Samuel Tickell
Encyclopedia
Colonel Samuel Richard Tickell (August 19, 1811 – April 20, 1875) was a British
army officer, artist and ornithologist in India
and Burma.
Tickell was born at Cuttack
in India. He was educated in England
, returning at the age of nineteen to join the Bengal
Native Infantry. He served in Bengal until 1840, when he was made commander of Brian Hodgson
's military escort to Katmandu. He returned to Bengal in 1843, and after his promotion to Captain in 1847 he was moved to lower Burma.
During his time in India, Tickell made important contributions to the country's ornithology and mammalology, with field observations and the collections of specimens. He contributed to volume 17 of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Volume 18 included a report by Tickell from Burma. He wrote under the pen-name of "Ornithognomon" and "Old Log".
Tickell retired in 1865 and settled in the Channel Islands
. In 1870 his eyes suffered an inflammatory attack which made him blind. Tickell had been working on a book entitled Illustrations of Indian Ornithology, but his deteriorating eyesight forced him to abandon it. Before his death he donated the unfinished work to the Zoological Society of London
. He died in Cheltenham
.
A number of birds were named after Tickell, including:
and one species after his wife:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
army officer, artist and ornithologist in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Burma.
Tickell was born at Cuttack
Cuttack
Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...
in India. He was educated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, returning at the age of nineteen to join the Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
Native Infantry. He served in Bengal until 1840, when he was made commander of Brian Hodgson
Brian Houghton Hodgson
Brian Houghton Hodgson was an early naturalist and ethnologist working in British India and Nepal where he was an English civil servant. He described many species, especially birds and mammals from the Himalayas, and several birds were named after him by others such as Edward Blyth...
's military escort to Katmandu. He returned to Bengal in 1843, and after his promotion to Captain in 1847 he was moved to lower Burma.
During his time in India, Tickell made important contributions to the country's ornithology and mammalology, with field observations and the collections of specimens. He contributed to volume 17 of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Volume 18 included a report by Tickell from Burma. He wrote under the pen-name of "Ornithognomon" and "Old Log".
Tickell retired in 1865 and settled in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. In 1870 his eyes suffered an inflammatory attack which made him blind. Tickell had been working on a book entitled Illustrations of Indian Ornithology, but his deteriorating eyesight forced him to abandon it. Before his death he donated the unfinished work to the Zoological Society of London
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
. He died in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
.
A number of birds were named after Tickell, including:
- Rusty-cheeked HornbillRusty-cheeked HornbillThe Tickell's Brown Hornbill , also known as the Rusty-cheeked Hornbill, is a species of hornbill found in forests in southern Burma and adjacent western Thailand. It often includes the Austen's Brown Hornbill as a subspecies.It is about 60–65 cm in length. It is a medium sized hornbill,...
, Anorrhinus tickelli - Tickell's ThrushTickell's ThrushTickell's Thrush is a passerine bird in the thrush family Turdidae. It is common in open forest in the Himalaya, and migrates seasonally into peninsular India....
, Turdus unicolor - Tickell's Flowerpecker, Dicaeum erythrorhynchos
- Tickell's Leaf Warbler, Phylloscopus affinis
and one species after his wife:
- Tickell's Blue FlycatcherTickell's Blue FlycatcherThe Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous...
, Cyornis tickelliae