John Henry Gurney Jr.

John Henry Gurney Jr. (31 July 1848 – 8 November 1922) was a British ornithologist from the Gurney family.

Family origins Gurney was born in 1848 in Easton Lodge, Easton, Norfolk, son of John Henry Gurney Sr. and his second cousin Mary Jary Gurney. He was educated at Harrow School.

Career For a short time Gurney worked in Messrs. Backhouse's bank at Darlington, but he spent most of his life in Norfolk. In Norfolk he was known as a landowner and country gentleman. He took a prominent part in local religious and philanthropic work.

He was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1894. At the time of his death he was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk. He was elected as a Fellow of the Zoological Society in 1868, a Member of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1870 and a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1885.

Marriage and family John Henry Gurney married Margaret Jane Gurney (1851-1940) on 25 October 1876 at St Marylebone church, Westminster, London. Margaret was also his second cousin, daughter of Henry Edmund Gurney (1821-1905) and Jane née Birkbeck (1828-1888). They had a son and three daughters: Gerald Hudson Gurney (1880-1934) Agatha Gurney (1881-1937) Cecily Jane Gurney (1884-1958) Margaret Editha Gurney (1886-1981)

Works Gurney's first written contribution to ornithology was a letter to The Ibis on swallows which was published in 1866. His most important publications include: