George Robert Gray | |
|---|---|
 Undated photograph of Gray | |
| Born | 8 July 1808 Little Chelsea,London, England |
| Died | 6 May 1872(1872-05-06) (aged 63) London, England |
| Known for | Genera of Birds, description of many species ofLepidoptera |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Frederick Gray Elizabeth Forfeit |
| Relatives | John Edward Gray (brother) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ornithologist, entomologist |
| Institutions | British Museum |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | G. R. Gray |
George Robert GrayFRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an Englishzoologist and author, and head of theornithological section of theBritish Museum, now theNatural History Museum, London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother of the zoologistJohn Edward Gray and the son of the botanistSamuel Frederick Gray.
George Gray's most important publication was hisGenera of Birds (1844–49), illustrated byDavid William Mitchell andJoseph Wolf, which included 46,000 references.
He was bornon 8 July 1808 inLittle Chelsea,London, toSamuel Frederick Gray, naturalist and pharmacologist, and Elizabeth (née Forfeit), his wife.[1] He was educated at Merchant Taylor's School.[2]
Gray started at theBritish Museum as Assistant Keeper of theZoology Branch in 1831.
He began by cataloguing insects, and published anEntomology of Australia (1833) and contributed the entomogical section to an English edition ofGeorges Cuvier'sAnimal Kingdom. Gray described manyspecies ofLepidoptera. In 1833, he was a founder of what became theRoyal Entomological Society of London.
Gray's original description ofGray's grasshopper warbler, which was named for him, appeared in 1860. The specimen had been collected byAlfred Russel Wallace in theMoluccas. In a brief biography dealing with Gray's work on phasmids, Bragg[3] credits Gray with more than doubling the number of named species ofphasmids with three publications (in 1833, 1835 and 1843); three species of phasmids were subsequently named after Gray.
Gray died on 6 May 1872 inLondon, England.
