Henry Paul William Lyster Jameson, MA, DSc, PhD (1875–1922) – a polymath: zoologist, Transvaal educationist, entrepreneur, civil servant and Marxist

ABSTRACT

An account is given of the little known and energetic life of Henry Lyster Jameson, including his substantial contributions to the zoology of Ireland, to his pioneering biospeleology of Derbyshire and Ireland, to the pearl industry, to academic life in Natal and the Transvaal, and to Marxist ideology. He was an intelligent man who successfully overcame chronic ill-health and the academic limitations of Irish birth. He made an important contribution to tertiary education in the Transvaal shortly after the Boer War, and is still known for his researches into the mechanism of formation of natural pearls.

Keywords:

• Lyster Jameson
• cavernicoles
• pearl research
• mammals
• Derbyshire
• Ireland
• South Africa
• Marxism

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The staff of the Mersea Museum is thanked for its contributions to this paper. Messrs David Medcalf (Climbers’ Club) and Geoff Peppit (Derbyshire Pennine Club) kindly supplied Kyndwr Club meet reports. The librarians at the University of Cape Town have sourced many of the obscure references. Dr Teresa Kearney of the Ditsong (former Transvaal) Museum is thanked for her compilation of all the specimens attributed to Jameson. Professor Phil Ladd is thanked for supplying references to the Conflict Islands. Professorss Jane Carruthers and Elwyn R. Jenkins, and two anonymous referees, have read and improved the manuscript.