Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913)
![]()
Chronology :
-
1807: Wallace's parents marry8 January 1823: Alfred Russel Wallace born at Usk, Monmouthshire
late 1836/early 1837: Forced to withdraw from grammar school; moves to London to board with his older brother, John
early 1837: Is first exposed to the utopian ideals of Robert Owen and his followers
mid 1837: Joins the eldest brother William in Bedfordshire to learn the surveying trade
1840 to 1843: Surveying in West England and Wales
1841: Becomes informally associated with the Kington Mechanic's Institution
early 1844: Is hired on as a master at the Collegiate School in Leicester
1844: Meets Henry Walter Bates; attends lecture and demonstration on mesmerism
February 1845: William dies; Wallace leaves Collegiate School and takes over his business
25 April 1848: Wallace and Bates leave England for Amazonian South America to begin a natural history collecting expedition (for a full chronology of Wallace's activities over the next four years, see George 1964)
12 July 1852: Leaves South America for return to England; on 6 August his ship burns and sinks and ten days later he is rescued at sea
1 October 1852 to March 1854: Primarily London-based; in 1853 publishes Palm Trees of the Amazon and A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro
March 1854: Leaves England for the Far East to begin a natural history collecting expedition
20 April 1854 to 20 February 1862: Collecting expedition in the Malay Archipelago (for a full chronology of Wallace's activities during this period, see Bastin 1986)
February 1855: While in Sarawak writes 'On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species' for publication
February 1858: Writes 'On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type' and sends it off to Charles Darwin for comment
1 July 1858: Wallace's and Darwin's writings on natural selection are presented at a meeting of the Linnean Society
November 1859: 'On the Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago,' the paper describing Wallace's Line, is read before the Linnean Society; Darwin's On the Origin of Species is published
1 April 1862: Returns to English soil
1 March 1864: Presents 'The Origin of Human Races Deduced From the Theory of "Natural Selection"' to the Anthropological Society of London
5 April 1866: Marries Annie Mitten, daughter of botanist friend William Mitten
August to September 1866: 'The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural' is published
9 March 1869: The Malay Archipelago is published
early 1870 to early 1872: President of the Entomological Society of London
March 1870: Moves to Barking
April 1870: Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection is published
March 1872: Moves to Grays, Essex
May and June 1874: 'A Defence of Modern Spiritualism' is published
March 1875: On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism is published
May 1876: The Geographical Distribution of Animals is published
July 1876: Moves to Rose Hill, Dorking
September 1876: President, Section D (Biology) of the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meetings
1878: Moves to Croydon; Tropical Nature and Other Essays is published
October 1880: Island Life is published
March 1881: The Land Nationalisation Society is established and Wallace made its first President
May 1881: Moves to Godalming
19 April 1882: Death of Charles Darwin
May 1882: Land Nationalisation is published
mid Fall 1886 to late Summer 1887: Lecture tour in the United States and Canada
May 1889: Darwinism is published
June 1889: Moves to Parkstone, Dorset
February to May 1890: Presents testimony to the Royal Commission on Vaccination
September 1890: 'Human Selection' is published
1893: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
November and December 1893: 'The Ice Age and Its Work' is published
September 1896: Lectures on scientific progress in Davos, Switzerland
10 June 1898: The Wonderful Century is published
December 1902: Moves to Old Orchard, Broadstone (near Wimborne, Dorset)
October 1903: Man's Place in the Universe is published
October 1905: My Life is published
1 July 1908: Receives the Darwin-Wallace Medal of the Linnean Society of London
December 1908: Receives the Copley Medal from the Royal Society and the Order of Merit from the Crown
22 January 1909: Gives lecture 'The World of Life' at the Royal Institution
December 1910: The World of Life is published
7 November 1913: Dies at Old Orchard
10 November 1913: Buried in Broadstone
1 November 1915: Medallion bearing Wallace's name is placed in Westminster Abbey
23 June 1923: Memorial portrait of Wallace unveiled at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, by Sir Charles S. Sherrington, President of the Royal Society
Cronologia Ornitologica