Thomas Blackburn (1844 - 1912)

Born 16 Mar 1844 in Islington, Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Jessie Ann (Wood) Blackburn — married 7 Aug 1870 (to 21 May 1885) in Wandsworth, Surrey, England

Husband of Margaret Henriette Stewart (Browne) Blackburn — married 8 Sep 1886 in St Thomas Church Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 28 May 1912 at age 68 in Woodville, South Australia, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Melanie Paul [send private message] and Jeannie Blackburn [send private message]

Biography

Thomas Blackburn is Notable.

• Church of England priest and entomologist who specialized in the study of beetles.
• Published and edited the periodical The Weekly Entomologist.
• Was one of the editors of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.
• Served as senior priest and chaplain to the bishop of the Church of Hawaii in Honolulu.
• Supplied specimens of Hawai'ian insects to the British Museum in London.
• Discovered 23 previously undescribed species of carabid beetles.
• Honorary Curator of Entomology for the South Australian Museum.

Life Events

Thomas Blackburn was born in Islington, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 16th March 1844, to Samuel and Elizabeth Hannah Blackburn née Williams. His birth was registered in the 2nd Quarter of that year.^{[1] [2]}

He became an ordained minister of the Church of England, and served as senior priest and chaplain to the bishop in Hawai'i, see Image-6, before being sent to South Australia.

Thomas was a minister with the Church of England.

Thomas married twice, firstly: Jessie Anne Wood on the 7th August 1870, in All Saints Church, at Wandsworth, Surrey, England; ^[3] and secondly: Margaret Harriette Stewart Browne on the 8th September 1886, in St Thomas Church Port Lincoln, South Australia. ^[4]
See Image-7

With Jessie Anne née Wood (1870-1885) he had three children, all sons:
• Thomas Wordsworth Gavin (1872)
• Charles Bickerton (1874)
• Edward Forth Williams (1875)

With Margaret Harriette Stewart née Browne (1886-1904) he had four children, a daughter, and three sons:
• John Stewart (1887)
• Harry Kenneth Baines (1889)
• Margaret Browne (1891)
• Arthur Seaforth (1892)

Thomas Blackburn passed away 28th May 1912 in Woodville, Port Adelaide District, South Australia, aged 68 years. See Image-9 ^{[5] [6]}

The Rev Canon Thomas Blackburn is buried North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. See Image-10 ^[7]

Other Life Notes
In 1861 Thomas was living with his parents at 56 New Street, Altrincham, (on the SW outskirts of Greater Manchester). His father Samuel was listed as a Commission Merchant, living with his wife Elizabeth and children Thomas (17), John Bickerton (15), Elizabeth (14), Mary Anne (12) and Eleanor (11). Thomas was listed as a merchant's apprentice.

Thomas Blackburn's interest in insects developed in his teens and was shared by his brother (John Bickerton Blackburn (1845 - 1881, a Lepidopterist). His first notes appeared in the EWI., and when this failed he continued writing in the Weekly Entomologist, a magazine which he published himself, at first at Altrincham, Cheshire, and later in London. The Weekly Entomologist came to an end in November 1863 after 65 numbers had been published, and was immediately followed by the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. of which Blackburn was one of the original five editors. He quickly gave up this post however at the time of taking holy Orders.

His father died in January 1867 aged 51, at "Grassmeade" in Wandsworth, near Wimbledon, Surrey, of phthisis-pulmonalis TB, with his son Thomas Blackburn present at his death.

In 1868 Thomas graduated with a BA from University of London. He became deacon of the Accrington diocese in Manchester on 23 May 1869, becoming a priest on 1 May 1870. From 11 July 1870 he was curate-in-charge at Greenhithe in Kent.

Thomas Blackburn married Jessie Ann Wood on the 7th August 1870, at Wandsworth, Surrey, England.

In the 1871 Census Thomas (27) was the Curate at Greenhithe in Kent, England, living with his wife Jessie Ann (23) and his sister Eleanor (29).

Thomas and Jessie had three children between 1872 and 1876 while living at Greenhithe in Kent, then in 1876 the family departed for the Hawaiian Islands.

As well as being an ordained priest of the Church of England (1870), with whom he served at Greenhithe, Kent, England (parish priest, 1870-1876), the Hawaiian Islands (senior priest and chaplain to the bishop of the Church of Hawaii, 1876-1882), St. Thomas' Church in Port Lincoln, South Australia (rector, 1882-1886), St. Margaret's in Woodville, South Australia (rector, 1886-1912), Thomas was noted as an Australian (despite his English birth) entomologist who specialized in the study of beetles.^[8][9]

On 9th July 1882 Rev. Thomas Blackburn, his wife Jessie and three children departed Honolulu on the steamship "City of New York", bound for South Australia. Accompanying them was Rev. A.F. Merrill, his wife and infant, also from Honolulu. The ship arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, on 23rd July, then sailed for Sydney on 24th July. During the passage to Sydney strong Westerly gales were encountered with very heavy seas and very violent squalls. The Blackburns arrived in Sydney on 29th July, where they stayed for a week before departing for Adelaide on the steamer "Birksgate" on 7th August. The steamer stopped at Newcastle on 8th August then arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia, on Saturday 12th August 1882. Rev. Blackburn preached his first sermon in St Paul's Church in Adelaide in the evening on Sunday 13th August, a day after arriving.

