Francis Willughby - Knowledge

986: 818: 1261: 1126: 544: 1489: 1115: 40: 1552: 673: 346: 1341: 412: 1090:), and the additional physical and financial demands occasioned by having to defend a bitterly disputed inheritance put him under more strain. On 3 June 1672 he became seriously ill again, and signed his will on 24 June, disbarring any Catholic descendants from inheriting. He died on 3 July. The immediate cause of death was 1374:, football and word games; some are now unfamiliar, such as "Lend me your Skimmer". For each entry he included the rules, equipment and manner of play. He also studied the first games that babies and children play, and wrote a more mathematical section "On the rebounding of tennis balls". As with his biological works, the 1567:

unaware of the Willughby family archive at the University of Nottingham when he wrote his book, and access to that and other new material have led to modern appraisals giving a more balanced picture, with the two men seen to have made significant individual contributions, each demonstrating his own strengths.

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The lack of physical evidence, together with Willughby's early death and the publication of his books by Ray, means that the relative contributions of the two men has subsequently been disputed. Willughby's work was initially well-regarded, but Ray's reputation grew as time passed, and, in 1788, the

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In Seville, Willughby had received a letter saying that his father was seriously ill, so he had hastened his return to Middleton where he arrived shortly before Christmas 1664. His father died in December 1665 and Francis then became responsible for the estate. Willughby was soon being urged by his

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clerics. Unemployed and without a source of income, his position might have been difficult, but Willughby offered him accommodation and work at Middleton, writing "I am likely to spend much of my life afterwards in wandring or else in Private Studiing at Oxford. having but little heart to thinke of

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wrote his 1942 biography of Ray, seeing him as the senior partner and saying that Willughby had "less knowledge, patience and judgment" than Ray, whom he considered a scientist of genius, and whose contributions he tended to compare favourably with the achievements of most other writers. Raven was

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and the Bible. To this end, Willughby, Ray and their friends undertook a number of journeys to gather information and specimens, initially in England and Wales, but culminating in an extensive tour of continental Europe, visiting museums, libraries and private collections as well as studying local

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speakers to attempt a systematic study of the language that, although never published, influenced subsequent scholars. It was during this trip that Ray and Willughby decided to attempt to classify all living things, with Ray mainly working on plants and Willughby on animals. The tables of species

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and the Royal Society finally published it in 1710 in Latin, incomplete, unillustrated and under Ray's name only. Ray, however, makes it clear that Willughby did the bulk of the insect research, including, for example, 20 pages of beetle descriptions. The book had four sections, starting with an

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to notable personages, with Willughby's wealth making the trip financially viable. They intended to visit museums, libraries and private collections, and also study local animals and plants. Given the limitations of time on their demanding schedule, fish and bird markets were a useful source of

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that covered that group. Ray's problems with completing this publication were much the same as with the fish book, although in 1704 he was able to see manuscripts prepared independently by Sir Thomas Willoughby and the scholar Thomas Man, Sir Thomas having moved into Wollaton Hall in 1687 and

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A distant relative, William Willoughby, had left Francis the greater part of his estate. William Willoughby's sister and her husband, Beaumont Dixie, had expected to inherit more than they actually received, and argued that the deceased was not of sound mind when he made his

1444:. Where feasible, Willughby and Ray compared the available illustrations with life or specimens, or, if that were not possible, against each other, to select the most accurate version for publication. In addition to these authors, sources used for the text included works by 1168:, which helped readers to identify birds by guiding them to the page describing that group. The authors also placed an asterisk against species of which they had no first-hand knowledge, and were therefore unable to verify. Willughby had been keen to add details of " 1405:

The numerous plates illustrating the species in the bird and fish books came from a number of sources. Willughby's own extensive collection included paintings he had bought on his European travels, and he also borrowed pictures owned by friends like Skippon and Sir

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on 14 November. Willughby found little of scientific interest in Spain, which he considered backward. He also disliked the land and the people: "almost desolate... tyrannical inquisition... multitude of whores... wretched laziness... very like the Welsh and Irish."

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Much of Willughby's written work has been lost, along with his scientific equipment and most of his collections of items of natural history interest; what remains is largely owned by the family and housed in the University of Nottingham Middleton archive. The

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was arduous, with poor mountain tracks, bad weather and little food except bread, and it was 6 October before they reached their destination, where Skippon listed 60 species of fish and 28 kinds of birds he had noted in the Venetian markets.

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and their caterpillars, and an appendix by Martin Lister on British beetles. Plates prepared by Sir Thomas Willoughby were not used, and they have now been lost, as have the manuscripts Sir Thomas showed to Ray.

