William Henry Benson

For other people named William Benson, see William Benson (disambiguation).

William Henry Benson
Born(1803-03-30)30 March 1803
St Helier, Jersey
Died27 January 1870(1870-01-27) (aged 66)
Cheltenham, United Kingdom
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materEast India College
Scientific career
FieldsMalacology
InstitutionsEast India Company

William Henry Benson (30 March 1803 – 27 January 1870)[1][2] was a civil servant in British India and a pioneer malacologist. He made large collections of molluscs and described over 470 species, mainly from India, Sri Lanka, Burma and South Africa.[1]

Benson studied at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, which was then the training college for the East India Company's civil service. After graduating, he arrived in Calcutta on 30 October 1821 to begin a career that included positions as a District Collector and Officiating Judge in Meerut, Bareilly and other parts of northern India. During his stay in India he collected specimens of numerous land snails some of which he sent to Hugh Cuming in England.

On the return from a trip to Mauritius he brought a couple of living Achatina fulica which he gave to a friend in Calcutta in April 1847 who subsequently released them in a garden at Chowringhee. The species is today a pest in many parts of India.[2]

His son-in-law Major Richard Sankey was executor of his estate. Benson's collection of shells was briefly in the possession of Sylvanus Hanley, who removed many of the detailed labels thus decreasing their scientific value.[1][2] The collection was then purchased by Robert MacAndrew, who in turn bequeathed it to the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, in 1873.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Preece, R.C.; White, T.S.; Raheem, D.C.; Ketchum, H.; Ablett, J.; Taylor, H.; Webb, K.; Naggs, F. (2022). "William Benson and the golden age of malacology in British India: Biography, illustrated catalogue and evaluation of his molluscan types". Tropical Natural History. Supplement 6: 1–434.
  2. ^ a b c Naggs, F. (1997). "William Benson and the early study of land snails in British India and Ceylon" (PDF). Archives of Natural History. 24 (1): 37–88. doi:10.3366/anh.1997.24.1.37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.