Charles William Peach, 1800 - 1886. Coastguard; naturalist and geologist
About this artwork
Charles Peach was a mounted coastguard officer and a distinguished amateur naturalist and geologist. As a coastguard he had plenty of opportunity to study marine life and as a result he discovered new mollusca, sea urchins, starfish, sponges and a spectacular holothurian – or sea cucumber – with twenty tentacles. In 1853 he made an important fossil discovery in limestone on the coast near Durness, Scotland. Peach had a wide circle of scientific and literary friends, including the famous geological writer Hugh Miller (1802-1856). This calotype is one of the more successful portraits taken by Hill and Adamson at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in York, in the autumn of 1844.
Updated before 2020
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artists:
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title:Charles William Peach, 1800 - 1886. Coastguard; naturalist and geologist
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date created:1843 - 1847
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materials:Salted paper print
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measurements:20.30 x 13.90 cm
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object type:
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accession number:PGP HA 1759
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gallery:
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson was one of the first professional photographers, setting up in business in Edinburgh in March 1843. He had aspired to be an engineer but his health was too poor. His brother, John, who was involved in the early experiments with photography in St Andrews, taught him the calotype...