Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing
Encyclopedia
The Reverend
Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing F.R.S., F.L.S. (February 6, 1835, London
– July 8, 1926, Royal Tunbridge Wells
) was a British
zoologist
, who described himself as "a serf
to natural history
, principally employed about Crustacea
". Educated in London and Oxford, he only took to natural history in his thirties, having worked as a teacher until then. Although an ordained Anglican priest, Stebbing promoted Darwinism
in a number of popular works, and was banned from preaching as a result. His scientific works mostly concerned crustacean
s, especially the Amphipoda
and Isopoda
, the most notable being his work on the amphipods of the Challenger expedition
.
, the seventh of thirteen or fourteen children, to the clergyman and editor of the Athenaeum
, Henry Stebbing, and his wife, Mary Griffin. Thomas was educated at the King's College School
, and afterwards entered King's College, London to study classics
, graduating with a BA
in 1855. He then matriculated
at Lincoln College, Oxford
, before studied at Worcester College, Oxford
, gaining a BA in law
and modern history
there in 1857 and an MA in 1859. Around this time, he was a master at Radley College
and Wellington College
. He took on various roles at Worcester College, including that of fellow (1860–1868), tutor (1865–1867), vice-provost
(1865) and eventually dean
(1866), as well as a lecturer in divinity
. He resigned his fellowship in 1868. He was ordained
into the Church of England
by Samuel Wilberforce
, Bishop of Oxford
in 1859.
By 1863, Stebbing had begun to work as a tutor in Reigate
, Surrey
, where he met the entomologist William Wilson Saunders
, whose daughter Mary Anne was a capable botanist and illustrator
. Stebbing took up the study of natural history
around this time, and married Mary Anne in 1867. The couple moved to Torquay
, Devon
after their marriage, where Stebbing continued to work as a tutor and schoolmaster, and began to write about theology
, Darwinism
and natural history, partly under the influence of the naturalist William Pengelly
.
In 1873, Stebbing produced his first paper on crustacean
s, and began to study the Amphipoda
the following year. In 1877, Stebbing moved to Royal Tunbridge Wells
, where he lived in Ephraim Lodge, on the edge of Tunbridge Wells Common, in order to benefit from the greater number of students in London, and to be closer to the libraries, museums and scientific circles in the capital. As his finances improved, he was able to give up teaching altogether and concentrate on writing. He died in Ephraim Lodge on the 8th of July, 1926. His funeral was held at St. Paul's Church, Rusthall
, where Stebbing had officiated when requested; since its churchyard was inadequate, Stebbing's body was buried in the town's public cemetery. His wife survived him by only a few months.
Anglican
, Stebbing expected to be a staunch opponent of Charles Darwin
's recently published theory of evolution by natural selection
. Stebbing reported that "on reading The Origin of Species, as a preliminary, it has to be confessed that, instead of confuting, I became his ardent disciple", and so he adopted the position of a religious rationalist
. Following a critical review of The Descent of Man in The Times
in 1871, Stebbing gained prominence by responding in Nature
.
Stebbing wrote a number of essays on the topic of Darwinism, in which he dissected the argument posited against it, and questioned various aspects of Christianity, including the literal truth of the Book of Genesis, the doctrine of the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, many of the Thirty-Nine Articles
, miracle
s and prophecy
. They included Essays on Darwinism (1871), Faith in Fetters (1919) and Plain Speaking (1926). His outspoken stance resulted in his being banned from preaching, and he was never offered a parish by the church.
Most of Stebbing's scientific works, comprising more than 110 papers, covered amphipod
crustacean
s. Rev. A. M. Norman, a member of the Challenger Committee, recommended that Stebbing produce a monograph
on the amphipods collected on the 1872–1876 expedition
by HMS Challenger
, which he did, reproducing the original description for every genus, and providing an extensive bibliography
of the group.
