William Denison Roebuck

William Denison Roebuck, (5 January 1851 – 15 February 1919) was an English Naturalist, collector and writer, specialising in Malacology, Conchology and Limacology. He was one of the founding members and secretary of the Yorkshire Union of Naturalists, and the editor of its journal The Naturalist.

Early life William Denison Roebuck was born in Leeds on 5 January 1851, and resided there until seventeen years of age, when his parents removed their summer residence to Pannal, a village near Harrogate, and during his summer residences there in 1868 and succeeding years, he commenced the active collection, study and registry of the Butterflies and other insects met with, encouraged by the possession and perusal of Coleman's British Butterflies. His observations upon the Bees and allied groups made at this period were placed on record in the Victoria County Histories.

Career

Entomology Although not professing to be an Entomologist, Roebuck was always interested in that science, and was rarely absent from a meeting of the Entomological Section of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. In his earlier days he had done excellent work in the science, including a paper entitled 'Locusts in Yorkshire', which appeared in The Naturalist in 1877. The title does not indicate the scope of that paper, which was in reality a history of all the known locust flights throughout Britain from the years 1842 to 1876, and was at the time of his death the most comprehensive and exhaustive account of that subject. Then at one time he was greatly interested in Hymenoptera, and was largely responsible for the list of that group of insects in the Victoria History of Yorkshire, as he was also for the entire Entomological chapters in the Victoria Histories of some of the other Northern Counties of England. For very many years he had kept records, with references, of all the papers and notes referring to all orders of insects (when he could do so, cutting out and keeping the papers or notes themselves) published in the various journals, referring to Yorkshire and other North of England Counties, and so was in possession of a vast store of information which was always available to any responsible author writing on any particular subject connected with Entomology. His help to the science in this way was considerable.

He was positively associated with the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, The Conchological Society, the Leeds Naturalists' Field Club, the Leeds Conchological Club, the Leeds Philatelic Society, and other groups.

This Union, constituted by the federation of upwards of forty local Natural History Societies, comprising some thousands of members, was then an organization second only in influence and membership to the British Association. A long list of distinguished scientists held the post of President, among them being Roebuck, who held the position in 1903, and as the topic for his Valedictory Address, placed on record a full and authoritative history of the Union and The Naturalist from their inception.

This valuable assistance has been acknowledged by G. T. Porritt in his Manual A list of Yorkshire Lepidoptera; by T. H. Nelson in his Birds of Yorkshire, by J. W. Taylor in his Monograph of British Land and Fresh-water Mollusca, and others.

The formation of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union was entirely due to the suggestion of Roebuck, who always maintained a lively interest in its welfare and progress and frequently attended its meetings. With the co-operation of Rev. E. A. Woodruffe-Peacock, J. F. Musham, H. Wallis Kew and other Lincolnshire Naturalists he thoroughly and systematically investigated its Molluscan fauna, of which he has already published a preliminary list and accumulated the material for a more complete account.

Malacology

As a Malacologist, Roebuck was one of the four original founders of The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, an organization which went on to have a numerous and influential membership not merely in the United Kingdom, but in all parts of the Western world.

He acted for many years as Honorary Secretary, and much of the Society's success may be traced to the foresight and genius he displayed in the preparation of the rules governing its activities. As President he was a very popular officer, and an unusually large influx of new members took place during his period of office, a striking testimony to his reputation and influence in the scientific world, which was further emphasised by his unanimous selection as one of the ten Honorary Members of the Society.

Philately One of the chief interests of his later years was Philately, for the promotion of the study of which subject he in 1890, in conjunction with his friend, T. K. Skipwith, founded the Leeds Philatelic Society, which with the exception of the Royal Philatelic Society of London is the oldest in the United Kingdom. Of this organisation he was the Secretary at the time of his death and had previously filled the office of President.

During 1904-1906 he travelled extensively abroad visiting Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Egypt, and made many interesting additions to scientific knowledge of the diffusion and dominance of the European species of mollusks and other organisms which had been designedly or unwittingly introduced by man to those countries.

His zealous and whole-hearted pursuit of Natural History was stimulating and infectious, and gathered around him sympathetic supporters and coadjutors in the work he was engaged upon, and gave a decided impetus to scientific pursuits in Yorkshire and beyond, but the immensity and variety of his services to science, are as yet only inadequately understood or utilised, even by his most intimate and appreciative friends who knew and valued his untiring zeal and devotion to the advancement of knowledge and his many personal sacrifices in its cause.

Funeral The remains were cremated on 17 February at Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds, the service being attended by a representative assembly of Scientists; the University of Leeds being represented by Professor E. O. Croft, MD; the Linnean Society of London by G. T. Porritt, FLS, and W. H. Burrell, FLS; the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union by Professor Garstang, D.Sc., Fowler Jones, Godfrey Bingley and others; the Leeds Corporation (Education Department) by Alderman W. H. Clarke; the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society by H. Crowther, FRMS; the Leeds Naturalists' Field Club by J. A. Hargreaves, E. J. T. Ingle, C. A. Cheetham, J. Fry Pickard, C. Turner, B. Beevers and others; the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland by J. Wilfrid Jackson, FGS., and J. W. Taylor, M.Sc.; the Leeds Conchological Club by F. Booth and Harrison Hutton; the Leeds Co-operative Field Club by S. Matthewman, and the Doncaster Scientific Society by Dr. H. H. Corbett. The Royal Philatelic Society of London was represented by Abraham Oxley; the Leeds Philatelic Society by T. K. Skipwith, W. K. Skipwith, J. H. Thackrah, Eugene Égly, F. J. Kidson and others, and the Yorkshire Numismatic Society by J. Digbv Firth, FLS.

Publications

Williams, J. W.; Taylor, J. W.; Roebuck, W. Denison (1892). Land and Fresh-water Shells: An Introduction to the Study of Conchology. With a Chapter on the Distribution of the British Land and Fresh-water Mollusca. 2nd ed. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. Taylor, John William (1894). Monograph of the Land & Freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles. By John W. Taylor … with the assistance of W. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S., the late Charles Ashford, and other well-known conchologists. Leeds: Taylor Brothers.