https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Cyril_BeesonCyril Beeson - Revision history2026-07-30T21:13:33ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Cyril_Beeson&diff=129005&oldid=prev>Monkbot at 00:49, 30 January 20212021-01-30T00:49:51Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|British entomologist}}<br />
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{{Infobox person<br />
|name= Cyril Beeson<br />
|image=Cyril_Frederick_Cherrington_Beeson.JPG<br />
|image_size=<br />
|caption=Beeson in 1923<br />
|birth_name= <br />
|birth_date= {{birth date|df=yes|1889|2|10}}<br />
|birth_place= Headington, [[Oxford]], Oxfordshire, England<br />
|residence= <br />
|spouse= <br />
|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1975|11|3|1889|2|10}}<br />
|death_place= [[Abingdon-on-Thames]],{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} Oxfordshire, England<br />
|resting_place= <br />
|nationality= British<br />
|known_for= <br />
|education= [[City of Oxford High School for Boys]]<br />
|alma_mater= [[St John's College, Oxford]]<br />
|occupation= [[Entomology|entomologist]];<br>[[antiquarian]] [[Horology|horologist]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Cyril Frederick Cherrington Beeson''' [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]], [[Doctor of Science#The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth|D.Sc.]] (1889–1975) was an English [[Entomology|entomologist]] and [[Forestry|forest conservator]] who worked in India. Beeson was an expert on forest entomology who wrote numerous papers on insects, and whose book on Indian forest insects remains a standard work on the subject. After his retirement and return to England he became an [[antiquarian]] [[Horology|horologist]].<br />
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==Family==<br />
Beeson was born in Oxford on 10 February 1889 to Walter Thomas Beeson and Rose Eliza Beeson, ''née'' Clacey.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} Walter Beeson was Surveyor to [[St John's College, Oxford]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}}<br />
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In 1922, Beeson married Marion Cossentine, daughter of Samuel Fitze. They had a daughter, Barbara Rose, who was born ''circa'' 1925.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} Marion died in 1946 after a long period of ill-health.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} In 1971, aged 82, Beeson married his second wife, Mrs Margaret Athalie Baldwin Carbury, formerly of Kenya, daughter of Cecil William Allen.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}}<ref>Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Debrett's Ltd, 1973, p. 2480</ref><ref>Dictionary of Indian Entomologists, S. K. Kulshrestha, Surya International Publications, 1997, p. 34</ref><br />
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Beeson died on 3 November 1975.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}}<br />
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==Education==<br />
Beeson attended [[City of Oxford High School for Boys]], where his best friend was [[T. E. Lawrence#Middle East archaeology|T. E. Lawrence]] (better remembered today as [[Lawrence of Arabia]]).{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} Lawrence called him by his nickname of "Scroggs".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/letters/1888-1910/080816_beeson.htm |publisher=Jeremy Wilson |work=Writings |title=T. E. Lawrence to C. F. C. ('Scroggs') Beeson |date=16 August 1908 |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090623042930/http://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/letters/1888-1910/080816_beeson.htm |archive-date=23 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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At the age of 15 Beeson and Lawrence bicycled around [[Berkshire]], Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their [[English church monuments|monuments]] and [[Antiquarian|antiquities]] and made [[Brass rubbing|rubbings]] of their [[monumental brass]]es.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}} The two schoolboys monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the [[Ashmolean Museum]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}} The Ashmolean's ''Annual Report'' for 1906 said that the pair ''"by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found''".{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}} In the summers of 1906 and 1907 Beeson and Lawrence toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings and measurements of [[medieval]] castles.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}} Beeson made many of the drawings that Lawrence used in his thesis ''The influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture – to the end of the 12th century'', which was published in 1936 as ''Crusader Castles''.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}}<br />
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Beeson entered the [[University of Oxford]] in 1907 to read geology.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} He was a non-collegiate student until 1908, when he won an [[Exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition]] that enabled him to enter St John's College.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} He graduated in 1910 but then changed disciplines to [[forestry]], in which he obtained a diploma.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} He received his [[Master of Arts#United Kingdom and Ireland|MA]] in 1917 and an Oxford D.Sc. in 1923.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}}<br />
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==Army service==<br />
Beeson was a captain in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] in the [[First World War]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}}<br />
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==Forest entomologist==<br />
[[File:Main Building of the Doon School in 1915.jpg|thumb|upright|Part of the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun in 1915, when Beeson was Forest Zoologist of India]]<br />
From 1911 until 1941 Beeson worked for the [[Indian Forest Service|Imperial Forest Service]] (IFS) as a research officer, forest conservator and forest entomologist.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} The IFS seconded him to study tropical and forest entomology in London and Germany, after which he first served in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} In 1913 he was appointed Forest Zoologist of India.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} Beeson was closely involved with the development of the [[Forest Research Institute (India)|Forest Research Institute]] at [[Dehradun]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} In 1922 his post was renamed Forest Entomologist.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=1}} He served in the same position until his retirement in 1941, when he was made a Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}}<br />
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Beeson's first book, ''The Ecology and Control of the Forest Insects of India and the Neighbouring Countries'' was published in 1941.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} It remained the standard work in its field,{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} being republished in 1961 and 1993.<br />
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Beeson returned to Oxford, where he became Director of the [[Imperial Forestry Bureau]] from 1945 to 1947.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} While he was Director of the IFB, Beeson and his wife moved to [[Adderbury]] in North Oxfordshire.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}}<br />