633:. Wilkins' intention was to create a universal terminology to describe the natural world, and the study of languages and writing systems was meant to create a logical linguistic framework for his classification. 920:

Throughout the continental journey, Willughby and Skippon in particular had continued their research into languages. In Vienna, apart from visiting the local collections, they had taken the opportunity to study

810:: "For my part, I must needs acknowledge that I have received much light and information from the Work of this poor man, and have been thereby inabled to clear many difficulties, and rectifie some mistakes in 1195:

The first of the three sections included an introduction to bird biology, an explanation of the new classification system and the dichotomous key. The second and third sections described land birds and

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in July 1672, aged 36. His premature death meant that it fell to Ray to complete the works on animals they had jointly planned. In due course, Ray published books on birds, fish and

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animals and plants. After their continental tour, he and Ray lived and worked mainly at Middleton Hall. Willughby married Emma Barnard in 1668 and the couple had three children.

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was also published in an expanded form in English. The books included innovative and effective ways of classifying animals, and all three were influential in the history of

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was unfinished at his death, but was published with accompanying interpretative material in 2003. He gave details of dozens of games and sports, including cards,

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Greengrass, Mark; Hildyard, Daisy; Preston, Christopher D; Smith, Paul J (2016). "Science on the move: Francis Willughby's expeditions". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

1986: 4265: 3174:"There are in the library at Wollaton many manuscripts which were written by my father... One which shews the chances of most games" in Chandos (1958) p. 105. 1236:, President of the Royal Society, who had made a generous financial contribution to the project. The book had four sections: an introduction to fish biology; 1063:

Willughby and Ray continued their researches, now mainly on birds, with the help of Francis Jessop, another Trinity alumnus, who sent them specimens from the

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Birkhead, Tim. R; Charmantier, Isabelle; Smith, Paul J; Montgomerie, Robert (2018). "Willughby's Buzzard: names and misnomers of the European Honey-buzzard (

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Cram, David (1990). "John Ray and Francis Willughby: Universal language schemes and the foundations of linguistic field research". In Hüllen, Werner (ed.).

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of Willughby's will, in which he was left the sum of £60 a year for life. He saw it as his duty to complete and publish his colleague's work on animals.

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The original journals for this expedition are lost, and the itinerary was reconstructed from scattered references by Ray's biographer, Charles Raven.

3731: 909:. It was here that the party divided, Willughby and Bacon heading to Rome, where they spent May, June and July, while Ray and Skippon went on to 1791:

The paintings in Willughby's copies were by a Johann Georg Walther, and depicted 56 birds, 40 fish and 52 other animals including invertebrates.

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A lost work appears to have been one that, according to his daughter Cassandra, "shews the chances of most games", which may have been titled

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Baldner was a prosperous former fisherman, town councillor and self-taught naturalist who, like the Englishmen, only wrote about what he saw.

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Grindle, Nick (2005). "'No other sign or note than the very order': Francis Willughby, John Ray and the importance of collecting pictures".

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Captain Thomas Willoughby 1601-1657 : of England, Barbadoes and lower Norfolk County, Virginia : some of his descendents 1601-1800

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Roos, Anna Marie (2016). "The chymistry of Francis Willughby (1635–72): the Trinity College, Cambridge community". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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FRS made a translation of the German text into English, later added to Willughby's copy after his death. Ray claimed in his preface to the

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into practice, including travelling to collect specimens and information. Willughby helped Ray in collecting plants for his botanical work

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wrote that Willughby's contribution had been overstated by his friend, who gave himself too little credit. The opposite view was given by

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Willughby and Ray discovered several previously undescribed species of birds, fish and invertebrates. The names of the Windermere charr (

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Willughby had suffered several periods of illness, including violent fevers, between 1668 and 1671, described by Ray as "tertian ague" (

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Observations Topographical, Moral, & Physiological; Made in a Journey Through Part of the Low-countries, Germany, Italy, and France

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Observations topographical, moral & physiological made in a journey through part of the Low-Countries, Germany, Italy and France

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to broaden its appeal, but had no mention of Willughby's widow. Its commercial success is unknown, but its influence was profound.

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information and specimens. Although all kept journals, most of Willughby's are lost, and the journey is mainly documented in Ray's

480:. In 1667 Ray was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, but was excused the subscription because of his relative poverty. 400:. He appears to have read widely, his library at his death containing an estimated 2,000 books, including literary, historical and 377: 186: 1428:

The illustrations taken from earlier books were from many sources, particularly the earlier natural histories or ornithologies by

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were advocates of a new way of studying science, relying on observation and classification, rather than the received authority of

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Birkhead, Tim; Smith, Paul J.; Doherty, Meghan; Charmantier, Isabelle (2016). "Willughby's Ornithology". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

