Charles John Cornish

Charles John Cornish
Born	Template:Birth date Salcombe House near Sidmouth, England
Died	January 30, 1906(1906-01-30) (aged 47) Worthing, England
Occupation(s)	Writer, naturalist, schoolteacher
Years active	1885–1906
Known for	Natural history writing

Charles John Cornish (28 September 1858 – 30 January 1906) was a distinguished English writer and naturalist.

Life

Cornish was born at Salcombe House near Sidmouth as the eldest child of Charles John Cornish, who served as curate of Sidbury, Devon, and Anne Charlotte Western. His upbringing took place in Debenham, Suffolk, where his father assumed the role of vicar in 1859. Between 1872 and 1876, he was educated at Charterhouse School. Following private tutoring, he matriculated at Hertford College, Oxford in 1881, achieving several honors including a football Blue and second-class degrees in classical moderations and literae humaniores by 1885.

In 1885, Cornish commenced his lifelong tenure as assistant classical master at St Paul's School, London. Shortly after relocating to London, he began contributing regularly on topics related to natural history and rural life, becoming a frequent writer for The Spectator starting in 1890 and later for Country Life. While residing at Orford House on Chiswick Mall, alongside the Thames River, he authored The Naturalist on the Thames (1902).

Cornish passed away in Worthing in 1906 due to complications stemming from an earlier firearm injury. His ashes were laid to rest at Salcombe Regis, near Sidmouth, where a commemorative plaque was installed within the parish church.

Works

Many of Cornish’s essays were compiled into books that solidified his standing in the field of natural history. Notable publications include:

• The New Forest (1894)
• The Isle of Wight (1895)
• Life at the Zoo (1895), which earned him considerable acclaim
• Wild England of To-day, and the Wild Life in it (1895)
• Animals at Work and Play (1896; second edition 1897)
• Nights with an Old Gunner (1897)
• Animals of To-day, their Life and Conservation (1898)
• The Naturalist on the Thames (1902)
• Sir William Henry Flower, a Personal Memoir (1904)

He also co-authored the two-volume set Living Animals of the World (1901–02). After his death, Animal Artisans and other Studies of Birds and Beasts, accompanied by a memoir written by his widow, was released in 1907.

Family

In 1893, Cornish married Edith, the eldest daughter of John Isaac Thornycroft. The couple had one daughter.

Notes

Attribution