He also produced a monograph of the Cumacea
, a natural history
of the Crustacea, and a biography
of the Scottish naturalist and founder of the University Marine Biological Station, Millport
, David Robertson
. In 1906, Stebbing published the volume on Gammaridea
for the series .
in 1908. He had strenuously advocated the admittance of women to the Linnean Society, and obtained a supplementary charter in order to allow it; his wife was among the first women to be admitted.
A number of animal species have been named in honour of Stebbing:
The Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing F.R.S., F.L.S. (February 6, 1835, 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...
– July 8, 1926, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, who described himself as "a serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
to natural history
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...
, principally employed about Crustacea
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
". Educated in London and Oxford, he only took to natural history in his thirties, having worked as a teacher until then. Although an ordained Anglican priest, Stebbing promoted Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
in a number of popular works, and was banned from preaching as a result. His scientific works mostly concerned crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, especially the Amphipoda
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...
and Isopoda
Isopoda
Isopods are an order of peracarid crustaceans, including familiar animals such as woodlice and pill bugs. The name Isopoda derives from the Greek roots and...
, the most notable being his work on the amphipods of the Challenger expedition
Challenger expedition
The Challenger expedition of 1872–76 was a scientific exercise that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the mother vessel, HMS Challenger....
.
Biography
Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing was born on the 6th of February, 1835 in Euston Square, LondonLondon
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...
, the seventh of thirteen or fourteen children, to the clergyman and editor of the Athenaeum
Athenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....
, Henry Stebbing, and his wife, Mary Griffin. Thomas was educated at the 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 afterwards entered King's College, London to study classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, graduating with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1855. He then matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, before studied at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, gaining a BA in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and modern history
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
there in 1857 and an MA in 1859. Around this time, he was a master at Radley College
Radley College
Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
and Wellington College
Wellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
. He took on various roles at Worcester College, including that of fellow (1860–1868), tutor (1865–1867), vice-provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
(1865) and eventually dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
(1866), as well as a lecturer in divinity
Divinity (academic discipline)
Divinity is the study of Christian and other theology and ministry at a school, divinity school, university, or seminary. The term is sometimes a synonym for theology as an academic, speculative pursuit, and sometimes is used for the study of applied theology and ministry to make a distinction...
. He resigned his fellowship in 1868. He was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
into the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
by Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his time and place...
, Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
in 1859.
By 1863, Stebbing had begun to work as a tutor in Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, where he met the entomologist William Wilson Saunders
William Wilson Saunders
William Wilson Saunders was a British insurance broker, entomologist and botanist.Saunders was an underwriter at Lloyd's of London...
, whose daughter Mary Anne was a capable botanist and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. Stebbing took up the study of natural history
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...
around this time, and married Mary Anne in 1867. The couple moved to Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
after their marriage, where Stebbing continued to work as a tutor and schoolmaster, and began to write about theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
and natural history, partly under the influence of the naturalist William Pengelly
William Pengelly
William Pengelly, FRS FGS was a British geologist and early archaeologist who was one of the first to contribute proof that the Biblical chronology of the earth calculated by Archbishop James Ussher was incorrect....
.
In 1873, Stebbing produced his first paper on crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, and began to study the Amphipoda
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...
the following year. In 1877, Stebbing moved to Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
, where he lived in Ephraim Lodge, on the edge of Tunbridge Wells Common, in order to benefit from the greater number of students in London, and to be closer to the libraries, museums and scientific circles in the capital. As his finances improved, he was able to give up teaching altogether and concentrate on writing. He died in Ephraim Lodge on the 8th of July, 1926. His funeral was held at St. Paul's Church, Rusthall
Rusthall
Rusthall is a village located approximately 2 miles to the west of the spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent. The village grew up around a large property called "Rusthall" located on the Rusthall Common en route to the neighbouring village of Langton Green....
, where Stebbing had officiated when requested; since its churchyard was inadequate, Stebbing's body was buried in the town's public cemetery. His wife survived him by only a few months.
