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Concept
Thomas C. Jerdon
Summary
Thomas Caverhill Jerdon (12 October 1811 – 12 June 1872) was a British physician, zoologist and botanist. He was a pioneering ornithologist who described numerous species of birds in India. Several species of plants (including the genus Jerdonia) and birds including Jerdon's baza, Jerdon's leafbird, Jerdon's bushlark, Jerdon's nightjar, Jerdon's courser, Jerdon's babbler and Jerdon's bush chat are named after him.
Thomas was the eldest son of Archibald Jerdon of Bonjedward, near Jedburgh, and was born at Biddick House in County Durham. His early education was at Bishopton Grove near Ripon and later at Bawtry near Doncaster. His father influenced an interest in natural history and although not a well-known naturalist, he was a careful observer and while Thomas took an interest mainly in zoology, his younger brother became an active botanist. Thomas joined Edinburgh University in 1828 as a literary student but attended classes in natural history by Professor Robert Jameson. He joined the Plinian Society, an association of naturalists (another member of which was Charles Darwin), on 23 June 1829. He graduated as a medical student in 1829-1830 and continued medical studies before obtaining an assistant surgeonship in the East India Company's service. He was appointed on 11 September 1835 and he arrived at Madras on 21 February 1836.
His initial work in India was in dealing with fever and dysentery that affected the troops posted in the Ganjam district. During this posting, he described the birds of the Eastern Ghats. On 1 March 1837 he moved to the 2nd Light Cavalry and was posted at Trichinopoly and moved with the regiment to Jalnah in central India. He remained in the Deccan region for the next four years. In 1841 he visited the Nilgiri Hills on leave and in July of the same year he married Flora Alexandrina Matilda Macleod, niece of General Lewis Wentworth Watson. Flora had an interest in botanical art and took an interest in orchids. She was also an excellent guitarist.
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