| AdminHistory | George Lewis (1839–1926) was an English entomologist, with a particular interest in Coleoptera.
Lewis was born on 5 August 1839, the second son of Rev. R.G. Lewis, first Vicar of St. John's, Blackheath. He was educated at the Blackheath Proprietary School. In 1826 he went to China and worked in the tea business and stayed for 10 years. He had been interested in entomology since a child and spent several years travelling and collecting beetles in Japan as well as Ceylon [Sri Lanka] and Algiers (Algeria). He was a recognized authority on the beetles of the family Histeridae and he bequeathed a large collection of over 12,000 specimens to the British Museum. He published 'A systematic catalogue of Histeridae', London :Taylor and Francis (1905); an itinerary of his journey in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] in Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1882; and 'On the Buprestidae of Japan', Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology, 24: 327–338. (1895) and other works. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society. He married Miss Julia Hunter, of Inner Park Road, Wimbledon Common in 1867 and died at Folkestone on 5 September 1926. |
| Description | Guard book containing mounted notes by George Lewis relating to Histeridae [A family of beetles commonly known as Clown beetles or Hister beetles] as well as 27 letters, dated 1897 - 1901, from contemporary Coleopterists [specialists in coleopterology, the study of beetles] on the species of Histeridae. Correspondents include:
- C. Ritsema Cz. (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie)
- [? Lewin]
- [Dr H. Doleen]
- [J.W.?] Carey
- P. de Peyerimhoff
- [? Ancey]
- [Guy A.K. Marshall]
- Arthur M. Lea (Department of Agriculture, Western Australia)
- C.J. Gahan (British Museum, Natural History [now the Natural History Museum]
- G. Lewis
- K. Jordan (Zoological Museum, Tring)
- W. Horn (Dr)
- Chas [Charles] O. Waterhouse (British Museum, Natural History [now the Natural History Museum, Kensington]) |