Robert MacAndrew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 22 March 1802 Wandsworth, London |
| Died | 22 May 1873 (aged 71) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, ship-owner |
| Known for | Natural history of molluscs |
Robert MacAndrew (born 22 March 1802 in Wandsworth, London, died 22 May 1873 in Isleworth, Middlesex) was a British merchant and ship-owner, marine dredger, Fellow of the Royal Society, naturalist and collector of shells.[1]
Robert MacAndrew was one of eight sons of the fruit and shipping merchant, William McAndrew, from the Scottish city of Elgin, who had opened offices in Liverpool and London around 1770. Shortly after leaving school and his father's death in 1819, MacAndrew joined his brother, William Peter, in his fruit importing business of William McAndrew & Sons in London and Liverpool. Later, Robert concentrated on ship-owning through the business McAndrew & Co in London, whilst his brother founded a Liverpool-based company with his business partner John Cunningham.[2] After the death of his brother, Robert relocated to Liverpool. There he married his cousin, Eliza, in 1829 and they had eleven children.[3]
In 1834, MacAndrew joined the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, where he met other naturalists. During the early 1830s his interest in natural history, especially shells, and he began to amass a collection. His many business trips to Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean led to his interest in the collection of shells from the sea shore, and MacAndrew subsequently undertook a series of research trips dredging for shells around the coast of Britain and Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Norway and finally to the Red Sea at the Gulf of Suez.[3]
MacAndrew met Edward Forbes, one of the founders of deep-sea marine biology research and through Forbes, MacAndrew met other naturalists who were interested in dredging, who worked for the British Association for the Advancement of Science, including John Goodsir FRS (1814–1867), James Smith FRS ("of Jordanhill") (1782–1867), and the foremost conchologist of his day, John Gwyn Jeffreys FRS (1809–1885).[3]
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He was elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London on 6 April 1847.[4] He was elected fellow of the Royal Society on 2 June 1853.[4] From 1856 to 1857 he was President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool. In 1858 MacAndrew was elected chairman of the newly formed General Dredging Committee, which he held for two years until he was replaced in 1861 by John Gwyn Jeffreys. In 1867, MacAndrew retired from his business interests.[5] In 1872, together with Arturo Issel (1842–1922), he was awarded the 'Prix Savigny' of the French Academy of Sciences for his work on Testaceous Mollusca of the Gulf of Suez.[4]
The bulk of the current mollusc collection at Cambridge University Museum of Zoology was collected by MacAndrew who donated it to Cambridge University along with his library in 1873. The MacAndrew Collection contains tens of thousands of specimens, the bulk of which were collected by MacAndrew on his many dredging expeditions. The museum mollusc collection is available as an online searchable database through the museum website.[6]
