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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joshua Alder (7 April 1792 – 21 January 1867)[1] was a British cheesemonger and amateur zoologist and malacologist. As such, he specialized in the Tunicata, and in gastropods.
Joshua Alder | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sketch of Alder from "Men of mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed" by Richard Welford, 1895 | |
| Born | 7 April 1792 Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Died | 21 January 1867 (aged 74) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation | Cheesemonger |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | zoologist |
He was a member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham, and an early member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne, alongside Joseph Swan and Robert Stephenson.[2] He corresponded with Charles Darwin.[2]
His drawings are in the collections of the Great North Museum: Hancock and the British Museum.[3]
From 1841 to 1857 Alder was a tenant at 5 Ravensworth Terrace in the Summerhill area of Newcastle upon Tyne, which he shared with his sister Mary, a woman of independent means, and their two female servants.[2]
During this time, he ran a cheese shop in The Side, a street in central Newcastle.[2] He sold that business and became a shareholder in the Northumberland District Bank, and a gentleman of leisure.[2] A financial crash in 1857 led to the collapse of the bank, and Alder faced ruin.[2] He and Mary were forced to leave Ravensworth Terrace, moving to a smaller house, still extant, in nearby Summerhill Terrace, where he was supported by his sister.[2] In 1863 he wrote to his co-author Albany Hancock of his relief at being awarded a pension of £70 from the civil list by Lord Palmerston at the behest of his scientific colleagues, allowing him to resume his research.[2]
An obituary noted that he was "everywhere accompanied" by his sister, who "assisted him in his studies and was, in short, essential to his life and health".[2]
Alder is profiled in the first episode of the second series of A House Through Time, first shown in April 2019.[2] As a result of research conducted for the programme, a plaque commemorating Alder was unveiled there on 26 September 2018 by presenter David Olusoga and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, David Down.[3] The house has been Grade II listed since June 1976.[4]
A contemporary review described the Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca as "one of the most admirable monographs which has ever appeared in this or any other country".[2] Prince Albert is known to have owned a copy.[2]
Alder discovered over 100 marine species, new to science.[2]
Names or synonyms of hydroids described by Alder include:[5]
Gastropod taxa described by Alder include:
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