Jonathan Couch
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Couch was a British
naturalist
, the only child of Richard and Philippa Couch, of a family long resident at Polperro
, a small fishing village between Looe
and Fowey
, on the south coast of Cornwall
.
and St. Thomas's
in 1808, and in 1809 or early in 1810 returned to Polperro, which he was rarely to leave, dying on 13 April 1870, aged 81. For sixty years he was the doctor and trusted adviser of the village and neighbourhood, and used with remarkable shrewdness and perseverance the great opportunities afforded to a naturalist at Polperro.
and to William Yarrell
. Among his local fellow-workers and coadjutors, each of them notable, were C. W. Peach, Matthias Dunn
, and William Loughrin.
Couch's principal work was done in ichthyology
. In 1835 he obtained a prize offered by Mr. J. Buller of Morval
for the best natural history of the pilchard, printed in the third report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
, and also separately. He had before this given much assistance to Bewick in his British Quadrupeds, as well as in relation to his projected Natural History of British Fishes, and Yarrell was still more indebted to him in his British Fishes, to all three editions of which (1836, 1841, and 1859) Couch was a copious contributor.
His Cornish Fauna, (part i. 1838, part ii. 1841), completed by his son Richard Quiller Couch
in 1844, was another valuable piece of work. But his magnum opus was A History of the Fishes of the British Islands, with coloured illustrations from his own drawings, (4 vols., London, 1860–65). This is a storehouse of information, carefully collected and sifted, as to the habits of fishes, and in many cases the illustrations give unique representations of the vivid natural colours of fishes while yet alive or immediately after death. A multitude of shorter papers and notes on natural history were contributed by Couch to the Imperial Magazine, edited by his friend Samuel Drew
, from 1819 to 1830, the Transactions and Proceedings of the Linnean Society, the Magazine of Natural History, the Reports of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
, the Reports of the British Association, Annals of Natural History, the Transactions of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society
, the Zoologist, the Intellectual Observer, &c., which are recorded in Boase
and Courtney's Bibliotheca Cornubiensis, (i. 89–92, and iii. 1138), and in the History of Polperro (a less complete list). He also contributed to Land and Water, under the signature ‘Video.’
His Illustrations of Instinct, deduced from the Habits of British Animals, (1847), is a very interesting book. He translated Pliny
's Natural History, with notes, and vols. i. and ii. and parts i. to v. of vol. iii. were published by the Wernerian Club, (1847–50). He left behind him in manuscript Notes and Extracts on Subjects of Natural History, and bearing on the ancient condition of the Science, now in the library of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
; A Treatise on Dreams; Historical Biographies of Animals known to the Ancients; Materials for a History of the British Cetacea; A Journal of Natural History, being the result of my own observations or derived from living testimony, (1805–70, 12 vols.; figures of Cornish shells, coloured); A Natural History of Cornish Fishes, with pen-and-ink and coloured figures, (1836), in the library of the Linnean Society. This is the volume employed by Yarrell in his British Fishes, and quoted by him as ‘Couch's MSS.’ Dr. F. Day published a series of most interesting extracts from Couch's manuscript journals in Land and Water from 11 August 1883 to 29 March 1884. Other albums of his original drawings of fishes are in the John Rylands Library
, and the Natural History Museum As a local naturalist whose conscientious and loving observation of nature has made a lasting impression on science, he deserves to rank beside Gilbert White
.
Couch left three sons by his second wife: Richard Quiller
, Thomas Quiller (father of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
), and John Quiller, who all became surgeons (Quiller being their mother's maiden name and Quiller's House the family residence). Thomas practised successfully at Bodmin, and died on 23 October 1884, aged 58. He was a constant contributor to Notes and Queries
, two series of his articles, The Folklore of a Cornish Village, 1855 and 1857, being incorporated in the History of Polperro to which he contributed a sketch of his father's life. He also published lists of local words in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (1864 and 1870), afterwards expanded and included in a Glossary of Words in Use in Cornwall, issued by the English Dialect Society in 1880. He did some useful preparatory work in Cornish bibliography, afterwards incorporated in the Bibliotheca Cornubiensis (Academy, 1 Nov. 1884, p. 289).
