Told by local historian Susan Wilson with photographs by Michael Gradwell
Richard Owen was one of the
most eminent people to have been born in Lancaster. He was born in a
house on the corner of Thurnham Street and Brock Street on 20th
July 1804. The house was demolished in 1939 for street widening. His
mother who was of French Huguenot extraction was the daughter of Robert
Perrin, the organist of Lancaster Parish Church. His father was also
called Richard and he made a considerable fortune as a West Indies merchant.
His parents were married in Preston in 1792.
Richard Owen attended Lancaster
Grammar School at an early age and then in 1820 he was apprenticed to
the surgeon and apothecary Leonard Dickson in Lancaster. It was during
his apprenticeship that he became interested in the study of anatomy.
He was then subsequently apprenticed to Joseph Seed and James Stockdale
Harrison. One of the masters he was apprenticed to was surgeon to the
inmates of Lancaster Castle.
Richard himself made frequent
visits to the Castle. A story is told that he did some work on his own
behalf at the Castle. He actually wanted to obtain a Negro's head
from the Gaol for his anatomical collection. He had ghostly experiences
in trying to get this and on the way out of the Castle he slipped on
some ice. The head fell out of his hand and rolled down the hill and
into the open door of a cottage. Richard was unable to stop himself
rolling down and he rolled into the cottage to shrieks from the woman
inhabitant. He picked himself up and ran all the way back to his abode.
He matriculated at Edinburgh
University in 1824 before his full term of apprenticeship had expired.
In 1825 he went to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and finished
his degree there. He then became Assistant to John Abernethy. Richard
Owen became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and set up private
practice in London. He obtained in 1827 the post of Assistant Conservator
to the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. All this time
he was performing more and more lectures at St Bartholomew's.
He married Caroline Clift in
1835. Her father was the actual Conservator of the Hunterian Museum
and Richard Owen became sole Conservator after his father-in-law retired.
Richard became known as the first Hunterian professor of comparative
anatomy and physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons. His scientific
reputation grew rapidly and he received many awards and honours both
here and abroad. He accepted a civil list pension of £200. This was
supplemented by £100 years later. However he did refuse the offer of
a knighthood. He had many influential friends. One of these friends
was Queen Victoria herself. In 1852 she gave him Sheen Lodge on the
Richmond Estate where he resided until the end of his life.
By 1856 Richard Owen had reached
the zenith of his fame. He was recognised throughout Europe as the first
anatomist of his day. It was Richard who was instrumental in the building
in South Kensington of the new National Natural History Museum. This
opened in 1881. Certain branches of science were greatly advanced by
him. One of his works on Parthenogenesis was a pioneer work of much
importance. Richard Owen was a pre-Darwinian. He had a cautious attitude
towards the detailed evolutionist theories. Some people called him the
Newton of Natural History. In 1841 he coined the word 'dinosaur'
from the Greek word deinos (fearfully great) and sauros (lizard). Most
academics have attributed the birth and growth of palaeontology. However
there is some modern school of thought that claims that Owen stood on
the shoulders of Gideon Mantell. He was a doctor from Sussex. Some say
that Richard Owen based his conclusions on Mantell's fossil discoveries.
Richard Owen was also a great
reader of poetry and loved writing. He even advised Stanley Livingstone
on the best way to write up his adventures in Africa. He had a great
passion for music and was a good performer on the cello and flute. This
love of music he probably inherited from his mother who was an excellent
musician. Richard said himself that he owed a great deal to his mother
for the way his life turned out. Richard Owen's grandson wrote a biography
of him and the following quote says much about his character. 'His
general character stands out clearly and the unfailing testimony of
his friends in regard to his charm of manner, his genial courtesy and
his kindness of heart, left a fragrant memory of a master mind'.
He wrote many books and contributed to many periodicals. Many of these books are available in Lancaster Reference Library. The Museum in Market Square Lancaster has a stained glass window in its collection with a portrait of Richard on it. Richard Owen's wife died in 1873 and his only son in 1866. Richard Owen died on 19th December 1892. He is buried in the churchyard at Ham near Richmond.
Copyright (c) Susan Wilson 2007