John Ball (naturalist)
Encyclopedia
John Ball was an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 politician, 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 Alpine traveller.

Background and education

Ball was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Nicholas Ball
Nicholas Ball (Irish lawyer)
Nicholas Ball PC , KC was Irish barrister, judge and Liberal politician.He was the eldest son of John Ball, a silk mercer of Dublin, where he lived for many years in No 75, St Stephen's Green...

 and his wife Jane Sherlock. He was educated at Oscott College near Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, and at Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...

, where he was 41st Wrangler but as a Roman Catholic could not be admitted to a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree. He showed in early years a taste for natural science, particularly botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

; and after leaving Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 he travelled in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and elsewhere in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, studying his favourite pursuits, and contributing papers on botany and the Swiss glaciers to scientific periodicals.

Political career

In 1846 Ball was made an assistant poor-law commissioner
Poor Law Commission
The Poor Law Commission was a body established to administrate poor relief after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The commission was made up of three commissioners who became known as "The Bashaws of Somerset House", their secretary and nine clerks or assistant commissioners...

, but resigned in 1847, and in 1848 stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for Sligo
Sligo Borough (UK Parliament constituency)
Sligo Borough is a former borough constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801, and returned one Member of...

. In 1849 he was appointed second poor-law commissioner, but resigned in 1852 and successfully contested the Carlow County
Carlow County (UK Parliament constituency)
Carlow County was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and one MP from 1885 to 1922....

 constituency in the Liberal interest. In 1854, while grave doubts were raised in well-informed quarters about entering a war with Russia, the voice of the people found expression in Ball who assured the government that justification of the Crimean war was vast, high and noble: 'the maintenance in civilized society of the principles of right and justice'. In the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 he attracted Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...

's attention by his abilities, and in 1855 was made Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State....

, a post which he held for two years.

At the colonial office he had great influence in furthering the cause of natural science, particularly in connection with equipment of 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...

 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 (for his efforts, the Ball Range
Ball Range
The Ball Range is a mountain range on the Continental Divide between Vermilion Pass and Red Earth Pass in Kootenay National Park, Canada. The range is named after John Ball, a politician who helped secure funding for the Palliser Expedition....

 in 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...

 was named after him), and with William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...

's efforts to obtain a systematic knowledge of the colonial floras.

Alpinist

In 1858 Ball stood for County Limerick
Limerick County (UK Parliament constituency)
County Limerick, also known as Limerick County, was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.-Boundaries:...

, but was defeated, and he then gave up politics and devoted himself to natural history. He was the first president of the Alpine Club
Alpine Club (UK)
The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...

 (founded 1857), and it is for his work as an alpinist that he is chiefly remembered. His well-known Alpine Guide (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, 1863–1868) was the result of innumerable climbs and journeys and of careful observation recorded in a clear and often entertaining style. He also travelled in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 (1871) and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 (1882), and recorded his observations in books which were recognized as having scientific value.

External links

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