Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/433

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
Woodward
427
Woodward

geology and mineralogy in the British Museum, a position which he occupied until the close of his life. His official duties led him to concentrate attention on invertebrate fossils, and more especially on the fossil mollusca, to the study of which he happily added that of the living forms; so that in a few years he came to be regarded as the highest authority on the subject of recent and fossil shells. His researches on the Hippuritidæ, an extinct family of mollusca, are worthy of note, while his ‘Manual of the Mollusca; or, Rudimentary Treatise of Recent and Fossil Shells,’ to the preparation of which he devoted all his leisure hours for six years, was at once adopted as the standard work on the subject. It appeared in three parts in 1851, 1853, and 1856 (London, 8vo), passed through several editions, and was translated into French in 1870. The illustrations, filling twenty-four plates, were engraved by J. W. Lowry from original drawings by the author, and they remain among the choicest specimens of steel engravings. Considerable attention was given by Woodward to the fossil Echinodermata. He named and described the new genus Echinothuria, from an anomalous fossil form. Long afterwards Sir Charles Wyville Thomson [q. v.] founded a new family, Echinothuridæ, to contain the original fossil genus and also two recent genera brought to light by deep-sea dredgings. Woodward described some of the fossil species of echinoderms in the ‘Decades’ of the geological survey. He was elected a fellow of the Geological Society in 1854, and in 1864 the university of Göttingen conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He contributed many original papers to the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ the ‘Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,’ the ‘Geologist,’ and the ‘Geological Magazine.’ He also wrote for the ‘Critic’ and other periodicals. He was for several years examiner in natural science to the council of military education at Sandhurst, and afterwards examiner in geology and palæontology to the university of London. He died at Herne Bay, whither he had gone to recruit his health, on 11 July 1865.

[Memoir in Trans. Norfolk Naturalists' Society, 1882, iii. 279–312, with portrait and list of papers.]

H. B. W.

WOODWARD, THOMAS (1801–1852), animal painter, son of Herbert and Elizabeth Woodward, was born on 5 July 1801 at Pershore, Worcestershire, where his father practised as a solicitor. His childish efforts at painting meeting with encouragement from Benjamin West, he was articled to Abraham Cooper [q. v.], and from 1822 until his death was a large exhibitor at the Royal Academy and British Institution, chiefly of historical compositions, in which horses formed a prominent feature. Among these were ‘Turks and their Chargers,’ ‘The Chariot Race,’ ‘Horses pursued by Wolves,’ ‘A Detachment of Cromwell's Cavalry surprised in a Mountain Pass,’ ‘The Battle of Worcester,’ and ‘Mazeppa.’ On the recommendation of Sir Edwin Landseer, who thought highly of his talent, Woodward painted many portraits of favourite horses for the queen, the prince consort, and other distinguished persons; several of these were engraved for the ‘Sporting Magazine.’ His ‘Tempting Present’ has also been well engraved. Being unable, on account of his delicate health, to settle in London, Woodward resided chiefly in his native county. He died unmarried, at Worcester, on 30 Oct. 1852, and was buried in the abbey church of Pershore, where there is a mural tablet to his memory.

[Art Journal, 1852; Gent. Mag. 1852, ii. 654; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1893; private information.]

F. M. O'D.

WOODWARD, THOMAS JENKINSON (1745?–1820), botanist, born about 1745, was a native of Huntingdon, where his family had long been established. His parents died when he was quite young, leaving him, however, well off. He was educated at Eton and Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated LL.B. in 1769. Shortly after he married Frances (d. 27 Nov. 1833), the daughter and heiress of Thomas Manning of Bungay, Suffolk.

He was appointed a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for the county of Suffolk, and on his subsequent removal to Walcot House, Diss, Norfolk, to the same offices for that county. On the establishment of the volunteer system he became lieutenant-colonel of the Diss volunteers. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1789.

He died at Diss on 28 Jan. 1820, and was buried there. He left no issue. To botany, especially the English flora, he was devoted, and is described by Sir James Edward Smith [q. v.] as ‘one of the best English botanists, whose skill and accuracy are only equalled by his liberality and zeal in the service of the science’ (Rees, Cyclop.), and it was in his honour that Smith named the genus Woodwardia.