- Laurence Edmondston
Dr. Laurence Edmondston (1795-1879) was a British-born naturalist and doctor who lived in
Shetland ,Scotland ,United Kingdom .Although his family originally lived on the
island ofHascosay in Shetland, Laurence lived with his brother Thomas onUnst . In his teens, he acquiredspecimen s ofGlaucous Gull "Larus hyperboreus" andSnowy Owl "Bubo scandiacus", both later recognised as the first British records. In 1822 and 1823, while completing his medical studies inEdinburgh , Edmondston published several papers in the Memoirs of theWernerian Society , adding two more species to the British List,Iceland Gull "Larus glaucoides" andIvory Gull "Pagophila eburnea".Edmondston’s publications revealed a careful observer, capable of recognising that several ‘species’ recognised at the time were others in juvenile or winter plu
Red-throated Diver "Gavia stellata" and ‘Black-billed Auk’ was juvenileRazorbill "Alca torda". He was also a pioneerconservationist as, in 1831, he instructed the shepherds onHermaness onUnst to ensure the safety of the tiny population of breedingGreat Skua s.Edmondston studied medicine at
Edinburgh and became the island doctor on Unst, living at Halligarth, where he established aplantation in the late 1830s (trees are scarce in the islands).His children included
Thomas Edmondston thebotanist and Jessie Saxby, anauthor andwife of theornithologist Henry Saxby .References
*Pennington, M. G., Osborn, K., Harvey, P. V., Riddington, R., Okill, J. D., Ellis, P. M. & Heubeck, M. 2004. "The Birds of Shetland". Christopher Helm, London.
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