James Hector
Encyclopedia
Sir James Hector 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.
. 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.
– 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 packhorse
s fell into the river. As it was pulled from the water, his horse bolted, and while chasing after it he was kicked in the chest and knocked unconscious. Hector wrote about the expedition in his diary: "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 the Kicking Horse Pass
and Kicking Horse River
respectively.
The legend of the Kicking Horse is now firmly established in popular Canadian history however, as politely noted by the Palliser scholar, Irene Spry, it "embodies Hector's not always accurate reminiscences about the Expedition." The only member of the Expedition who outlived Hector and who could verify what actually happened was the Metis Peter Erasmus, and his account does not support Hector's. The truer version is this " The doctor was knocked unconscious.
We all leapt from our horses and rushed up to him, but all our attempts to help him recover his senses were of no avail. We then carried him to the shade of some big evergreens while we pitched camp. We were now in serious trouble, and unless Nimrod fetched in game our situation looked hopeless. One man stayed and watched the unconscious doctor. The rest of us took turns trying to catch trout that we could see in the clear mountain water of the river. Dr. Hector must have been unconscious for at least two hours when Sutherland yelled for us to come up; he was now conscious but in great pain. He asked for his kit and directed me to prepare some medicine that would ease the pain. I had him sign a document stating the facts of the accident in case his illness might prove serious. He readily agreed that it would be the proper thing to do. " Hector was an ambitious man who wished to make his mark in Canadian history as the man who discovered the route of the national railway.
in New Zealand to conduct a three year geological survey of Otago
. Hector travelled throughout the south of New Zealand's South Island
to assess its potential for settlement and to record the location of useful minerals. He also assembled a staff of half a dozen men to assist with such tasks as fossil collecting, chemical analysis, and botanical and zoological taxonomy.
In 1865 Hector was appointed to found the Geological Survey of New Zealand, and he moved to Wellington
to supervise the construction of the Colonial Museum
, which was to be the Survey’s headquarters. As the chief Government-employed scientist, Hector gave politicians advice on questions as diverse as exporting wool to Japan and improving fibre production from New Zealand flax. His political influence was underlined by his marriage in 1868 to Maria Georgiana Monro, daughter of the speaker of the House of Representatives
.
Hector managed the Colony’s premier scientific society – the New Zealand Institute – for thirty-five years, and from 1885 was Chancellor of the University of New Zealand
. He controlled virtually every aspect of state-funded science. He had close and, at times, tense relationships with other men of science, in particular Julius von Haast
. At the end of his career he was criticized for failing to acquire Māori artefacts for the Colonial Museum and for not adequately defending his departments from the Liberal Government’s funding cuts. In 1902, for example, the ethnographer Elsdon Best
wrote to Augustus Hamilton, the future director of the Colonial Museum, to state that Hector should be forced from office and that they should ‘put a live man in in his place’.
Hector retired in 1903, after four decades at the centre of organized science in New Zealand. In 1903 during a visit to Canada, he said of his mishap in Kicking Horse Pass, "When I regained consciousness, my grave was dug and they were preparing to put me in it. So that's how Kicking Horse got its name and how I came to have a grave in this part of the world." He died in Lower Hutt
, New Zealand, in 1907.
A number of things have been named after Hector, including:
A number of species and subspecies have been named after Hector, including:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, and surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
who accompanied the Palliser Expedition
Palliser Expedition
The British North American Exploring Expedition, commonly called the Palliser Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The purpose was to explore possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and discover new species of plants...
as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed man of science in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and during this period he dominated the Colony's scientific institutions in a way that no single man has since.
Early life
He was born in Edinburgh and attended the Edinburgh AcademyEdinburgh Academy
The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school which was opened in 1824. The original building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School...
. At 14, he began articles as an actuary
Actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
at his father's office. He joined University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
as a medical student and received his medical degree
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1856.
Palliser expedition
Shortly after receiving his medical degree, upon the recommendation of Sir Roderick MurchisonRoderick Murchison
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...
– director-general of the British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
– Hector was appointed geologist on the Palliser Expedition
Palliser Expedition
The British North American Exploring Expedition, commonly called the Palliser Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The purpose was to explore possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and discover new species of plants...
under the command of John Palliser
John Palliser
John Palliser was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser and a brother of Major Sir William Palliser , all descendants of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel .From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the Waterford Militia,...
. The goal of the Palliser expedition to British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
(now Canada) was to explore new railway routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
and to collect new species of plants.
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
near the continental divide
Continental divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea...
of the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
, one of Hector's packhorse
Packhorse
.A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid such as a horse, mule, donkey or pony used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. ...
s fell into the river. As it was pulled from the water, his horse bolted, and while chasing after it he was kicked in the chest and knocked unconscious. Hector wrote about the expedition in his diary: "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 the Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff National Parks...
and Kicking Horse River
Kicking Horse River
The Kicking Horse River is a river located in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada.The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, was kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector survived and named the river and the...
respectively.
The legend of the Kicking Horse is now firmly established in popular Canadian history however, as politely noted by the Palliser scholar, Irene Spry, it "embodies Hector's not always accurate reminiscences about the Expedition." The only member of the Expedition who outlived Hector and who could verify what actually happened was the Metis Peter Erasmus, and his account does not support Hector's. The truer version is this " The doctor was knocked unconscious.
We all leapt from our horses and rushed up to him, but all our attempts to help him recover his senses were of no avail. We then carried him to the shade of some big evergreens while we pitched camp. We were now in serious trouble, and unless Nimrod fetched in game our situation looked hopeless. One man stayed and watched the unconscious doctor. The rest of us took turns trying to catch trout that we could see in the clear mountain water of the river. Dr. Hector must have been unconscious for at least two hours when Sutherland yelled for us to come up; he was now conscious but in great pain. He asked for his kit and directed me to prepare some medicine that would ease the pain. I had him sign a document stating the facts of the accident in case his illness might prove serious. He readily agreed that it would be the proper thing to do. " Hector was an ambitious man who wished to make his mark in Canadian history as the man who discovered the route of the national railway.
