AdminHistory | Jonathan Couch (1789 - 1870) was a British naturalist.
Couch was born on 15 March 1789 to Richard and Philippa Couch in Polperro, Cornwall. He received a classical education and worked with local medical men, before entering Guy's and St. Thomas's hospital in 1808. He returned to Polperro and worked there as the doctor until his death in 1870. Couch was a keen natural historian, with a particular interest in ichthyology (the study of fishes) and he gathered a large number of fish specimens, using local fishermen to assist him.
He wrote a number of publications, including 'Cornish Fauna', and 'A History of the Fishes of the British Islands', with coloured illustrations from his own drawings, (4 vols., London, 1860-65). He was married twice and had 3 sons. He died on 13 April 1870. |