Lawrence, George N. (George Newbold), 1806-1895

Exist Dates

1806 - 1895

Biographical or Historical Note

George Newbold Lawrence was an amateur ornithologist and author. He donated his collection of over 8000 bird skins to the American Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, the son of a wholesale druggist, went into partnership with his father and became head of the firm in 1834. After being introduced to Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution in 1841, Lawrence devoted his full time and energy to the study and classification of birds. Lawrence used his wealth and business background to outfit and finance several Smithsonian expeditions, and began to publish papers based on his study of the U.S. National Museum's collections. For approximately ten years ending in 1858, Lawrence worked with Baird and John Cassin on the ninth volume of the Pacific Railway reports, the government study on the explorations and surveys searching for the best route for the trans-continental railroad. This volume, on the birds of the U.S., was revised and expanded to become The Birds of North America, published in 1860. From then on, Lawrence turned his attention to the birds of Central and South America, publishing 120 papers and describing 323 species.

After being introduced to Spencer Fullerton Baird who would become the first curator at the Smithsonian Institution in 1841, however, Lawrence devoted his full time and energy to the study and classification of birds. He used his wealth and business background to outfit and finance several Smithsonian expeditions, and in 1842 published his first scientific paper on the Black Brant (Bernicula nigricans). This began Lawrence’s nearly fifty-year-long career of contributing ornithology papers—“mainly confined to the description of new forms, or lists of the birds in certain localities”—to natural science periodicals, the last of which appeared in The Auk: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology, the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), in January 1891.(1, p.7)

For approximately ten years ending in 1858, Lawrence worked with Baird and American ornithologist John Cassin on the ninth volume of the Pacific Railway Reports, a government-funded exploration, study and survey of the American West intended to discover the best route for the trans-continental railroad. Lawrence’s contribution focused exclusively on water birds. The volume was eventually revised, expanded and republished in 1860 as The Birds of North America encyclopedia. From then on, Lawrence turned his attention to the birds of Central and South America, publishing 120 papers and describing 323 species.

Throughout his life, Lawrence was an active member of the New York Lyceum of Natural History as well as the New York Historical and Geographical Societies. He was also a Foreign Member of the British Ornithologists' Union, a Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society of London, and a member of both the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Natural History Society of Boston. He eventually also became an Honorary Member of both the AOU and the Linnaean Society of New York. (1, p.8) His knowledge of New World ornithology is widely celebrated: one genus and twenty bird species are named after Lawrence in recognition of his contribution to the science. (1, p.9) He forms, together with Baird and Cassin, the “great triumvirate, of what has been termed the Bairdian Epoch of American Ornithology.” (1, p.5)

Donated approximately 8,000 skins to Ornithology and Mammalogy

Sources

Library of Congress Name Authority File

From biographical note for Lawrence's archive collection at the AMNH Library, Mss .L39, written by Cristina Vignone, 2012.

(1) D.G. Elliot, F.R.S.E., “In Memoriam: George Newbold Lawrence,” The Auk: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. XIII (1896)

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History

Related Resources

George Newbold Lawrence correspondence, (bulk 1865-1894)
Repository: AMNH Special Collections, Mss .L39

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