by

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ...

to be "the best reprint in the English language". His

book collection A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical a ...

of Browne is now found at the Norfolk Heritage Centre in

The Forum, Norwich The Forum is a community building in Norwich, Norfolk in England. It stands opposite St Peter Mancroft Church. Built on the site of the previous Norwich Library which burnt down in 1994, the Forum was designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, a ...

as The Wilkin Collection. He was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, and a member of the

Wernerian Society The Wernerian Natural History Society (12 January 1808 – 16 April 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as ...

of Edinburgh

References

*Gage, A. and Stearn, W., 1988. ''A bicentenary history of the Linnean Society of London''. London, Academic Press, 1988. *Jewson, C. B. Jewson, 1979 ''Simon Wilkin of Norwich (1979) *Ordish, G., 1974 ''John Curtis and the pioneering of pest control''. Reading, Osprey. * Wilkin, Simon, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900 *''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkin, Simon English entomologists 1790 births 1862 deaths People from Costessey