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
, the only child of Richard and Philippa Couch, of a family long resident at Polperro
Polperro
Polperro is a village and fishing harbour on the south-east Cornwall coast in South West England, UK, within the civil parish of Lansallos. Situated on the River Pol, 4 miles west of the neighbouring town of Looe and west of the major city and naval port of Plymouth, it is well-known for...
, a small fishing village between Looe
Looe
Looe is a small coastal town, fishing port and civil parish in the former Caradon district of south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 . Looe is divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe and West Looe being connected by a bridge...
and Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
, on the south coast of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
Biography
After receiving a sound classical education in Cornish schools, and some years' pupillage with two local medical men, he entered the united hospitals of Guy'sGuy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
and St. Thomas's
St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
in 1808, and in 1809 or early in 1810 returned to Polperro, which he was rarely to leave, dying on 13 April 1870, aged 81. For sixty years he was the doctor and trusted adviser of the village and neighbourhood, and used with remarkable shrewdness and perseverance the great opportunities afforded to a naturalist at Polperro.
Natural history
He trained in succession a large number of fishermen to aid him in his pursuits, and the observations made at and near Polperro during his lifetime and since his death have not been equalled in value at any British station. He was in correspondence with many of the foremost naturalists, and especially rendered aid to Thomas BewickThomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.- Early life and apprenticeship :Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753...
and to William Yarrell
William Yarrell
William Yarrell was an English bookseller and naturalist.Yarrell is best known as the author of The History of British Fishes and The History of British Birds . The latter went into several editions and was the standard reference work for a generation of British ornithologists...
. Among his local fellow-workers and coadjutors, each of them notable, were C. W. Peach, Matthias Dunn
Matthias Dunn
Matthias Dunn was an Inspector of Mines in the North-east of England, United Kingdom during the 19th century. He lived at Stella Hall, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and owned a quarter share in the Stargate Pit which was the site of the Stargate Pit Explosion of 1826.In 1830 he sunk a new shaft, the "Great...
, and William Loughrin.
Couch's principal work was done in ichthyology
Ichthyology
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. This includes skeletal fish , cartilaginous fish , and jawless fish...
. In 1835 he obtained a prize offered by Mr. J. Buller of Morval
Morval, Cornwall
Morval is a rural civil parish and hamlet in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hamlet is approximately two miles north of Looe and five miles south of Liskeard....
for the best natural history of the pilchard, printed in the third report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society is an educational, cultural and scientific charity, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Society exists to promote innovation in the arts and sciences...
, and also separately. He had before this given much assistance to Bewick in his British Quadrupeds, as well as in relation to his projected Natural History of British Fishes, and Yarrell was still more indebted to him in his British Fishes, to all three editions of which (1836, 1841, and 1859) Couch was a copious contributor.
His Cornish Fauna, (part i. 1838, part ii. 1841), completed by his son Richard Quiller Couch
Richard Quiller Couch
Richard Quiller Couch, , British naturalist, eldest son of Jonathan Couch, was born at Polperro, Cornwall, UK on 14 March 1816. After receiving a medical education under his father and at Guy's Hospital, London, where he gained several honours and prizes and obtained the ordinary medical...
in 1844, was another valuable piece of work. But his magnum opus was A History of the Fishes of the British Islands, with coloured illustrations from his own drawings, (4 vols., London, 1860–65). This is a storehouse of information, carefully collected and sifted, as to the habits of fishes, and in many cases the illustrations give unique representations of the vivid natural colours of fishes while yet alive or immediately after death. A multitude of shorter papers and notes on natural history were contributed by Couch to the Imperial Magazine, edited by his friend Samuel Drew
Samuel Drew
Samuel Drew was an Cornish Methodist theologian. A native of Cornwall, he was nicknamed the "Cornish metaphysician" for his works on the human soul, the nature of God, and the deity of Christ. He also wrote on historical and biographical themes.-Early life and education:Drew was born in the...
