James Eustace Bagnall
| James Eustace Bagnall | |
|---|---|
Sketch of Bagnall from 1891
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| Born |
7 November 1830 Birmingham, England |
| Died | 3 September 1918 (aged 87) Birmingham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Contributions to local Floras and bryology. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Bagn. |
James Eustace Bagnall ALS (7 November 1830 – 3 September 1918) was an English naturalist with a particular interest in botany, especially bryology. He was the author of the first Flora of Warwickshire (VC38) in 1891. A noted bryologist, he wrote the Handbook of Mosses in the Young Collector Series, various editions of which were published between 1886 and 1910.
James Eustace Bagnall was born in Birmingham on 7 November 1830. He was the eldest son of James Bagnall (1804–1874) and his wife Jane Amelia (née Wall, 1806–1888). When younger, he lived with his family in central Birmingham, being educated at Singers' Hill School; from 1881, census returns show him living with his sister Fanny in the Aston district of Birmingham. Initially he worked at his father's warehouse as a brass-founder. Between c. 1845 and 1897, he worked as a clerk at Hinks and Wells, who were Birmingham manufacturers of steel pen-nibs. He never married. He died on 3 September 1918.
"Bagnall did not discover the delights of botany until the age of 34, when a friend lent him a microscope." He says of himself that "all my work, whether clerical or botanical, has been done in the scant leisure of a manufactory clerk" and that his "knowledge of botany has been self-acquired." Via the collection of specimens and the collation of records, his main contribution was to what is now called biogeography.
Bagnall was prominent member of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society. His herbarium and papers are held by the Library of Birmingham. The National Museum and Gallery of Wales, Cardiff, has 125 of his bryological specimens. Other herbaria hold specimens he collected (e.g. the Fielding-Druce Herbarium (OXF)).
Bagnall made important contributions to the Floras of the counties surrounding his home in Birmingham. One of his earliest publications, in 1874, was a moss Flora of Warwickshire.
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