William Spence (1783 – January 6, 1860) was a British entomologist.[1]
He was one of the founders of the Society of Entomologists of London in 1833, the year of its foundation and became president in 1847.[1]
He wrote, with his friend William Kirby, Introduction to entomology (1815–1826).
Spence was born in Bishop Burton but little else is known about his early life except that at the age of ten he was in the care of a clergyman who taught him botany. He became interested in entomology when he was 22 and immediately began a correspondence with Kirby. Ten years later he suggested the Introduction to Kirby.
Spence published some 20 notes on entomology.
In 1822, he also published Tracts on Political Economy Viz. 1. Britain Independent of Commerce; 2. Agriculture the Source of Wealth; 3. The Objections Against the Corn Bill Refuted; 4. Speech on the East India Trade. With Prefatory Remarks on the Causes and Cure of Our Present Distresses as Originating from Neglect of Principles Laid Down in These Works (London: Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1822).
He was made an 'Honorary English Member' of the Entomological Society at the same time as Kirby was made Honorary Life President and was President 1847–48 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1834.
His father Robert was a farmer in Burton Bassett and William was the oldest of 4 children - he was apprenticed to Russian merchants & shipowners Carhill, Greenwood & Co.
He married Elizabeth Blundell in Hull on 30 June 1804 and very soon supported her brother Henry to set up the highly successful oil & colour company Blundell Spence.
Suffered from awful headaches.
Wrote on Political economy edited a Hull newspaper the Rocckingham.
There is a bust of him by Morochetti in the Hull museum.
He was the father of artist and art dealer William Blundell Spence.
References
- ^ a b Clark, J. F. M. (2004). "Spence, William (bap. 1782, d. 1860)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26113. Retrieved 2009-08-10. (Subscription required)
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