NameCharles Cardale “Beetles” BABINGTON FRS, FLS , 7391
Birth1808
Death1895
Notes for Charles Cardale “Beetles” BABINGTON FRS, FLS
Charles Cardale Babington (23 November 1808 – 22 July 1895) was an English botanist and archaeologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851.
Babington was the son of Joseph Babington and Cathérine née Whitter, and a nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay. He was educated at Charterhouse[1] and St John's College, Cambridge, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in 1830 and his Master of Arts in 1833.[2] He overlapped at Cambridge with Charles Darwin, and in 1829 they argued over who should have the pick of beetle specimens from a local dealer.[3] He obtained the chair of botany at the University of Cambridge in 1861 and wrote several papers on insects. He married Anna Maria Walker on 3 April 1866.
Babington was a member of several scientific societies including the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, the Linnean Society of London (1853), the Geological Society of London, the Royal Society (1851), and in 1833 he participated in the foundation of the Royal Entomological Society.
He wrote Manual of British Botany (1843), Flora of Cambridgeshire (1860), The British Rubi (1869) and edited the publication Annals and Magazine of Natural History from 1842. His herbarium and library are conserved by the University of Cambridge.
From Venn’s
Babington, Charles Cardale.
Adm. pens. at ST JOHN'S, Nov. 8, 1825.
S. of Joseph (1786), clerk, of Bath.
B. Nov. 23, 1808, at Ludlow, Salop.
School, Charterhouse.
Matric. Michs. 1826; B.A. 1830; M.A. 1833.
Fellow.
M.A. incorp. at Oxford, 1847.
Professor of Botany, 1861-95.
Engaged in intensive researches in Natural History; essentially a field naturalist; visited almost every part of the British Isles.
Visited Iceland, 1846.
One of the founders of the Entomological Society, 1833; known as 'Beetles Babington'. Commenced the well-known Manual of British Botany in 1835.
One of the founders of the Ray Club, 1836; acted as secretary for 55 years.
Secretary for many years of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.
F.L.S., F.G.S., 1835.
F.R.S., 1851.
F.S.A., 1859.
Helped to found the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1840; President.
Interested in Archaeology; a member of the Cambrian Archaeological Association, 1850; Chairman, 1855 and 1885.
An active member of the 'British Association'. President of the Natural History Section, 1853 and 1861.
A warm supporter of Evangelical Mission work at home and abroad; aided in founding a Cottage Orphan Home at Cambridge, 1871.
A full account of his many activities is recorded in the Journal, kept throughout his life and afterwards published as Memorials, Journal and Botanical Correspondence. Contributed largely to the Architectural History of Cambridge, by Willis and J. W. Clark.
Author, Manual of British Botany; Flora of Cambridgeshire; The British Rubi, etc.
Bequeathed his Herbarium and the bulk of his technical library to the University.
Died July 22, 1895, at Brookside, Cambridge.
Buried at Cherry Hinton.
(D.N.B., Suppl. I; Eagle, Obit. (reprint).)