The Reverend James Bulwer (21 March 1794 – 11 June 1879) was an English

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...

 collector, 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 conchologist.

Bulwer was born at Aylsham

Aylsham

Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, about north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain,...

 in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 and studied at Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...

. During his time at Cambridge he took drawing lessons from the famous landscape artist John Sell Cotman

John Sell Cotman

John Sell Cotman was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator and author, one of the leading lights of the Norwich school of artists.-Early life and work:...

, and became a fellow of the Linnean Society due to his interest in mollusks, one of his three proposers being William Elford Leach

William Elford Leach

William Elford Leach FRS was an English zoologist and marine biologist.Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of a solicitor. At the age of twelve he went to school in Exeter, studying anatomy and chemistry. By this time he was already collecting marine samples from Plymouth Sound and along...

.

In 1818 he was made a deacon and in 1822 a priest. In 1823 he became curate of Booterstown in Dublin, moving to Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 in 1831 and St James's Chapel, Piccadilly

Piccadilly

Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...

 in 1833. He spent several winters travelling in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and the Madeira Islands, sometimes in the company of the philosopher and traveller Alfred Lyall

Alfred Lyall (traveller)

Alfred Lyall was an English philosopher, editor, clergyman and traveller.- Early life :Alfred Lyall was the youngest son of John Lyall , of Findon, Sussex, and Jane Comyn . His eldest brother George Lyall, sometime member of parliament for the City of London, became Chairman of the East India...

. In the spring of 1825 Bulwer collected a specimen of an unknown petrel

Petrel

Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group...

 in the Madeira Islands. This was described by William Jardine

William Jardine (naturalist)

Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegirth, Dumfriesshire was a Scottish naturalist.-Work:...

 and P. J. Selby

Prideaux John Selby

Prideaux John Selby was an English ornithologist, botanist and artist and landowner.Selby is best known for his Illustrations of British Ornithology , the first set of life-sized illustrations of British birds...

 in 1828 and given the common name of Bulwer's Petrel

Bulwer's Petrel

The Bulwer's Petrel is a small petrel in the family Procellariidae, and is one of two species in the genus Bulweria . This bird is named after the Scottish naturalist James Bulwer.- Description :...

. The petrel genus of Bulweria was also named for him.

Bulwer left 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...

 in 1839 and moved back to Norfolk, becoming curate of Blickling

Blickling

Blickling is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England, about north-west of Aylsham on the B1354 road. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 136 and covers . Since the 17th century the village has been concentrated in two areas, around the church and...

 and later Hunworth

Hunworth

Hunworth is a village within the civil parish of Stody in the English county of Norfolk. The village is east-north-east of the town of Fakenham, west-south-west of Cromer and north-north-east of London. The nearest town is Holt which lies north of the village. The nearest railway station is at...

. He renewed his acquaintance with Cotman when his sons attended King's College School

King's College School

King's College School, commonly referred to as KCS, King's, or KCS Wimbledon, is an independent school for day pupils in Wimbledon in south-west London. The school was founded as the junior department of King's College London and occupied part of its premises in Strand, before relocating to...

, and several of his sketches of Spain and Madeira inspired Cotman's watercolours.