John Frederick Whitlie Quekett

John Frederick Whitlie Quekett (b. London, 1849, d. Durban 5 July 1913) was a conchologist and museum curator who worked in South Africa, having emigrated there in 1871. He was the curator of the Durban Natural History Museum in June 1895. He retired in 1909 and died in Durban in 1913.

Early life

Quekket was born in London in 1849, his father was Professor John Thomas Quekett, after whom the Microscopy Club, is named,[1] and his mother was Isabella Mary Anne Scott. He was educated in London.[2]

South Africa

Quekket emigrated to South Africa in 1871. At some time in the early 1880s he was elected a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. In 1886 he was tasked by the Natal Society in Pietermaritzburg to organise their collections and in 1888 was recorded as the honorary secretary of the Society’s Museum and Science Department. By 1891 he was the secretary and the first curator of the society’s museum, an institution which eventually became part of the Natal Museum. at this time he was employed by the civil service of Natal from 1889 and worked for its Forestry Department from its inauguration in 1891.[2]

Quekett was appointed as curator of the Durban Natural History Museum in June 1895. He also the secretary and treasurer of the management committee of the museum. declining health forced him to retire from the museum in 1909. He specialised in conchology, and alongside H.C. Burnup, he undertook many field trips to collect shells. Quekket and Burnup were the first conchologists to retrieve shells from the intestines of the musselcracker seabream (Sparodon durbanensis). The shells were obtained fishmonger in Durban called Alex ("Lexy") Anderson. Quekett also had an interest in moths.[2]

Quekket joined the South African Philosophical Society in 1899 and was still a member in 1908 when it changed into the Royal Society of South Africa.[2]

Quekett died in Durban on 5 July 1913.[2]

Legacy

Quekett is honoured in the names of the following species:[2]

References
  1. "Who are we? The Quekett Microscopical Club". Quekket Microscopical Club. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. "Quekett, Mr John Frederick Whitlie (conchology, museum curation)". S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Scylliogaleus quecketti" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (10 June 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 12): Suborder Triglioidei: Families Triglidae and Peristediidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (9 May 2022). "Order KURTIFORMES (Nurseryfishes and Cardinalfishes)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  6. "Amietia delalandii (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)". Amphibian Species of the World 6,1. American Museum of Natural History.
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