Joshua Alder

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This article is about the zoologist. For Joshua Allder (1838–1904), founder of the Croydon department store, see Allders.
Joshua Alder
Joshua Alder (1792 - 1867).jpg
Sketch of Alder from "Men of mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed" by Richard Welford, 1895
Born(1792-04-07)7 April 1792
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Died21 January 1867(1867-01-21) (aged 74)
CitizenshipBritish
OccupationCheesemonger
Scientific career
Fieldszoologist

Joshua Alder (7 April 1792 – 21 January 1867)[1] was a British cheesemonger and amateur zoologist and malacologist. As such, he specialized in the Tunicata, and in gastropods.

He was a member of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham, and an early member of the Literary and Philosophical Society, alongside Joseph Swan and Robert Stephenson.[2] He corresponded with Charles Darwin.[2]

His drawings are in the collections of the Great North Museum and the British Museum.[3]

Ravensworth Terrace[]

From 1841 to 1857 Alder was a tenant at 5 Ravensworth Terrace in the Summerhill area of Newcastle upon Tyne, which he shared with his sister Mary, a woman of independent means, and their two female servants.[2]

During this time, he ran a cheese shop in The Side, a street in central Newcastle.[2] He sold that business and became a shareholder in the Northumberland District Bank, and a gentleman of leisure.[2] A financial crash in 1857 led to the collapse of the bank, and Alder faced ruin.[2] He and Mary were forced to leave Ravensworth Terrace, moving to a smaller house, still extant, in nearby Summerhill Terrace, where he was supported by his sister.[2] In 1863 he wrote to his co-author Albany Hancock of his relief at being awarded a pension of £70 from the civil list by Lord Palmerston at the behest of his scientific colleagues, allowing him to resume his research.[2]

An obituary noted that he was "everywhere accompanied" by his sister, who "assisted him in his studies and was, in short, essential to his life and health".[2]

Alder is profiled in the first episode of the second series of A House Through Time, first shown in April 2019.[2] As a result of research conducted for the programme, a plaque commemorating Alder was unveiled there on 26 September 2018 by presenter David Olusoga and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, David Down.[3] The house has been Grade II listed since June 1976.[4]

Bibliography[]

Plate from British Tunicata
  • Alder J. (1838). "Supplement to a catalogue of the land and fresh-water testaceous Mollusca, found in the vicinity of Newcastle". Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham 1(3): 337–342. Newcastle.
  • Alder J. (1841). "Observations on the genus Polycera of Cuvier, with descriptions of two new British species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6 (38): 337–342. doi:10.1080/03745484109442937.
  • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1845–1855). A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. The Ray Society, London. Published in 8 parts:
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1845) part 1. online
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1846) part 2.
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1847) part 3.
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1848) part 4.
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1851) part 5.
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1854) part 6.
    • Alder J. & Hancock A. (1855) part 7.
    • Eliot E. (1910) part 8 (suppl.)
  • Alder J. & Hancock A. (October 1851). "Descriptions of two new species of nudibranchiate Mollusca, one of them forming the type of a new genus". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 2nd ser., 8 (46): 290–302, pls. 9–10.
  • Alder, Joshua, Embleton, Dennis, Hancock, Albany, Hopkinson, John, Norman, Alfred Merle, 1905–12 The British Tunicata; an unfinished monograph, by the late Joshua Alder and the late Albany Hancock. Edited by John Hopkinson, with a history of the work by the Rev. A. M. Norman. London. Printed for the Ray Society.

A contemporary review described the Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca as "one of the most admirable monographs which has ever appeared in this or any other country".[2] Prince Albert is known to have owned a copy.[2]

Taxa described[]

Alder discovered over 100 marine species, new to science.[2]

Names or synonyms of tunicates described by Alder include:[5]

Gastropod taxa described by Alder include:

References[]

  1. ^ Coan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2009). 2,400 years of malacology, 6th ed., 830 pp. + 32 pp. [Annex of Collations]. American Malacological Society.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Episode 1 — Series 2". A House Through Time. Series 2. Episode 1. 8 April 2019. BBC Television.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lord Mayor joined by BBC presenter for plaque unveiling". Newcastle City Council. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  4. ^ Historic England. "5, Ravensworth Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne (Grade II) (1107928)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  5. ^ Joshua Alder. Accessed 14 February 2009.

External links[]

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