Within a month of arriving in South Australia, Thomas Blackburn and his family moved to Port Lincoln where he was rector of St Thomas' church. On 31 August 1882 the Government Gazette proclaimed that Rev. Blackburn was permitted to perform marriages under the Marriage Act. By 30th September 1882 he was reported to be presiding over a fundraising event for building the Church of England parsonage in Pt Lincoln.

In late 1883 Thomas' brother-in-law, Mr Montague Wood, M.A., stayed with the family in Pt Lincoln for 4 months before returning to England in January 1884.

In April 1884 an Easter picnic was held at Poonindie, followed by a concert at the Institute where a Miss Harriette Browne played a "brilliant piano solo".

In May 1885 Blackburn's wife Jessie died at the age of 37. She was buried in the cemetery at St Thomas' Church.

In July 1886 it was reported that the Rev. C Goodenough Taplin would be taking over as incumbent of St Thomas' Church in Pt Lincoln, exchanging with Rev. Blackburn who would be taking over Rev. Taplin's role at St Margaret's in Woodville, Adelaide.

On 8th September 1886 Thomas Blackburn married Margaret Harriette Stewart Browne, daughter of John Stewart Browne, the Stipendiary Magistrate in Pt Lincoln. He was 42, she was 22. The marriage was officiated by Rev. Taplin. Less than a year later Rev. Taplin sadly died after "taking an overdose of morphia while in an unsound state of mind".

Immediately following the wedding Rev. Blackburn, his new wife and his three children (age 14, 12 & 10) moved to Woodville in Adelaide, where he was rector at St Margaret's Church for the next 25 years until his death. A further four children were born to the Blackburn family in Woodville between 1887 and 1892.

In 1908 Thomas was made honorary canon at the Cathedral Church of St Peter in Adelaide.

Blackburn's main interest was the Coleoptera. He added several new species to the British list, and amongst many species he described as new to science - 3,069 from Australia alone! - was Apion ryei from the Shetlands (EMM., 11, 1874, p.126). In 1875 and 1876 he published a number of 'Outline descriptions of British Coleoptera in the Scottish Naturalist; and following his stay in Honolulu, a substantial paper with David Sharp titled 'Memoirs of the Coleoptera of the Hawaiian Islands' in the Scientific Trans. R. Dublin Soc., (2) 3, 1883-7, pp.119-(290). He also published on the beetles of the Sandwich Islands.

Other Family Notables
In addition to being notable himself, other family members of note are sons: Sir Charles Bickerton Blackburn KCMG OBE and Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn VC CMG CBE; grandson Sir Richard Arthur Blackburn, OBE, grandson Emeritus Professor Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Ruthven Bickerton Blackburn AC,
and great-granddaughter Elizabeth Blackburn ^[10] who "shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in the study of telomeres".^[11]

Legacy
A word portrait of the Rev Thos. Blackburn, B.A. was printed in The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, Sat 14 Sep 1889.^[12]

There is a Mount Blackburn named after Thomas Blackburn in North-West South Australia (Western Australia?), which he discovered while on an expedition collecting beetles.

Sources

1. ↑ GRO Reference:1844 J Quarter in LIVERPOOL Volume 20 Page 402
2. ↑ See Image-8. A Copy of Entry of Birth held by John Blackburn
3. ↑ FreeBMD online search Marriages Sep 1870 BLACKBURN Thomas Wandsworth Vol 1d Page 775
4. ↑ Genealogy SA databases Marriages Registration number: 148/840
5. ↑ Genealogy SA databases Deaths Registration number: 365/424
6. ↑ See image-9. Copy of Record in South Australian Death Register
7. ↑ BillionGraves Thomas Blackburn
8. ↑ National Library of Australia Blackburn, Thomas (1844-1912)
9. ↑ Entry for Thomas Blackburn in Encyclopedia of Australian Science
10. ↑ Wikipedia entry for Elizabeth Blackburn Elizabeth Blackburn (biological researcher)
11. ↑ Wikipedia (eng)
12. ↑ Our Men of Science. 14 Sep 1889. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser p. 1 (ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT TO THE SYDNEY MAIL). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162063303

See also:

• Wikipedia: Thomas Blackburn (entomologist)
• Wikidata: Item Q3524918, en:Wikipedia
• Trove newspaper articles from 1882 including Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, SA Register, SA Weekly Chronicle.