1886: 1548:, who felt that Ray's fame rested entirely on that of his patron, and he lacked the genius to have achieved anything on his own. 727:(another friend from Trinity) departed for continental Europe on a pre-planned itinerary armed with the requisite passports and 1507: 1099: 1053: 990: 181: 99: 4153: 4067: 4048: 4029: 4010: 3991: 3972: 3953: 3930: 3911: 3892: 3873: 3843: 3824: 3805: 3786: 3767: 3748: 3739:

Charmantier, Isabelle; Johnston, Dorothy; Smith, Paul J (2016). "The legacies of Francis Willughby". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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all commemorate the younger man. However, Willughby and Ray's main influence was through their three books, especially the

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had advocated the advancement of knowledge through observation and experiment, rather than relying on the authority of

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on 15 September where they stayed for several days before leaving on 24 September for Venice. The journey through the

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from 1582, but Great Britain did not adopt the new form until 1752. Dates for the journey are therefore based on the

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In the seventeenth century, the term "insect" had a much wider meaning than it does today, so the third major book,

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Cram, David (1992). "Language universals and seventeenth-century universal schemes". In Subbiondo, Joseph L (ed.).

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and London. They had three children. Their first child, Francis, died at the age of nineteen, while their daughter

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settling, or ingaging in a family. I shall bee Verie glad of your constant company and assistance in my studies".

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In August 1662 Ray resigned his Fellowship at Cambridge, being unwilling to subscribe to the requirements of the

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Flis, Nathan (2015). "Francis Barlow, the King's Birds, and the Ornithology of Francis Willughby and John Ray".

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Poole, William (2016). "The Willughby library in the time of Francis the naturalist". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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Willughby favoured that spelling, but other members of the family, before and after, often used "Willoughby".

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A Fellow-commoner paid double tuition fees in return for privileges such as dining with the College Fellows.

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The next book, on fish, was many years in the making; Willughby's widow had remarried, and her new husband,

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Originally Wray, which he used consistently until 1670 when he changed to Ray for ease of Latinisation as

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plates that completed the work, and this is acknowledged on the title page. The English-language version,

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Johnston, Dorothy (2016). "The life and domestic context of Francis Willughby". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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used by the travellers, and for the period concerned are ten days earlier than the Gregorian equivalent.

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was intended to describe all the then-known birds worldwide. Its innovative features were an effective

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was later to quote this as one reason why he doubted that there was a beneficent and omnipotent god.

1410:. Many illustrations were taken from previous publications by other writers, and some were based on 1844: 1511: 744: 3854: 3815:

Cram, David (2016). "Francis Willughby and John Ray on words and things". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

4102:. (Manuscript in the Middleton collection, University of Nottingham, shelfmark Li 113.) c1665-70. 3402: 1457: 1411: 1393:"). Willughby was a competent mathematician, and there is evidence that the lost text considered 1353: 1274: 1103: 1018: 985: 600: 369: 103: 1327:. The second section contained the main species descriptions, followed by Ray's observations of 3798:

Francis Willughby's Book of Games: A Seventeenth-Century Treatise on Sports, Games and Pastimes

2861:"Samuel Pepys's hand-coloured copy of John Ray's 'The Ornithology of Francis Willughby' (1678)" 1023: 728: 712: 274: 1658: 1614: 997:

relatives to find a wife, but procrastinated knowing that this would restrict his researches.

817: 779:, and Willughby dissected a spoonbill chick obtained there. The party continued north through 1603: 1545: 1533: 1494: 1433: 1415: 1260: 952:, where Ray was already present. Willughby entered Spain on 31 August and progressed through 592: 334: 323: 1001: 4210: 4205: 4039:

Serjeantson, Richard (2016). "The education of Francis Willughby". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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they produced were used by Wilkins as part of a unifying scheme later published in 1668 as

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he had described previously in the Lake District. The party then headed south through west

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The group remained in Venice from 6 October 1663 to 1 February 1664, apart from a trip to

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to teach Willughby that subject. The two became friends, and in 1655 Barrow dedicated his

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An Account of a Journey Made thro' Part of the Low-Countries, Germany, Italy and France

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Travels through the Low Countries, Germany, Italy and France, With curious observations

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Although affluent students often left university without a degree, Willughby graduated

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Frost, Winifred E; Wells, George Philip (1965). "Breeding habits of Windermere charr,

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on 22 November 1635, the only son of Sir Francis Willoughby and his wife Cassandra (

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Allen, Elsa Guerdrum (1951). "The history of American ornithology before Audubon".

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The journey from Calais to Venice took 172 days in total, with 84 overnight stops.

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Arthur Smith Woodward: His Life and Influence on Modern Vertebrate Palaeontology

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was the name coined for the manuscript by Mary Welch, a former archivist of the

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Wardhaugh, Benjamin (2016). "Willughby's mathematics". In Birkhead, Tim (ed.).

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Willughby had suffered bouts of illness over the years, and eventually died of

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