William Chapman Hewitson

William Chapman Hewitson was a British naturalist, born on 9 January 1806 in Newcastle upon Tyne and died at Oatlands Park, Surrey on 28 May 1878. A wealthy collector, Hewitson was particularly devoted to the Coleoptera and the Lepidoptera and, also, to bird's nests and eggs. His collection of butterflies, collected by him as well as purchased from travellers throughout the world, was one of the largest and most important of his time. He was also an accomplished scientific illustrator.

William Hewitson was educated in York. He became a land-surveyor and was for some time employed under George Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway. Delicate health and the accession to an ample fortune through the death of a relative led him to give up his profession and he afterwards devoted himself to scientific studies. He lived for a time at Bristol and Hampstead. In 1848 he purchased ten or twelve acres of Oatlands Park, Surrey, and built a house there. He remained at of Oatlands for the rest of his life.

Hewitson was a founding member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne in 1829, a member of the Entomological Society of London in 1846, the Zoological Society in 1859, and the Linnean Society in 1862, and contributed to and published many works on entomology and ornithology.

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