George William Chaster

MRCS, LRCP
Born1863
Wigan, England
Died1910(1910-00-00) (aged 46–47)

George William Chaster (1863 – 5 May 1910) was an English medical doctor, entomologist, and conchologist.

Life

George William Chaster was born in Wigan in 1863. He trained as a doctor at University College, Liverpool, winning the Lyon-Jones Scholarship in 1882 and was appointed the Holt Tutorial Fellow in 1889. He also won a number of medals during his training.[1] He established his medical practice in Southport.[2] He was one of the founding members of the Southport Natural Science Society and served as the editor of the Society's journal.[3][4]

From a young age, Chaster was interested in the natural sciences, in particular conchology. He spent is holidays in Ireland, where he would dredge and collect specimens.[2] Along with Irish naturalists, including Robert Welch, Chaster dredged around Rathlin Ireland in 1896 and 1897.[5] He also took part in the Royal Irish Academy's Clare Island Survey.[6] He was also interested in Foraminifera and Coleoptera, publishing numerous papers on a variety of topics. As well as collecting locally in Southport, he also collected in Nottinghamshire. In Ireland, he added a number of newly recorded species to lists.[3] Chaster named the mollusc species, Arculus sykesii and Neolepton obliquatum,[7] the genus Retrotortina with the monotypic species R. fuscata which is considered as Europe's smallest gastropod,[8] and the genus Cima. The foraminifer species Rotalliella chasteri described by Edward Heron-Allen and Arthur Earland in 1913 under the genus Discorbina is named after him.[9] He served as the vice-president of the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland.[1]

Chaster died on 5 May 1910 from pleuro-pneumonia. Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales holds his collection of around 11,000 insects,[3] and 2,890 lots of molluscs.[10] Robert Lloyd Praeger stated that "Irish conchology especially owes much to his work" and that his premature death "was a severe loss to Irish zoology".[2] Obituaries were published in the British Medical Journal[1] and The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dr. George William Chaster". British Medical Journal. 1 (2578): 1330. 28 May 1910. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.2578.1330. S2CID 219999419.
  2. 1 2 3 Praeger, R. Lloyd. "Some Irish Naturalists: A Biographical Note-book". National Botanic Gardens of Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "CHASTER, George William". UK Beetle Recording. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Obituary". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 46: 145–146. 1910.
  5. ↑ "NMI Marine Mollusca Catalogue". www.habitas.org.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Collins, Timothy (1999). "The Clare Island Survey of 1909-1911: participants, papers and progress". In Mac Carthaigh, Criostoir; Whelan, Kevin (eds.). New Survey of Clare Island: History and Cultural Landscape. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 1–40. ISBN 1874045712.
  7. ↑ Chambers, Paul (2009). British seashells : a guide for collectors and beachcombers. Barnsley: Remember When. ISBN 9781783408610.
  8. ↑ Gofas, Serge; Waren, Anders (1998). "Europe's smallest gastropod: habitat, distributionand relationships of Retrotortina fuscata (Omalogyridae)" (PDF). Cah. Biol. Mar. 39: 9–14.
  9. ↑ Pawlowski, Jan; Zaninetti, Louisette; Whittaker, John; Lee, John J. (1992). "The taxonomic status of the minute foraminifera Discorbina minutissima Chaster (1892), D. chasteri Heron-Allen & Earland (1913) and related species" (PDF). Journal of Micropalaeontology. 11 (2): 127–134. doi:10.1144/jm.11.2.127. ISSN 2041-4978. S2CID 84361968.
  10. ↑ "Non Melvill-Tomlin collections". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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