Philip Pearsall Carpenter

Philip Pearsall Carpenter
Born	11 April 1819 Bristol, Somerset, England, United Kingdom
Died	24 May 1877 (aged 58) Ste-Antoine Ward, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Residence	Ste-Antoine Ward, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	English
Years active	1841–1877
Known for	Minister, Malacologist or conchologist
Parent(s)	Lant Carpenter, Anna Penn
Relatives	William Benjamin Carpenter (brother) Mary Carpenter (sister) Russell Lant Carpenter (brother)

Philip Pearsall Carpenter Rev. Dr. (4 November 1819 – 24 May 1877), who in 1841, was ordained Presbyterian minister in England,^[1] and a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1860,^[2] and whose field work as a malacologist or conchologist in North America is still well regarded today.^[3] A man of many talents, he wrote, published, taught, and was a volunteer explaining the growing study of shells in North America.^[4]

Life

Philip P. Carpenter was born in Bristol, England on 4 November 1819. His father was Lant Carpenter. His mother was Anna or Hannah Penn, daughter of John Penn and Mary. Anna was christened on 11 May 1787 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England.^[5]

P. P. Carpenter, as he was called, was educated at Trinity Bristol College, and then Manchester College at York, gaining a BA from the University of London in 1841, the year of his ordination as a minister.^[6]

Carpenter was a Presbyterian Minister in Warrington between 1846 and 1862 and he studied the collection of shells in the local museum between 1860 and 1865, before moving to Canada.^[7]

He married Minnie Meyer in 1860. Minnie was born about 1830 in Hamburg, Germany. Her parents are unknown. In 1881 she was still living in their house in the Saint Antoine Ward of Montreal.^[8]

P. P. Carpenter died 24 May 1877 in Ste-Antoine Ward, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, of typhoid complicated by rheumatism.^[9]

A memorial drinking fountain to Carpenter is situated in Bank gardens by the town hall in Warrington.^[7]

Notable siblings

Mary Carpenter was born on 3 April 1807 in Kidderminster, Worcester, England. She died on 14 June 1877 and was buried in Arnos Vale, Bristol, England. Mary was founder of the Ragged school movement. Mentioned in brother William's insert in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography by Charles Coulton Gillispie. She was a social reformer.^[5]

William Benjamin Carpenter was born on 29 October 1813 in Exeter, Devon, England. He died on 19 November 1885 in London and was buried in Highgate Cemetery, London.^[5]

Russell Lant Carpenter was born in 1816 in Kidderminster, Worcester, England. and was christened in Devon. He died in 1892.^[5][10]

Partial bibliography

• Gould, A.A., and P.P. Carpenter. 1856. Descriptions of shells from the Gulf of California and the Pacific coasts of Mexico and California. Part II. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24): 198–208.
• Carpenter, P.P. 1856. Monograph of the shells collected by T. Nuttall, Esq., on the California coast, in the years 1834-5. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24):209–229.
• Carpenter, P.P. 1857. Report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1856: 159–368 + 4 plates.
• Carpenter, P.P. 1857. Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. London. 552 pp.
• Carpenter, P.P. 1857. Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. 2nd ed. Oberlin Press, Warrington i–viii + i–xii + 552 pp.
• Carpenter, P.P. [1857] 1967. [reprint of] Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen. [British Museum, London] Paleontological Research Institute, Ithaca, NY i–iv + ix–xvi + 552 pp.
• Carpenter, P.P. 1860. Lectures on molluscs. Smithsonian Report 1860:117.Carpenter, P.P. 1872. The molluscs of Western North America, 1872. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 12: 1–446.

References

1. Dall, W.H. 1877. Dr. Philip Pearsall Carpenter. American Naturalist 11(8):504–505., "Dr. P.P. Carpenter was educated as a clergyman, and may be said to have never left the clerical mantle, so far as a continuance of earnest labors in all matters of moral and sanitary reform may be concerned.
2. Coan, E.V. 1969. A bibliography of the biological writings of Philip Pearsall Carpenter. Veliger 12(2):222–225. His degree focused on Conchology. Pandoridae, Caecidae, and Chitonidae from the Regents of the State of New York.
3. Palmer, K.V.W. 1956. Philip P. Carpenter, his life and work in Pacific Coast conchology. (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1956(22):5–6.
4. See: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~ksc/Malacologists/CarpenterP.P.html which lists his volunteer positions among his other occupations; 1833–1858 British Museum and 1858–1860 New York State Cabinet of Natural History in Albany, NY.
5. Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009, DVD format. The subject in RIN 25572.
6. Dall, W.H. 1877. Dr. Philip Pearsall Carpenter. American Naturalist 11(8):504–505. Dall cites college and year. Better cite needed!
7. Warrington Museum – Conchology
8. Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009, DVD format. Canada census schedules 1881, Department of Agriculture, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; nos.: C-13162 – C-13286, Rec. group 31 – C-13219 page 79, household 347.
9. Conde, V. 1961. Redpath Museum. [A memorial to Philip Pearsall Carpenter]. (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27):12–13.
10. See British National Record Archives: Historical Manuscripts Commission, UK National Register of Archives, Russell Lant Carpenter, (1816–1892) Unitarian minister, corresp and papers, Oxford University: Harris Manchester College Library, Reference : MSS [R] L Carpenter, see Catalogue of manuscripts in Harris Manchester College Oxford, 1998.

Further reading

• Galbraith, I.C.J., and P. Dance. 1961. British Museum (Natural History). [A memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter]. (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 10–12.
• Gould, A.A., and P.P. Carpenter. 1856. Descriptions of shells from the Gulf of California and the Pacific coasts of Mexico and California. Part II. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856(24): 198–208.
• Hanna, G.D., L.G. Hertlein, and A.G. Smith. 1961. California Academy of Sciences. [A memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter]. (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 9–10.
• Kellogg, R., and H.A. Rehder. 1961. Smithsonian Institution. [A memorial to Philip Pearsal Carpenter]. (Abstract). American Malacological Union, Inc. Annual Reports. 1960(27): 12.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• A photo of him
• http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/splas/staff/patience-schell/thefile,100927,en.doc