Notes on William John Swainson or simply William Swainson? (2 Viewers)

Taphrospilus · Mar 9, 2025

William Swainson (1789-1855) was a naturalist and bird illustrator. He was born in Liverpool, the son of a collector of customs duty. After elementary education he worked as a junior clerk, and then in the army commissariat in Malta and Sicily. Before going abroad he drew up, at the request of the Liverpool Museum, the Instructions for Collecting and Preserving Subjects of Natural History (1808). He served (1807-1815) with the army commissariat and amassed a collection of zoological specimens. At the end of the Napoleonic wars he retired on half-pay. He left for Brazil and traveled, collecting specimens, through Pernambuco to the Rio São Francisco and then on to Rio de Janeiro (1816-1818). On his return he published a sketch (1819), very briefly describimg the voyage without any scientific detail. He then endeavoured to sort his zoological specimens. He learnt the new technique of lithography and produced Zoological Illustration (1820-1823), the Naturalists Guide (1822), and Exotic Conchology (1841). In 1828 he visited museums in Paris under the guidance of Cuvier (q.v.) and St. Hilaire (q.v.) meeting great French naturalists, and in the same year moved to he English countryside and worked as a full-time artist and author. However, in 1840 he became New Zealand's first Attorney General, losing most of his specimen collection on the voyage, and lived out his life there. He published many papers, as well the 5-volume Bird of Brazil (1834-1835).He wrote the bird section of Sir John Richardson's Fauna Boreali-Americana and contributed to the 11-volumes of Lardner's Cabinet Encyclopaedia (1834-1840) and the 3-volumes Naturalist's Library (1833-1846). A mammal is also named after him.

The Key to Scientific Names - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

William Swainson (1789-1855) English naturalist, artist, collector (Buteo, syn. Campephaga flava, subsp. Catharus ustulatus, syn. Circus macrourus, syn. Coracina lineata, syn. Cossypha niveicapilla, syn. Criniger calurus verreauxi, syn. Doricha enicura, Gampsonyx, syn. Halcyon leucocephala pallidiventris, syn. Iduna caligata, Limnothlypis, syn. Mackenziaena severa, syn. Momotus momota bahamensis, Myiarchus (ex “Suirirí pardo amarillo menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 193), syn. Myrmeciza longipes (ex Myrmothera longipes Swainson, 1825), subsp. Notharchus macrorhynchos, subsp. Onychorhynchus coronatus, syn. Pachyramphus marginatus, Passer, syn. Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, syn. Phigys solitarius, syn. Philohydor lictor, syn. Phylloscopus nitidus, syn. Phylloscopus occipitalis, Polytelis, Pternistis, syn. Ptilinopus regina, subsp. Ramphastos ambiguus, Riccordia, syn. Struthidea cinerea, syn. Tangara sayaca, syn. Thinocorus rumicivorus, syn. Trichoglossus moluccanus, syn. Turdoides jardineii, subsp. Vireo gilvus).

I am wondering now if there was really a middle name John as claimed here? Where did this additional name derived from?

paranoid numanoid said:
Yes I traced them to High House, Hawkeshead (I think) near Coniston. Issac went on to make millions out of Velnos' vegetable syrup (a cure-all apparently!) and is buried near my old snooker club in Holly Road in Twickenham. William John Swainson the well-known zoologist (Swainson's Thrush, Hawk, Warbler etc) was half-brother to Charles Litchfield, Issac et al (different mother). Making him a half-uncle to our Charles. Is there such a thing as a half-uncle? Not sure

Some more on him The decline and fall of William Swainson

Is the additional name John not just a mix up with his son William John Swainson (1824-1887) https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22360415 ?

PScofield · Mar 9, 2025

No evidence of John on baptism (or marriage or death) certificates

paranoid numanoid · Mar 10, 2025

I found this on bionity.com, I will keep looking through my notes for a source!

William Swainson

William John Swainson FLS, FRS (October 8, 1789 - December 6, 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist.

