View source for Thomas Blakiston

{{Short description|British zoologist (1832–1891)}}
{{For|Sir Thomas Blakiston, 1st Baronet|Blakiston baronets}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name          = Thomas Wright Blakiston
| image         = ThomasBlakiston.jpg
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=yes|1832|12|27}}
| birth_place   = [[Lymington]], Hampshire, England
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1891|10|15|1832|12|27}} 
| death_place   = [[San Diego]], California, U.S.
| resting_place = [[Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)|Green Lawn Cemetery]], [[Columbus, Ohio]], U.S.
| nationality   = British
 | spouse = Ann Mary Dun
 | children = One son, one daughter
 | father = John Blakiston
 | mother = Jane Wright
| occupation    = Naturalist and explorer 
| known_for     =  "Blakiston's Line", a zoogeographical boundary
| author_abbrev_zoo = '''Blakiston'''
}}
'''Thomas Wright Blakiston''' (27 December 1832 – 15 October 1891) was an [[England|English]] [[List of explorers|explorer]] and [[natural history|naturalist]].

==Early life and career==
Born in [[Lymington]], [[Hampshire]], Blakiston was the son of Major John Blakiston. His grandfather was Sir Matthew Blakiston, 2nd [[Blakiston baronets|Baronet Blakiston]]. His mother Jane was the daughter of Reverend Thomas Wright, Rector of [[Market Bosworth]], [[Leicestershire]].

Blakiston explored western [[Canada]] with the [[Palliser Expedition]] between 1857 and 1859. [[Mount Blakiston]], the highest point in [[Waterton Lakes National Park]] was named for him in 1858. In 1861, he traveled up the [[Yangtze River]] in [[China]], going further than any Westerner before him. He spent the next part of his life in [[Japan]] and became one of the major naturalists in that country. Blakiston was the first person to notice that animals in [[Hokkaidō]], Japan's northern island, were related to northern [[Asia]]n species, whereas those on [[Honshū]] to the south were related to those from [[South Asia|southern Asia]]. The [[Tsugaru Strait]] between the two islands was therefore established as a [[biogeography|zoogeographical]] boundary, and became known as "[[Blakiston's Line]]". Blakiston collected an owl specimen in [[Hakodate]], Japan in 1883. This was later described by [[Henry Seebohm]] and named [[Blakiston's fish owl]].

He moved to the [[United States]] in 1885.

==Personal life and death==
Blakiston married Ann Mary Dun in 1885. She was the daughter of James Dun and the sister of [[Edwin Dun]]. They had one daughter and one son. Ann Mary survived him by 46 years and died in England in March 1937.

Blakiston died of [[pneumonia]] in October 1891 while in [[San Diego]], California. He was buried at [[Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)|Green Lawn Cemetery]] in [[Columbus, Ohio]], in his wife's family plot.

{{botanist|Blakiston|Blakiston, Th.W.}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite DNBSupp|wstitle=Blakiston, Thomas Wright}}
*{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/info.htm |title=FAQ |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=February 2013}}<!--Lundy is not a reliable source so cite Lundy's reliable source See [[WP:SAYWHEREYOUREADIT]]-->
*[https://archive.org/stream/ibis29brit#page/n231/mode/2up Ibis Jubilee supplement 1908]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakiston, Thomas}}
[[Category:1832 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California]]
[[Category:People from Lymington]]
[[Category:English explorers of North America]]
[[Category:Explorers of Canada]]
[[Category:English zoologists]]
[[Category:English explorers]]
[[Category:Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)]]


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