Evolution and religion
Having trained as an evangelicalEvangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, Stebbing expected to be a staunch opponent of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's recently published theory of evolution by natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
. Stebbing reported that "on reading The Origin of Species, as a preliminary, it has to be confessed that, instead of confuting, I became his ardent disciple", and so he adopted the position of a religious rationalist
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
. Following a critical review of The Descent of Man in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
in 1871, Stebbing gained prominence by responding in Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
.
Stebbing wrote a number of essays on the topic of Darwinism, in which he dissected the argument posited against it, and questioned various aspects of Christianity, including the literal truth of the Book of Genesis, the doctrine of the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, many of the Thirty-Nine Articles
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
, miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s and prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
. They included Essays on Darwinism (1871), Faith in Fetters (1919) and Plain Speaking (1926). His outspoken stance resulted in his being banned from preaching, and he was never offered a parish by the church.
Crustacea
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...
crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s. Rev. A. M. Norman, a member of the Challenger Committee, recommended that Stebbing produce a monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
on the amphipods collected on the 1872–1876 expedition
Challenger expedition
The Challenger expedition of 1872–76 was a scientific exercise that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the mother vessel, HMS Challenger....
by HMS Challenger
HMS Challenger (1858)
HMS Challenger was a steam-assisted Royal Navy Pearl-class corvette launched on 13 February 1858 at the Woolwich Dockyard. She was the flagship of the Australia Station between 1866 and 1870....
, which he did, reproducing the original description for every genus, and providing an extensive bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
of the group.
He also produced a monograph of the Cumacea
Cumacea
Cumacea is an order of small marine crustaceans, occasionally called hooded shrimp. Their unique appearance and uniform body plan makes them easy to distinguish from other crustaceans.-Anatomy:...
, a natural history
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...
of the Crustacea, and a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of the Scottish naturalist and founder of the University Marine Biological Station, Millport
University Marine Biological Station, Millport
The University Marine Biological Station Millport is a higher education institute located on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland...
, David Robertson
David Robertson (naturalist)
Dr David Robertson FLS, FGS was a Scottish naturalist who founded the University Marine Biological Station, Millport.Robertson was born in Glasgow. From age 8 he worked as a herd boy in Ayrshire, Scotland but eventually went on to gain a medical degree. His interests turned to the study of Natural...
. In 1906, Stebbing published the volume on Gammaridea
Gammaridea
Gammaridea is a suborder of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the order Amphipoda. It contains about 7,275 of the 7,900 described species of amphipods, in approximately 1,000 genera, divided among around 125 families. Gammaridea includes almost all freshwater amphipods , as well as many marine...
for the series .
Legacy
Stebbing was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society on the 5th of December 1895, a Fellow of the Royal Society on June 4, 1896, and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Linnean SocietyLinnean Medal
The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year...
in 1908. He had strenuously advocated the admittance of women to the Linnean Society, and obtained a supplementary charter in order to allow it; his wife was among the first women to be admitted.
A number of animal species have been named in honour of Stebbing:
- Hyale stebbingi Chevreux, 1888 (Amphipoda: Hyalidae)
- Parapodascon stebbingi (Giard & Bonnier, 1895) (Isopoda: Podasconidae)
- Argissa stebbingi Bonnier, 1896, a synonym of Argissa hamatipes (Norman, 1869) (Amphipoda: Argissidae)
- Phronima stebbingii Vosseler, 1901 (Amphipoda: Phronimidae)
- Metapenaeus stebbingi (Nobili, 1904) (Decapoda: Penaeidae)
- Protellopsis stebbingii Pearse, 1908 (Amphipoda: Caprellidae)
- Sphyrapus stebbingi Richardson, 1911 (Tanaidacea: Sphyrapidae)
- Macropisthopus stebbingi K. A. Barnard, 1916 (Amphipoda: Ampithoidae)
- Carpias stebbingi (Monod, 1933) (Isopoda: Janiridae)
- Pardaliscoides stebbingi Ledoyer, 1970 (Amphipoda: Pardaliscidae)