Swainson was born in Dover Place, St. Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of John Timothy Swainson, an original fellow of the Linnean Society.[1] He was cousin of the amateur botanist Isaac Swainson.[2] His father's family originated in Lancashire, and both grandfather and father held high posts in Her Majesty's Customs, the father becoming Collector at Liverpool. William, whose formal education was curtailed because of an impediment in his speech, joined the Liverpool Customs as a junior clerk at the age of 14.[3] He joined the Army Comissariat and toured Malta and Sicily[4][3] He studied the ichthyology of western Sicily and in 1815, he was forced by ill health to return to England where he subsequently retired on half pay. William followed in his father's footsteps to become a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1815.[3]

paranoid numanoid · Mar 10, 2025

I returned to my notes and I see I found the "John" on geni.com, to which has recently been added a correcting note by a relative:

Tim Swainson
12/29/2024 at 11:36 PM

@william John Swainson, FRS, FLS
I am the great-great-grandson of William Swainson. I appreciate that you have taken the time to his family tree, however, I am concerned that the title "William John Swainson" is incorrect. Please note that his son (and my great-grandfather) was named William John Swainson (Willie), not his father.
Unfortunately, in 2007, someone added John as a middle name to Wikipedia (with no source to verify the change), and it is starting to be added incorrectly to websites. Interestingly, Wikipedia's sources link to places that show his name as William Swainson. Wikipedia has now been corrected so I would love to see this corrected to William Swainson, FRS, FLS.
Regards Tim Swainson

Mea culpa & my apologies!

PScofield · Mar 10, 2025

I corrected another error in the wikipedia account often repeated. It was the son, 22 year old William John Swainson who was a lieutenant in the New Zealand militia not 57 year old rather sickly William snr. The privately published letters and diaries of the family give a graphic account of this conflict from WIlliam Johns perspective.

Taphrospilus · Mar 11, 2025

l_raty · Mar 11, 2025

Taphrospilus said:
Doubts if Momotius swainsonii Ulrich 1911 is correct and when Thinocorus Swainsoni and Trichoglossus Swainsonii have been published.

Momotus swainsoni Sclater 1862 : Catalogue of a collection of American birds - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Thinocorus swainsoni Lesson 1833 fide Sherborn 1922 : sec.2:pt.1-4=pp.1-943 [A-Byzos] - Index animalium - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Trichoglossus swainsonii Jardine & Selby 1831 fide Zimmer 1926 : v.16:pt.1 (1926) - Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library ... - Biodiversity Heritage Library

l_raty · Mar 11, 2025

Taphrospilus said:
Synonyms not identified yet:
syn. Doricha enicura

Trochilus swainsoni Lesson 1833 Les trochilidées - Biodiversity Heritage Library , Les trochilidées - Biodiversity Heritage Library
A female, thus.

Taphrospilus said:
syn. Phigys solitarius

Some confusion here ?
There is a Psittacus swainsonii Brown (in Lauder & Brown) 1833 : v.1 (1833) - The miscellany of natural history - Biodiversity Heritage Library .
This was presented as a new name for a bird that Swainson would have been named after Levaillant in his Zoological Illustrations. I can find no parrot with such a name in the copies of the Zool. Ill. that are online... But : the very first figure of the series was listed in Isis in 1821 1821 - Isis von Oken - Biodiversity Heritage Library under the name Psittacus vaillanti, so I assume the bird that was intended was this : v.1 (1820-1821) - Zoological illustrations, or, Original figures and descriptions of new, rare, or interesting animals - Biodiversity Heritage Library . This bird also seems to match the illustration of P. swainsonii in Lauder & Brown. In the Zool. Illustrations, this bird is actually called Psittacus cayennensis. I would call this bird Brotogerys chrysoptera.
The renaming was done because the name was perceived to conflict with that of another species, which in Lauder & Brown was called Psittacus vaillantia : v.1 (1833) - The miscellany of natural history - Biodiversity Heritage Library . This bird -- and thus not the bird to which Psittacus swainsonii was applied -- was what we now call Phigys solitarius.

Taphrospilus said:
syn. Philohydor lictor

Saurophagus swainsonii Gould 1836 pt.1-6 (1833-1838) - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library was listed as a synonym of Philohydor lictor by Cory & Hellmayr 1927 v.13:pt.5 (1927) - Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History - Biodiversity Heritage Library . But Gould's description does not match this species at all. The best match for the description is perhaps Tyrannus caudifasciatus ?

