William Evans Hoyle

Dr William Evans Hoyle FRSE (28 January 1855 – 7 February 1926)[1] was a British zoologist. A specialist in deep sea creatures, he worked on classification and illustrations from the Challenger expedition from 1882 to 1888.

Enteroctopus dofleini, drawn by Hoyle
Drawings of Teuthowenia megalops by Hoyle

Life

Hoyle was born in Manchester, the son of William Jennings Hoyle, an engraver.

He was educated at Owens College and at Exeter College and Christ Church, Oxford where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1877, Master of Arts in 1882 and a Doctor of Science, he was also Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

He was the Director of the Manchester Museum from 1889 to 1909 and then was the first director of the National Museum of Wales from 1909 up to his retirement in 1926. Trained as a medical anatomist, Hoyle is most famous for his monographic studies on cephalopods from major exploring expeditions of his era including the Challenger, the Albatross, the British National Antarctic Expedition and the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

In 1883 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir John Murray, Morrison Watson, John Gray McKendrick and James Cossar Ewart.[2]

Hoyle authored many first descriptions of cephalopods, including (but not limited to) those tabled below.

Cephalopods first described by William Evans Hoyle
Genus species Common name Year
Hapalochlaena maculosa Southern blue-ringed octopus 1883
Metasepia pfefferi Flambuoyant cuttlefish 1885
Muusoctopus levis 1885
Octopus australis Hammer octopus 1885
Octopus hongkongensis 1885
Octopus pallidus Pale octopus 1885
Octopus vitiensis 1885
Pyroteuthis Fire squid 1904
Sepia cultrata Knifebone cuttlefish or Elongated cuttlefish 1885
Sepia kiensis 1885
Sepia novaehollandiae New Holland cuttlefish 1909
Sepia papuensis Papuan cuttlefish 1885
Sepia smithi Smith's cuttlefish 1885

In 1906 he served as President of the Museums Association of Great Britain.

He died in Porthcawl in Wales on 7 February 1926.

Family

He married twice: firstly in 1883 to Edith Isabel Sharp (d.1916); secondly in 1918 to Mrs Florence Ethel Mabel Hallett, a widow.[3]

Artistic Recognition

There is a portrait of Hoyle in oils at the National Museum of Wales.[4]

References
  1. "Obituary: Dr. W. E. Evans". Nature. 64 (117): 277. 20 February 1926. doi:10.1038/117277a0.
  2. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
  3. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
  4. "Hoyle, William Evans". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.


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