John Beddoe was one of the most prominent English ethnologists in Victorian Britain.

Life

Beddoe was born in Bewdley, Worcestershire and educated at University College, London (BA (London)) and Edinburgh University (M.D. 1853). He served in the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 and was Physician at Bristol Royal Infirmary

Bristol Royal Infirmary

The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the medical faculty of the nearby University of Bristol, and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England, also in...

 from 1862 to 1873. He retired from practice in 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 1891.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1873. He was a founder of the Ethnological Society and president of the Anthropological Institute

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is the world's longest established anthropological organization, with a global membership. Since 1843, it has been at the forefront of new developments in anthropology and new means of communicating them to a broad audience...

 from 1889 to 1891.

Works

He believed that eye colour and hair colour were valuable evidence in the origins of the British people. He wrote The Races of Britain: A Contribution to the Anthropology of Western Europe, (1862) which was re-published in 1862, 1885, 1905 and 1971. Beddoe wrote in his work that all geniuses tended to be "orthognathous" (that is, have receding jaws) while the Irish and the Welsh were "prognathous" (have large jaws). Beddoe also maintained that Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

s were similar to Cromagnon man, and Cromagnon man was similar to the "Africanoid" race. Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

s in Beddoe's "Index of Negrescence

Negrescence

Negrescence is a word with a Latin origin and describes "a process of becoming black". It can also refer to having a dark complexion.In 1885, John Beddoe compiled an index of negrescence to analyze the population of the British Isles. Beddoe used the physical descriptions of a population of 13,000...

" are very different from Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

.