Henry Baker Tristram

The Reverend Henry Baker Tristram FRS (May 11, 1822 - March 8, 1906) was an English clergyman, Biblical scholar, traveller and ornithologist.

Tristram was born at Eglingham vicarage, near Alnwick, Northumberland, and studied at Durham School and Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1846 he was ordained a priest, but he suffered from tuberculosis and was forced to live abroad for his health. He was secretary to the governor of Bermuda from 1847 to 1849. He explored the Sahara desert, and in 1858 visited Palestine, returning there in 1863 and 1872, and dividing his time between natural history observations and identifying Scripture localities. In 1873 he became canon of Durham Cathedral. In 1881 he travelled again to Palestine, the Lebanon, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. He also made a voyage to Japan to visit his daughter Katherine Tristram, who was a missionary in Osaka.

Tristram was a founder and original member of the British Ornithologists' Union, and appointed a fellow of the Royal Society in 1868. His travels and contacts enabled him to accumulate an extensive collection of bird skins, which he sold to the World Museum Liverpool.

Tristram's publications included "The Great Sahara" (1860), "The Land of Israel, a Journal of Travels with Reference to Its Physical History" (1865), "The Natural History of the Bible" (1867), "The Daughters of Syria" (1872), "Land of Moab" (1874), "Pathways of Palestine" (1882), "The Fauna and Flora of Palestine" (1884), "Eastern Customs in Bible Lands" (1894) and "Rambles in Japan" (1895).

A number of birds were named after him, including Tristram's Starling, Tristram's Warbler, Tristram's Woodpecker, Tristram's Serin and Tristram's Storm-petrel. In the desert near Masada the Tristramit can be found.

External links

* 1865: " [http://books.google.com/books?id=Qd8TAAAAIAAJ The land of Israel: Travels in Palestine.] "
* 1873: " [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AHZ1745 The land of Moab; travels and discoveries on the east side of the Dead sea and the Jordan] "