Taphrospilus said:
syn. Phylloscopus nitidus

Hippolais swainsoni Hodgson 1844 The zoological miscellany - Biodiversity Heritage Library (nomen nudum) has been listed as a synonym of Phylloscopus nitidus (cf. Gray & Gray 1846 Catalogue of the specimens and drawings of mammalia and birds of Nepal and Thibet - Biodiversity Heritage Library ), of Ph. occipitalis (cf. Seebohm 1881 Vol 5 (1881) - Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum - Biodiversity Heritage Library ) and of Iduna caligata (cf. Seebohm 1881 Vol 5 (1881) - Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum - Biodiversity Heritage Library ).

Taphrospilus said:
syn. Turdoides jardineii

Not sure.
What I find, is that a Crateropus swainsoni was cited by Bonaparte 1850 t.1-2; Index (1850-1865) - Conspectus generum avium - Biodiversity Heritage Library , who attributed it to Smith in the Illustrations of African Zoology, where the bird would not have been illustrated. But I do not find this name in Smith's work v.2 (1849) [Aves] - Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa - Biodiversity Heritage Library . Bonaparte listed "Crateropus jardinii" as a species distinct from this "C. swainsoni".

SwainsonTimbo · Apr 18, 2025

Taphrospilus said:
Buteo swainsoni Bonaparte, 1838 OD A geographical and comparative list of the birds of Europe and North America - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Gampsonyx swainsonii Vigors, 1825 OD v.2=no.5-8 (1825:Apr.-1826:Apr.) - The Zoological journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Limnothlypis swainsonii (Audubon, 1834) OD v.2 (1834) - Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America - Biodiversity Heritage Library or later v.2 (1841) - The birds of America - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Myiarchus swainsoni Cabanis & Heine, 1860 OD T.2 (1859-1860) - Museum Heineanum - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Passer swainsonii (Rüppell, 1840) OD 1835-1840 - Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Polytelis swainsonii (Desmarest, 1826) OD t. 39 (1826) - Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Pternistis swainsonii (Smith, A 1836) OD Sir Andrew Smith's Miscellaneous ornithological papers - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Riccordia swainsonii (Lesson, RP 1829) OD Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Notharchus swainsoni (Gray, GR 1846) OD v.1 (1844-1849) - The genera of birds - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Catharus ustulatus swainsoni (Tschudi, 1845) OD Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Onychorhynchus swainsoni (Pelzeln, 1858) OD Bd.31=no.18-20 (1858) - Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Ramphastos swainsonii Gould, 1833 OD pt.1-6 (1833-1838) - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Vireo gilvus swainsoni Baird, 1858 OD v.9=pt.2 (1853-1858) - Reports of explorations and surveys - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Lanicterus swainsonii Lesson, RP, 1838 OD ser.2:t.9 (1838) - Annales des sciences naturelles - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Circus Swainsonii Smith, 1830 OD Vol.1 - South African quarterly journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library See also v.2 (1849) [Aves] - Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Halycon swainsonii Smith, 1830 OD Vol.2 - South African quarterly journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Struthidea cinerea swainsoni Mathews, 1912 OD v. 18 (1911) - Novitates zoologicae - Biodiversity Heritage Library

I focused for now on the today valid names and not on the synonyms about him. But some I already identified. But this list is not complete.

Eponym Dictionary of Birds:

The Key to Scientific Names - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

I am wondering now if there was really a middle name John as claimed here? Where did this additional name derived from?

Some more on him The decline and fall of William Swainson

Is the additional name John not just a mix up with his son William John Swainson (1824-1887) https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22360415 ?