New Zealand
Following his return to Britain after the Palliser expedition, Hector again secured a paid scientific position with Roderick Murchison’s help. In 1862 he arrived in DunedinDunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
in New Zealand to conduct a three year geological survey of Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
. Hector travelled throughout the south of New Zealand's South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
to assess its potential for settlement and to record the location of useful minerals. He also assembled a staff of half a dozen men to assist with such tasks as fossil collecting, chemical analysis, and botanical and zoological taxonomy.
In 1865 Hector was appointed to found the Geological Survey of New Zealand, and he moved to Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
to supervise the construction of the Colonial Museum
New Zealand Dominion Museum building
The New Zealand Dominion Museum building was completed in 1936, and is located on Buckle Street in Wellington next to the National War Memorial. The building originally housed the National Museum, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts...
, which was to be the Survey’s headquarters. As the chief Government-employed scientist, Hector gave politicians advice on questions as diverse as exporting wool to Japan and improving fibre production from New Zealand flax. His political influence was underlined by his marriage in 1868 to Maria Georgiana Monro, daughter of the speaker of the House of Representatives
New Zealand House of Representatives
The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand form the New Zealand Parliament....
.
Hector managed the Colony’s premier scientific society – the New Zealand Institute – for thirty-five years, and from 1885 was Chancellor of the University of New Zealand
University of New Zealand
The University of New Zealand was the New Zealand university from 1870 to 1961. It was the sole New Zealand university, having a federal structure embracing several constituent colleges at various locations around New Zealand...
. He controlled virtually every aspect of state-funded science. He had close and, at times, tense relationships with other men of science, in particular Julius von Haast
Julius von Haast
Sir Johann Franz "Julius" von Haast was a German geologist. He founded Canterbury Museum at Christchurch.-Biography:...
. At the end of his career he was criticized for failing to acquire Māori artefacts for the Colonial Museum and for not adequately defending his departments from the Liberal Government’s funding cuts. In 1902, for example, the ethnographer Elsdon Best
Elsdon Best
Elsdon Best was an ethnographer who made important contributions to the study of the Māori of New Zealand.-Early life and career:...
wrote to Augustus Hamilton, the future director of the Colonial Museum, to state that Hector should be forced from office and that they should ‘put a live man in in his place’.
Hector retired in 1903, after four decades at the centre of organized science in New Zealand. In 1903 during a visit to Canada, he said of his mishap in Kicking Horse Pass, "When I regained consciousness, my grave was dug and they were preparing to put me in it. So that's how Kicking Horse got its name and how I came to have a grave in this part of the world." He died in Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
, New Zealand, in 1907.
Tributes
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June, 1866.A number of things have been named after Hector, including:
- The Hector Memorial MedalHector Memorial MedalThe Hector Memorial Medal is awarded annually for outstanding contribution to the advancement of the particular branch of science. It is awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand in memory of Sir James Hector...
- The library at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaThe Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
was called the Hector Library for a time. It is now called | Te Aka Matua Library & Information Centre. It consists of the merged collections of the Dominion Museum, the National Art Gallery; the Royal Society of New ZealandRoyal Society of New ZealandThe Royal Society of New Zealand , known as the New Zealand Institute before 1933, was established in 1867 to co-ordinate and assist the activities of a number of regional research societies including the Auckland Institute, the Wellington Philosophical Society, the Philosophical Institute of...
and the Wellington Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand. A portrait of Hector hangs just inside the door. - Mount HectorMount Hector, New ZealandMount Hector is the highest mountain of the southern Tararua Range, situated in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It has a height of .The mountain is named after James Hector a leading scientist in New Zealand during the 19th century.-References:...
located in the southern Tararua RangeTararua RangeThe Tararua Range is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand which form a ridge running parallel with the east coast of the island between East Cape and Wellington....
. - Mount HectorMount Hector (Alberta)Mount Hector is a mountain in Banff National Park, Canada. The mountain was named in 1884 by George M. Dawson after James Hector, a geologist on the Palliser Expedition. The mountain is located beside the Icefields Parkway, north of Lake Louise....
located in Banff National ParkBanff National ParkBanff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
.
A number of species and subspecies have been named after Hector, including:
- The Buff WekaWekaThe Weka or woodhen is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where four subspecies are recognized. Weka are sturdy brown birds, about the size of a chicken. As omnivores, they feed mainly on invertebrates and fruit...
, Gallirallus australis hectori - Hector's Beaked WhaleHector's Beaked WhaleHector's beaked whale , is a small mesoplodont living in the Southern Hemisphere. This whale is named after Sir James Hector, a founder of the colonial museum in Wellington, New Zealand...
, Mesoplodon hectori - Hector's DolphinHector's DolphinHector's dolphin is the best-known of the four dolphins in the genus Cephalorhynchus and is found only in New Zealand. At about 1.4 m in length, it is one of the smallest cetaceans....
, Cephalorhynchus hectori - a New Zealand land snail, Huonodon hectori
- a New Zealand lamp shell, Pachymagas hectori
External links
in the Dictionary of New Zealand BiographyDictionary of New Zealand Biography
The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography contains biographies for over 3,000 New Zealanders. It is available in both English and Maori. All volumes of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography are available online....
- James Hector in Collections Online, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Biography in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- Sir James Hector on Peakfinder
- Sir James Hector Timeline
- Publications in Transactions & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Sir James Hector website by the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa