Frederick DuCane Godman
| Frederick DuCane Godman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
15 January 1834 Park Hatch, Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Died | 19 February 1919 (aged 85) 45 Pont Street, S.W. London |
| Resting place | Cowfold, Sussex, United Kingdom |
| Residence | South Lodge, Lower Beeding, Sussex |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | lepidopterist, entomologist, ornithologist |
| Known for | Founding British Ornithological Union |
| Notable awards | Linnean Medal (1918) |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Godm. |
| Spouse | 1. Edith Elwes (m. 1872) 2. Alice Mary Chaplin (m. 1891) |
| Children | Eva Mary (1895-1965) Catherine Edith (1896-1982) |
Frederick DuCane Godman DCL FRS FLS FGS FRGS FES FZS MRI FRHS (15 January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomologist and ornithologist. He was one of the twenty founding members of the British Ornithologists' Union. Along with Osbert Salvin, he is remembered for studying the fauna and flora of Central America.
Godman collected Iznik, Hispano-Moresque and early Iranian pottery. His collection of more than 600 pieces was donated to the British Museum through the will of his younger daughter, Catherine Edith Godman, who died in 1982.
Frederick Godman came from a wealthy family. He was the third son of Joseph Godman who was a partner in the brewery firm Whitbread & Company. Frederick was sent to study at Eton College in 1844 but left three years later due to poor health and was educated at home by private tutors. At the age of 18 he went with his tutor on a trip around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea visiting southern Spain, Athens and Constantinople.
Godman joined Trinity College, Cambridge in 1853 where he met Alfred Newton and Osbert Salvin. Both Salvin and Godman spent time learning to skin and mount birds at Baker's taxidermy shop on the Trumpington Road. They also spent time in the field on the fens. The custom of these ornithological friends (and his brother Percy) to meet and talk over their recent acquisitions led to the idea of an organisation and the foundation of the British Ornithological Union. At a meeting in Alfred Newton's room in Magdalene College on 17 November 1858, a group that included Godman, Salvin, Wilfred Simpson, John Wolley, Philip Sclater and others decided that "... an Ornithological Union of twenty members should be formed, with the object of establishing a new Journal devoted to Birds: that Lieut.-Colonel H. M. Drummond should be President, Professor Newton the Secretary of the Union, and P.L. Sclater should edit the Journal: that the title of the Journal should be The Ibis." Godman inherited a fortune from his father that allowed him to travel the world.
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