Wikipedia

George Barlee

George Barlee (né Buckle; 1794–1861) was a British lawyer and conchologist.

George Barlee
Born1794
Died19 November 1861
Exmouth, England
NationalityBritish
Scientific career
FieldsConchology

Life edit

Barlee's original surname was Buckle. He was born in 1794, to the Reverend William Buckle (1759–1830) and his wife Anne (née Smith; died 1800) of Wrentham in Suffolk. Barlee's father William and uncle Charles changed the Buckle family name to Barlee in 1811 by Royal Sign Manual to benefit from a family inheritance, which included retrospectively applying the name change to their children.[1]

Barlee's siblings who survived to adulthood were his older sister Anne (born 1791) who later married the Reverend Frederick Beatty of Dublin,[2] and a younger brother, Thomas Dalling (born 1796), a Royal Navy Midshipman who was wounded in action on the HMS Amelia on 7 February 1813,[3] and later published a volume of poetry.[4] Barlee's stepmother was Lucy Elizabeth Davy.[5]

Barlee began his career as an attorney in the town of Yoxford, Suffolk, but sold off his law residence in 1835.[6]

On 23 September 1821 Barlee married Charlotte Leman, daughter of Reverend Naunton Thomas Ogill Leman of Brampton.[7] They had one son, Naunton Dalling Barlee (13 June 1829 – 7 November 1838),[8] who died aged nine after a protracted illness.[9]

 
USNM 200806 Syntype specimens of bivalve shells of Astarte sulcata minor (Jeffreys, 1864) collected by George Barlee.

After the death of his son Barlee was disconsolate and in poor health.[10] One day while walking on Paignton beach after a storm he noticed a mother and daughter collecting shells and asked if he could assist them, finding some solace in the activity. He befriended the women and later visited their house and shell collection.[10] After this Barlee dedicated himself to the study of natural history, especially conchology. John Gwyn Jeffreys often accompanied Barlee on dredging expeditions.[11] Barlee was sometimes struck with attacks of illness while out dredging, but he carried on working around them.[10]

While Barlee seldom published upon his own discoveries, he shared his specimens with friends and colleagues, and so made notable contributions to the works of other naturalists. Barlee is credited as a friend and contributor in the work of John Gwyn Jeffreys,[12] James Scott Bowerbank[13] and Alfred Merle Norman.[14]

Barlee died at Exmouth on 19 November 1861.[15]

Legacy edit

The Gastropod family Barleeiidae Gray, 1857 and the Genus Barleeia W. Clark, 1853 are named for Barlee, as well as the sponge species Clathria (Clathria) barleei (Bowerbank, 1866).

Specimens collected by Barlee are held in the collections of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History,[16] The Natural History Museum, London,[17] and The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History[18] in Washington.

References edit

  1. ^ The London Gazette. T. Neuman. 31 December 1811 – 4 January 1812. p. 27.
  2. ^ "Marriages". Norfolk Chronicle. 13 June 1818. p. 2.
  3. ^ James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Richard Bentley. pp. 188 [Thomas Dalling is listed as Thomas D. Buckle].
  4. ^ Barlee, Thomas Dalling (1837). Miscellaneous Poetry. E. Collings.
  5. ^ Davy, David Elisha (1982). Blatchly, John (ed.). "A Journal Of Excursions Through The County Of Suffolk 1823-1844". pubhtml5.com. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  6. ^ "Mr George Barlee". The Ipswich Journal. 12 September 1835. p. 2.
  7. ^ "Marriages". Oxford University and City Herald. 6 October 1821. p. 2.
  8. ^ Foster, Joseph (1887). The Royal Lineage of Our Noble and Gentle Families: Together with Their Paternal Ancestry. Hatchards. p. 614.
  9. ^ "Died". The Ipswich Journal. 10 November 1838. p. 2.
  10. ^ a b c Marshall, James Thomas (1911). "Additions to British Conchology: Part vii". The Journal of Conchology. 13 (7): 192–193 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  11. ^ Jeffreys, John Gwyn (1861). "Obituary notice of George Barlee , Esq". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (48): 507. doi:10.1080/00222936108697459. ISSN 0374-5481.
  12. ^ Jeffreys, John Gwyn (1858). "V. Gleanings in British Conchology". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 1 - Third Series (1): 40 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  13. ^ Bowerbank, James Scott (1864). A Monograph of the British Spongiadae. Vol. 1. London: The Ray Society. pp. vii–ix.
  14. ^ Norman, Alfred Merle (1864). "On undescribed British Hydrozoa, Actinozoa, and Polyzoa". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 13 (3): 85 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  15. ^ "Deaths". Exmouth and Plymouth Gazette. 22 November 1861. p. 5.
  16. ^ "Mollusca: Notable Collectors". Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
  17. ^ Natural History Museum (2022), Query on the Natural History Museum Data Portal (data.nhm.ac.uk) (428 records), Natural History Museum, doi:10.5519/qd.xy2ud6n2, retrieved 2022-11-11
  18. ^ "Search the Department of Invertebrate Zoology Collections [Collector: Barlee]". National Museum of Natural History.
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