John Edmonstone
John Edmonstone was a taxidermist and teacher of taxidermy in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was an influential Black Briton.[1]
_(14780654981).jpg)
Early life
[edit]Born into slavery on a wood plantation in Mibiri Creek, Demerara, British Guiana (present-day Guyana, South America), he was given the surname of his slave-owner, Charles Edmonstone, who owned the plantation and also owned the Cardross Park estate at Cardross, near Dumbarton in Scotland.[3]
Around 1812 the plantation was visited by the naturalist Charles Waterton, who spent considerable time teaching John Edmonstone taxidermy.[4][1][5][6]
Career
[edit]In 1817, Edmonstone went to Scotland with Charles Edmonstone, possibly to become a servant to the Edmonstone family at Cardross Park.
Being free, John Edmonstone took employment in Glasgow, where he sold exotic animal specimens to the museum. He then moved to Edinburgh, where in 1823 he set up shop as a "bird-stuffer" at 37 Lothian Street. He sold specimens including birds and snakes. From this shop, he taught taxidermy to students attending the nearby University of Edinburgh.
Charles Darwin studied for two months with Edmonstone in 1826, when Darwin was aged around 17.[3] Edmonstone gave Darwin inspiring accounts of tropical rain forests in South America and may have encouraged him to explore there. Having worked in hot climates, Edmonstone had learned to preserve birds rapidly before decomposition set in, a skill that may have benefited Darwin during the voyage of HMS Beagle[1][5] from 1931, when Darwin preserved Galapagos finches and Galapagos mockingbirds.[7][2]
Darwin described Edmonstone as:[2]
A negro lived in Edinburgh, who had travelled with Waterton, and gained his livelihood by stuffing birds, which he did excellently: he gave me lessons for payment, and I used often to sit with him, for he was a very pleasant and intelligent man.
Edmonstone also undertook work for the Royal Museum of the University.[4][2] He moved his taxidermy shop to Edinburgh's main shopping thoroughfare, opening at 29 and then later 66 Princes Street. In the 1840s, he moved shop again to 10 South St David's Street.[8]
Personal life
[edit]Edmonstone appears to have married his neighbour, Mary Kerr, in 1824.[3] The 1841 census records Edmonstone living at James Court, Edinburgh, with Mary and three children.[3]
Legacy
[edit]In 2009, a plaque to commemorate Edmonstone was commissioned by the London arts venue Kings Place, to be made by the Wedgwood porcelain firm.[9] The plaque was put up at Negociants Bar, in Lothian Street, Edinburgh, although it has since been lost.[9][10][11]
Edmonstone is regarded as one of the "100 Great Black Britons".[12]
A poem narrated from the perspective of John Edmonstone appears in the Winter 2019 issue of African American Review.[13]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Making History: Series 12, Programme 2, John Edmonstone". BBC Radio 4. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 McNish, James (16 October 2020). "John Edmonstone: the man who taught Darwin taxidermy". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 Williams, Lisa (29 October 2021). "Stuffed birds and a missing plaque: The story of John Edmonstone". Historic Environment Scotland Blog. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- 1 2 "John Edmonstone: Enslaved Man to (free as a) Bird-Stuffer". National Records of Scotland. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
- 1 2 "Toespraak Mcewen (eng)". 23 December 2005. Archived from the original on 23 December 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ↑ "Waterton Park, Walton, Wakefield, Walton - 1487471". Historic England. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ↑ "Happy 212th birthday Charles Darwin!". Field Museum Facebook page. Field Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ↑ Post Office Directories, Edinburgh, 1823–1843.
- 1 2 "Memorial for Darwin slave mentor". 9 March 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ Williams, Lisa (15 November 2018). "Edinburgh's part in the slave trade". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- ↑ Mitchell, Hilary (8 October 2019). "The amazing tale of John Edmonstone: the freed slave who taught Charles Darwin in Edinburgh". Edinburgh Live. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ "John Edmonstone". 100 Great Black Britons. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ↑ Peretz, Jeremy Jacob (Winter 2019). "Golden Shovel #2: John Edmonston(e), or 'Darwin's negro bird-stuffer'". African American Review. 52 (4): 394–395. doi:10.1353/afa.2019.0059 – via Project Muse.
  | This biographical article about a Scottish scientist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |