William John Broderip was an English lawyer and 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...

.

Life

Broderip, the eldest son of William Broderip, surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 from Bristol, was born at Bristol on 21 November 1789, and, after being educated at Bristol Grammar School

Bristol Grammar School

Bristol Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school was founded in 1532 by two brothers, Robert and Nicholas Thorne....

 under the Rev. Samuel Seyer, matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, and graduated B.A.

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 1812. Whilst at college he found time to attend the anatomical

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

 lectures of Sir Christopher Pegge, and the chemical

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 and mineralogical

Mineralogy

Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...

 lectures of Dr. John Kidd. After completing his university education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

, he entered the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

, and commenced studying in the chambers of the well-known Godfrey Sykes

Godfrey Sykes

Godfrey Sykes was an English designer and painter.After an apprenticeship to the Sheffield engraver James Bell, he trained at the Sheffield School of Art from 1843 and taught there from 1857...

, where he had as contemporaries Sir John Patteson and Sir John Taylor Coleridge

John Taylor Coleridge

Sir John Taylor Coleridge was an English judge, the second son of Captain James Coleridge and nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.-Life:...

. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 on 12 May 1817, when he joined the western circuit. In 1822 he accepted from Lord Sidmouth

Viscount Sidmouth

Viscount Sidmouth, of Sidmouth in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1805 for the former Prime Minister, Henry Addington. In May 1804, King George III intended to confer the titles of Earl of Banbury, Viscount Wallingford and Baron Reading on...

 the appointment of magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

 at the Thames police court. He held this office until 1846, when he was transferred to the Westminster court, where he remained for ten years. He was compelled to resign from deafness, having obtained a high reputation for his good sense and humanity. He was elected bencher of Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 30 January 1850, and treasurer 29 January 1851, and to him was confided the especial charge of the library of that institution.

Broderip throughout his life was an enthusiastic collector of natural objects. His conchological cabinet was unrivalled, and many foreign professors inspected the treasures which were accumulated in his chambers in Gray's Inn. This collection was ultimately purchased by the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1824, of the Geological Society in 1825, and of the Royal Society on 14 February 1828. In co-operation with Sir Stamford Raffles

Stamford Raffles

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...

 he aided, in 1826, in the formation of the Zoological Society, of which he was one of the original fellows. He was secretary of the Geological Society for some time, and performed the arduous duties of that office with Roderick Murchison

Roderick Murchison

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...

 until 1830.

He died in his chambers, 2 Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, from an attack of serous

Serous fluid

In physiology, the term serous fluid is used for various bodily fluids that are typically pale yellow and transparent, and of a benign nature, that fill the inside of body cavities. Serous fluid originates from serous glands, with secretions enriched with proteins and water. Serous fluid may also...

 apoplexy

Apoplexy

Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...

, on 27 February 1859.

Works

Shortly after 1817, with Peregrine Bingham, he began reporting in the court of common pleas. These reports were published in three volumes in 1820–22. In 1824 he edited the fourth edition of Robert Callis upon the Statute of Sewers.

To the Transactions of the Geological Society he contributed numerous papers; but the chief part of his original writings on malacology

Malacology

Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of the Mollusca , the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, octopus and squid, and numerous other kinds, many of which have shells...

 are to be found in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Zoological Society. Broderip's Account of the Manners of a Tame Beaver, published in the Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society, affords an example of his tact as an observer and power as a writer. His contributions to the New Monthly Magazine and to Fraser's Magazine

Fraser's Magazine

Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directed by Maginn under the name Oliver Yorke until about 1840...

were collected in the volumes entitled Zoological Recreations, 1847, and Leaves from the Note-book of a Naturalist, 1852. He wrote the zoological articles in the Penny Cyclopædia, viz. from Ast to the end, including the whole of the articles relating to mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s, bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s, reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s, crustacea, mollusca

Mollusca

The Mollusca , common name molluscs or mollusksSpelled mollusks in the USA, see reasons given in Rosenberg's ; for the spelling mollusc see the reasons given by , is a large phylum of invertebrate animals. There are around 85,000 recognized extant species of molluscs. Mollusca is the largest...

, conchifera

Conchifera

Conchifera is a taxonomic term. It is a subphylum of the phylum Mollusca. It comprises all of the shell-bearing classes of molluscs, including the snails, clams, tusk shells, chitons, ammonites, monoplacophorans, and so on....

, pulmonata

Pulmonata

The Pulmonata, or "pulmonates", are an informal group of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills...

, &c.; Buffon, Brisson, &c., and zoology. His last publication, On the Shark, appeared in Fraser's Magazine, March 1859.

His other writings were:

1. Guide to the Gardens of the Zoological Society. By Nicholas A. Vigors and W. J. Broderip 1829
2. Hints for collecting Animals and their Products 1832
3. Memoir of the Dodo. By R. Owen, F.R.S., with an Historical Introduction by W. J. Broderip 1861

besides very numerous articles in magazines, newspapers, and reviews.

External links

• works by William John Broderip at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
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