William did not have a middle name of John. His son was William John Swainson.
A couple of Sources there a many many more
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

Dictionary of NZ Biography

A DICTIONARY OF NEW ZEALAND BIOGRAPHY. EDITED BY G. H. SCHOLEFIELD

dict-bio.howison.co.nz

Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/swainson-william-1789-1855

Wikipedia

William Swainson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Could someone correct this error please
Tim Swainson

SwainsonTimbo · Monday at 6:00 AM

Taphrospilus said:
Buteo swainsoni Bonaparte, 1838 OD A geographical and comparative list of the birds of Europe and North America - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Gampsonyx swainsonii Vigors, 1825 OD v.2=no.5-8 (1825:Apr.-1826:Apr.) - The Zoological journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Limnothlypis swainsonii (Audubon, 1834) OD v.2 (1834) - Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America - Biodiversity Heritage Library or later v.2 (1841) - The birds of America - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Myiarchus swainsoni Cabanis & Heine, 1860 OD T.2 (1859-1860) - Museum Heineanum - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Passer swainsonii (Rüppell, 1840) OD 1835-1840 - Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Polytelis swainsonii (Desmarest, 1826) OD t. 39 (1826) - Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Pternistis swainsonii (Smith, A 1836) OD Sir Andrew Smith's Miscellaneous ornithological papers - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Riccordia swainsonii (Lesson, RP 1829) OD Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Notharchus swainsoni (Gray, GR 1846) OD v.1 (1844-1849) - The genera of birds - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Catharus ustulatus swainsoni (Tschudi, 1845) OD Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Onychorhynchus swainsoni (Pelzeln, 1858) OD Bd.31=no.18-20 (1858) - Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Ramphastos swainsonii Gould, 1833 OD pt.1-6 (1833-1838) - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Vireo gilvus swainsoni Baird, 1858 OD v.9=pt.2 (1853-1858) - Reports of explorations and surveys - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Lanicterus swainsonii Lesson, RP, 1838 OD ser.2:t.9 (1838) - Annales des sciences naturelles - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Circus Swainsonii Smith, 1830 OD Vol.1 - South African quarterly journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library See also v.2 (1849) [Aves] - Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Halycon swainsonii Smith, 1830 OD Vol.2 - South African quarterly journal - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Struthidea cinerea swainsoni Mathews, 1912 OD v. 18 (1911) - Novitates zoologicae - Biodiversity Heritage Library

I focused for now on the today valid names and not on the synonyms about him. But some I already identified. But this list is not complete.

Eponym Dictionary of Birds:

The Key to Scientific Names - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

I am wondering now if there was really a middle name John as claimed here? Where did this additional name derived from?

Some more on him The decline and fall of William Swainson

Is the additional name John not just a mix up with his son William John Swainson (1824-1887) https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22360415 ?

William Swainson (1789-1855) did not have a middle name of John. His son was William John Swainson. Wikipedia made the change in 2007 (without any sources). The mistake has spread throughout the Internet, including family tree programs, and even books. Wikipedia has now been fixed as have 68% of the incorrect websites that I have contacted. All old references have his name correct, eg. Books that he wrote or illustrated, Committees he was on, and Societies he belonged to, Contracts that he signed, Newspaper articles of the time, of course, his sketches, his death certificate, tombstone etc., etc., all have his correct name as William Swainson. Be aware that his son was also a very good artist, so don't be confused if you see his signature on sketches.
Please also note that he was NOT New Zealand's first Attorney General; he didn't arrive in NZ until 1841, and then lived in Wellington/Lower Hutt, not in Auckland, where the Attorney General lived. The Attorney General was not married and had no children.
Could somebody please fix these errors on this page, especially the title. "Notes on William John Swainson or simply William Swainson", it should be just "Notes on William Swainson".
It would be great to give the credit to the correct person and put an end to the spread of this incorrect information.
For your reference, here are a few sources you might find useful:
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

Dictionary of NZ Biography

A DICTIONARY OF NEW ZEALAND BIOGRAPHY. EDITED BY G. H. SCHOLEFIELD

dict-bio.howison.co.nz

Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/swainson-william-1789-1855

Wikipedia

William Swainson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your help would be very much appreciated
Tim Swainson

Taphrospilus · Monday at 8:05 AM

Welcome to the forum. Always nice to have family members in a thread discussed here. And yes, this was the conclusion of the previous discussions also. As #1 was a question nothing needs to be changed. As well at least for birdforum users it is not possible to change things if the message is older than one day. But if you follow the thread it is obvious that William Swainson (and no John) is correct.

Notes on William John Swainson or simply William Swainson? (2 Viewers)

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