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The scale insect genus ''[[Beesonia]]'' was named after Beeson who collected specimens described by [[Edward Ernest Green]] in 1926. It is placed in a family [[Beesoniidae]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Green, E. E. |year=1928| title= Further Observations on Beesonia dipterocarpi, Green.| journal= Bulletin of Entomological Research|volume=19| issue=2| pages=205–207| doi=10.1017/s0007485300020496}}</ref><br />
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==Antiquarian horologist==<br />
[[File:Knibb-Dial.jpg|thumb|Nine inch square dial of month-going walnut longcase clock, signed ''Joseph Knibb Londini fecit'' circa 1675]]<br />
When the couple moved to Adderbury, Beeson began to collect antique clocks, many of which originated from Oxfordshire.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} Beeson turned his scholarly and scientific approach to [[antiquarian]] [[horology]], and in 1953 became a founder member of the [[Antiquarian Horological Society]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} He contributed many articles to the AHS's quarterly [[academic journal]] ''Antiquarian Horology'', and edited it for the year 1959–60.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}}<br />
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Beeson became a published authority on the prominent clockmakers [[Joseph Knibb]] (1640–1711){{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|pp=122–124}} and [[John Knibb]] (1650–1722).{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|pp=117–122}} Beeson's own collection included five clocks and three watches by John Knibb.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|pp=8–9}} He also developed a special interest in [[turret clock]]s and made an influential study of the clock installed in 1669 at [[Wadham College, Oxford]], which he proposed was made by Joseph Knibb.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}}<br />
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Beeson joined the [[Banbury Historical Society]] soon after its foundation in 1958.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} He was Chairman of the BHS 1959–60 and founding editor of its journal ''Cake and Cockhorse'' 1959–62.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} In 1962 the AHS and BHS jointly published the first edition of Beeson's [[monograph]], ''Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850''.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}}<br />
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The [[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford]] had started a small collection of historic clocks and watches in 1924.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=6}} In 1966 Beeson greatly expanded this by presenting the Museum with his own historic collection,{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} which included 42 [[longcase clock]]s, 24 other clocks and 13 watches.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|pp=8–9}} In 1967 the Museum published a second, enlarged{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=4}} edition of his book ''Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850''.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} In 1971 the Museum published a broader study by Beeson, ''English Church Clocks 1280–1850: History and Classification''.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|pp=2–3}} This led the AHS in 1973 to form its turret clock section, of which Beeson became chairman.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}} In 1972 [[Alan Bullock|Lord Bullock]], [[List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford|Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford]] opened the Museum of the History of Science's Beeson Room to house its horological collection.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=6}}<br />
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For his final book Beeson returned to one of the castles in France that had interested him and T.E. Lawrence as teenagers. ''Perpignan 1356: The Making of a Tower Clock and Bell for the King's Castle'' is a substantial account of the tower clock and bell made in 1356 for the [[Palace of the Kings of Majorca]] at [[Perpignan]].{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=3}}<br />
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==Published works==<br />
Over a period of more than 30 years Beeson published more than 60 scientific articles on tropical forest insects.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} He also edited the Indian forestry journal.{{sfn|Beeson|Simcock|1989|p=2}} Listed below are only the books that Beeson wrote, including journal articles that were republished as books.<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |year=1993 |orig-year=1941 |title=The Ecology and Control of the Forest Insects of India and the Neighbouring Countries |location=Dehra Dun |publisher=Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh |isbn=8121100747}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |year=1962 |series=Monographs |volume=2 |title=Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 |location=London |publisher=[[Antiquarian Horological Society]]}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |year=1967 |orig-year=1962 |edition=2nd |title=Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford|Museum of the History of Science]]}}<br />
*{{cite book |last1=Beeson |first1=C.F.C. |year=1969 |title=An Early Anchor Escapement in a Turret Clock |location=London |publisher=[[Antiquarian Horological Society]]}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |year=1971 |title=English Church Clocks 1280–1850: History and Classification |location=Chichester |publisher=[[William Phillimore Watts Phillimore|Phillimore]] |isbn=0901180041}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |editor-first=Simcock |editor-last=A.V. |year=1989 |orig-year=1962 |edition=3rd |title=Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford|Museum of the History of Science]] |isbn=0-903364-06-9}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |year=1982 |series=New England Monographs in Geography |title=Perpignan 1356: The Making of a Tower Clock and Bell for the King's Castle |location=Ramsgate |publisher=[[Antiquarian Horological Society]] |isbn=0901180238}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==Sources==<br />
*{{cite book |last=Beeson |first=C.F.C. |editor-last=Simcock |editor-first=A.V |year=1989 |orig-year=1962 |edition=3rd |title=Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford|Museum of the History of Science]] |isbn=0-903364-06-9 |pages=1–10; 117–124 |ref={{harvid|Beeson|Simcock|1989}} }}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeson, Cyril}}<br />
[[Category:1889 births]]<br />
[[Category:1975 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Oxford]]<br />
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers]]<br />
[[Category:English entomologists]]<br />
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<br />
[[Category:Horology]]<br />
[[Category:English antiquarians]]<br />
[[Category:Historians of technology]]<br />
[[Category:Imperial Forestry Service officers]]<br />
[[Category:Naturalists of British India]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century English historians]]<br />
[[Category:People from Oxford]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century zoologists]]</div>>Monkbot