Francis Buchanan-Hamilton

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (born February 15, 1762 in Callander , Perthshire , Scotland , † June 15, 1829 ibid), also known as Francis Hamilton-Buchanan and Francis Hamilton, was a Scottish-British doctor , geographer and important explorer of South Asian fish species and Botanist. His main zoological work, under the abbreviation "Hamilton's Fishes", is still of great importance for taxonomy and systematic ichthyology . He is the namesake of the laterite .

Trilingual Laterite Hamilton Monument ( National Geological Monument ) in Angadipuram, Kerala , India

Origin and life

Francis Buchanan was born the third son of Thomas Buchanan of Spittal and Elisabeth Hamilton, heiress of Bardowie, in the parish of Callander, Perthshire , Scotland . In 1783 he passed the medical exam in Edinburgh and began his career in the service of the British Crown as a ship's doctor in the Navy. Health reasons soon led to his departure. From 1794 he served the East India Company in their Bengali branch as a colonial doctor. Shortly after his arrival he was transferred to the Ava Court of Justice , where he devoted himself intensively to his natural history for the first time: he collected, registered and described almost the entire flora of this administrative district, including that of the Andaman Islands.

After the end of his Ava mission, Francis Buchanan interrupted his return journey in Lakkipur, near the mouth of the Brahmaputra . It was there that the description of fish from the Ganges and its tributaries, which is still significant today , was created, but was only published in London and Edinburgh in 1822 . This work contains numerous first scientific descriptions .

Later, now directly subordinate to the Governor General of India , Buchanan wrote his greatest and most important work: To travel through and report upon the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, investigating the state of Agriculture, arts, and commerce; the religion, manners and customs; the history, natural and civil, and antiquities in the dominions of the Rájá of Mysore, and the countries aquiesed by the honorable East India Company in the late and former wars from Tippoo Sultan .

In 1806 Buchanan returned to Great Britain for a short time, but previously also toured Nepal , where he was again able to create extensive botanical collections. Subsequently active again in the Indian colonies , he initially worked mainly in the administration of the East India Company. In 1814 the colonial government appointed him director of the Botanical Garden of Calcutta . But just a year later he returned to Scotland forever . In 1817 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

After the death of his eldest brother, he inherited the maternal inheritance. As a result, he also became the head of the Hamilton clan and from then on bore the additional name Hamilton. Francis Hamilton (formerly Buchanan) died at the age of 67 on "Branziet", the house where he was born.

Honors

Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel named the Buchanania Spreng plant genus after him . from the sumac family (Anacardiaceae).

Fonts

• Francis Buchanan: A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar ... In three volumes. T. Cadell and W. Davies (Booksellers to the Asiatic Society); Black, Parry, and Kingsbury (Booksellers to the East India Company), London 1807. (Volume 1 full text in Google Book Search, Volume 2 full text in Google Book Search, Volume 3 full text in Google Book Search)
• Francis Hamilton (formerly Buchanan): An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal and of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha. Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh 1819 ( full text in Google book search).
• Francis Hamilton (formerly Buchanan): An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh 1822 ( full text in Google book search).

literature

• D. Prain: A sketch of the life of Francis Hamilton (once Buchanan) sometime Superintendent of the Honorable Company's Botanic Garden, Calcutta . In: Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden . Volume 10, No. 2, pp. (1), I-LXXV, Calcutta 1905
• Leslie Stephen (Editor): Dictionary of national Biography . Volume VII, p. 186, Smith, Elder & Co. , London 1886

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed December 15, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]