- John Edmonstone
John Edmonstone is included in the list of
100 Great Black Britons compiled byPatrick Vernon .John Edmonstone was originally a black slave. He came from
Guyana inSouth America .Charles Waterton taught Johntaxidermy . His master, Charles Edmonstone brought him toGlasgow . After he was freed John Edmonstone practiced taxidermy first in Glasgow. Later he settled inEdinburgh at 37 Lothian Street and taughtstudent s atEdinburgh University taxidermy.John Edmonstone and Charles Darwin
John Edmonstone gave
Charles Darwin inspiring accounts oftropical rain forest s in South America and may have encouraged Darwin to explore there.Certainly the taxidermy Darwin learnt from Edmonstone helped him greatly during
The Voyage of the Beagle .John Edmonstone was probably born in Demerara where Charles Waterton's father in law, Charles Edmonstone (b. 1793, Cardross Park, Dunbarton, Scotland - 1822, Demerara, Br. Guiana) had a plantation.
References
* [http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/john_edmonstone.html One Hundred Great Black Britons]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/making_history_20051025.shtml BBC Radio 4, Making History]
* [http://www.vanderleeuwlezing.nl/mcewan_eng.htm Literature, Science and Human Nature]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.