James Hector
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Sir James Hector KCMG |
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| Born |
16 March 1834 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 6 November 1907 (aged 73) Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Geologist, naturalist, surgeon |
| Known for | Palliser's expedition, New Zealand Geological Survey |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Georgiana Monro |
| Children | Barclay, Charles Monro, Constance Margaret, David Carmichael, Douglas, Lyell, Georgina, and Marjorie |
| Relatives | David Monro (father-in-law), Charles Monro (brother-in-law) |
| Awards |
Lyell Medal (1877) Clarke Medal (1887) |
Sir James Hector KCMG FRS FRSE(16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed man of science in New Zealand, and during this period he dominated the Colony's scientific institutions in a way that no single man has since.
He was born at 11 Danube Street in the son of Alexander Hector WS and his wife, Margaret Macrostie.
He attended the Edinburgh Academy from 1844 to 1845. At 14, he began articles as an actuary at his father's office. He joined University of Edinburgh as a medical student and received his medical degree in 1856 at the age of 22.
Shortly after receiving his medical degree, upon the recommendation of Sir Roderick Murchison – director-general of the British Geological Survey – Hector was appointed geologist on the Palliser Expedition under the command of John Palliser. The goal of the Palliser expedition to British North America (now Canada) was to explore new railway routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and to collect new species of plants.
In 1858, when Palliser's expedition was exploring a mountain pass near the continental divide of the Canadian Rockies, one of Hector's packhorses fell into the river. As it was being pulled from the water, his own horse strayed and, when chasing after it, Hector records, he was kicked in the chest and knocked unconscious. He wrote in his diary of the expedition: "In attempting to recatch my own horse, which had strayed off while we were engaged with the one in the water, he kicked me in the chest". His companions, thinking him dead, dug a grave for him and prepared to put him in. His premature burial was cancelled when he regained consciousness. The pass and nearby river have been known since as Kicking Horse Pass and Kicking Horse River.
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