William Markwick

William Markwick (1739 – 6 April 1812), who took the name of William Eversfield, was a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a keen naturalist, known for his pioneering phenological observations recorded in Gilbert White's 1789 book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.

Many of his scientific writings remain unpublished, in some cases despite being submitted to the Linnean Society.

Life

William Markwick was the son of James Markwick of Catsfield and Mary Eversfield, who were married in Eastbourne on 10 June 1735.

He was nominally admitted to the Inner Temple to study law in May 1758, and equally nominally educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in June 1758. However he neither practised as a lawyer nor took a Cambridge degree, choosing instead to live the life of an English country gentleman.

His estate covered 1600 acres of Sussex around Catsfield Place, also called Church House. He ordered short and delicate sheep's fescue grass seed to create an elegant greensward suitable for sheep, so that he could enjoy a view of sheep grazing outside his windows. and they had four children: though he continued to use the name Markwick on (for instance) his scientific papers. He thus acquired Denne Park near Horsham, which caused long legal complications and consumed some years of his time.

These observations were made at Catsfield near Battle in Sussex. They are accompanied with a table, and explanatory remarks on a great number of birds; together with a figure of Tringa glareola, a rare bird shot in the parish of Battle.|European Magazine

Phenology

Markwick is known for his useful and pioneering work in phenology, the study of when annual events happen in nature. Some 500 of his detailed observations are documented in the second edition of Gilbert White's 1789 book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. It was praised as "a work of great exactness, and the result of as much, and as patient observation as perhaps was ever brought to the subject. It is formed upon an attentive comparison of the seasons, from 1768 to 1793." The "Comparative View of White's and Markwick's Calendars" begins as follows:

+ Of the abbreviations used, fl. signifies flowering; 1. leafing; and ap. the first appearance. [Entry] White Markwick Redbreast (Sylvia rubecula) sings 1–12 Jan. 3–31 Jan., and again 6 Oct Larks (Alauda arvensis) congregate 1–18 Jan. 16 Oct, 9 Feb Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) heard 1–14 Jan. 3 March, 10 April Winter aconite (Helleborus hiemalis) fl. 1 Jan, 18 Feb 28 Feb, 17 April ... ... ...

Works

On the Migration of Certain Birds. Transactions Linnaean Society. Volume 1. 1791. With "Calendar" of phenology for 1768–1783. Calendar. Transactions Linnaean Society. Volume 4. 1798. For 1783–1794. These were used in White's Selborne. Fasciculus Plantarum Indigenarum, 1786–1808. Unpublished. 8 fascicles of 50 species each, Hastings. Centuria Plantarum Indigenarum, 1799-[1800?]. Unpublished. 2 volumes, Hastings. Describes 200 species. British Zoology, 1800. Unpublished MS, 4 volumes, Hastings. Descriptions and Figures of several Grasses and Rushes, 1800. Unpublished MS 491, Linnean Society. Describes 37 species. Plantae Sussexiensis, 1802. Unpublished MS 474, Linnean Society. Describes 558 species. Danish Plants Found in the British Isles, 1802. Crerar MS 139, University of Chicago Library. Florula Canadiensis, 1805. (A flora of Lower Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Gaspé Peninsula)

Illustrations

Markwick provided the natural history illustrations for some of his works, both zoological and botanical.