, from 1819 to 1830, the Transactions and Proceedings of the Linnean Society, the Magazine of Natural History, the Reports of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
Royal Institution of Cornwall
The Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street...
, the Reports of the British Association, Annals of Natural History, the Transactions of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society
Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society
Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society was a local society founded in Penzance in Cornwall, England, UK, whose aim was "the cultivation of the science of Natural History, and for the investigation of the Antiquities referring to the early inhabitants." It was established at a public...
, the Zoologist, the Intellectual Observer, &c., which are recorded in Boase
George Clement Boase
George Clement Boase was an English bibliographer and antiquary.-Biography:Boase's father was a banker, and Boase himself took up banking in Cornwall and London as a young man from 1846 to 1854...
and Courtney's Bibliotheca Cornubiensis, (i. 89–92, and iii. 1138), and in the History of Polperro (a less complete list). He also contributed to Land and Water, under the signature ‘Video.’
His Illustrations of Instinct, deduced from the Habits of British Animals, (1847), is a very interesting book. He translated Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's Natural History, with notes, and vols. i. and ii. and parts i. to v. of vol. iii. were published by the Wernerian Club, (1847–50). He left behind him in manuscript Notes and Extracts on Subjects of Natural History, and bearing on the ancient condition of the Science, now in the library of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
Royal Institution of Cornwall
The Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street...
; A Treatise on Dreams; Historical Biographies of Animals known to the Ancients; Materials for a History of the British Cetacea; A Journal of Natural History, being the result of my own observations or derived from living testimony, (1805–70, 12 vols.; figures of Cornish shells, coloured); A Natural History of Cornish Fishes, with pen-and-ink and coloured figures, (1836), in the library of the Linnean Society. This is the volume employed by Yarrell in his British Fishes, and quoted by him as ‘Couch's MSS.’ Dr. F. Day published a series of most interesting extracts from Couch's manuscript journals in Land and Water from 11 August 1883 to 29 March 1884. Other albums of his original drawings of fishes are in the John Rylands Library
John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Library is a Victorian Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Mrs Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her late husband, John Rylands...
, and the Natural History Museum As a local naturalist whose conscientious and loving observation of nature has made a lasting impression on science, he deserves to rank beside Gilbert White
Gilbert White
Gilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...
.
Personal life and antiquarian research
Couch was a Methodist of the Free Church. His sincere religious views tinctured much of his writing and influenced his social conduct. Couch was an excellent local antiquary, as to words, customs, and remains. The History of Polperro, (1871), issued after his death by his son, T. Q. Couch, is his chief work in this department. The welfare of the fishermen and the prosperity of the fisheries were equally his care.Couch left three sons by his second wife: Richard Quiller
Richard Quiller Couch
Richard Quiller Couch, , British naturalist, eldest son of Jonathan Couch, was born at Polperro, Cornwall, UK on 14 March 1816. After receiving a medical education under his father and at Guy's Hospital, London, where he gained several honours and prizes and obtained the ordinary medical...
, Thomas Quiller (father of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Arthur Quiller-Couch
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900 , and for his literary criticism...
), and John Quiller, who all became surgeons (Quiller being their mother's maiden name and Quiller's House the family residence). Thomas practised successfully at Bodmin, and died on 23 October 1884, aged 58. He was a constant contributor to Notes and Queries
Notes and Queries
Notes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
, two series of his articles, The Folklore of a Cornish Village, 1855 and 1857, being incorporated in the History of Polperro to which he contributed a sketch of his father's life. He also published lists of local words in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (1864 and 1870), afterwards expanded and included in a Glossary of Words in Use in Cornwall, issued by the English Dialect Society in 1880. He did some useful preparatory work in Cornish bibliography, afterwards incorporated in the Bibliotheca Cornubiensis (Academy, 1 Nov. 1884, p. 289).