William Robert Ogilvie-Grant

William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (25 March 1863 – 26 July 1924) was a Scottish ornithologist.

Early life and education

 

Illustrated of Himalayan monal by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant

Grant was born on 25 March 1863 as the second son of Capt. the Hon. George Henry Essex Ogilvy-Grant, of Easter Elchies, Craigellachie, Scotland, of the 42nd Highlanders, sixth son of Francis Ogilvy-Grant, 6th Earl of Seafield,^[1] and daughter of Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 2nd Baronet. Ogilvie-Grant was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, where he studied zoology and anatomy.^[2] He also studied at Cargilfield Preparatory School. ^[3]

Career

In 1882 he became an Assistant at the Natural History Museum. He studied ichthyology under Albert C. L. G. Günther, and in 1885 he was put in temporary charge of the Ornithological Section under Richard Bowdler Sharpe's^[2] visit to India. He remained in that department, eventually becoming Curator of Birds from 1909 to 1918.^[4]

He also succeeded Bowdler Sharpe as editor of the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, a post he held from 1904 to 1914.

Ogilvie-Grant made many collecting trips, especially to Socotra and the Madeira and Canary islands.

Taxon described by him

• See Category:Taxa named by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant

Taxon named in his honor

• Ogilvie-Grant is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of gecko, Hemidactylus granti, which is endemic to Socotra.^[5]

• The Banso double-spurred francolin bird Pternistis bicalcaratus Ogilvygranti (Bannerman 1922) is named after him.

Personal life

Ogilvie-Grant married Maud Louisa, daughter of Admiral Mark Robert Pechell; they had a son and three daughters. His son Mark Ogilvie-Grant was a diplomat and botanist.

References

1. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 146th edition, ed. Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2000, p. 1494
2. "William Robert Ogilvie Grant" (PDF). britishbirds.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
3. The Auk. American Ornithologists' Union. 1924. p. 644.
4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. JHU Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Grant, W.R.O.", p. 106).

Source

• Mullens and Swann - A Bibliography of British Ornithology.