Thomas Allis

Thomas Allis
Born(1788-01-09)9 January 1788
Tewkesbury
Died24 September 1875(1875-09-24) (aged 87)
York
OccupationsMuseum curator
Osteologist
Superintendent

Thomas Allis FLS (9 January 1788 – 24 September 1875) was a British osteologist and museum curator.

Career

Allis was educated in Burford and married Mary Naish of Flax Bourton in 1812, before going to York in 1823. He was appointed Superintendent of The Retreat, a private asylum in York, a position he kept until 1842 when he left to work in a similar position in Osbaldwick. Alongside his profession he studied ornithology and osteology.

Allis held two Honorary Curatorships at the Yorkshire Museum from 1835 to 1875, was elected as a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1857 and was one of the first members of the British Association. He was Honorary Curator of Ornithology from 1835 to 1839 before succeeding James Atkinson, following his death in 1839, in the post of Honorary Curator of Comparative Anatomy – a position Allis held from 1839 until his death in 1875.

Allis also served as vice-president of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS). In 1838, the YPS purchased a collection of comparative anatomy from Allis for £350.

Personal life

Thomas Henry Allis, lepidopterist, son of Thomas Allis

Allis was a quaker. He had a son, Thomas Henry Allis, who was described as "assiduous collector of Lepidoptera", The son died in August 1870, five years before Thomas Allis senior.

Select publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Allis, Thomas, 1810-1889, Superintendent of The Retreat, York". University of York. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Melmore, S. (1930). "Thomas Allis, Osteologist 1788-1875". Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for 1929: 3–9.
  3. ↑ Orange, A. D. Philosophers and Provincials: The Yorkshire Philosophical Society from 1822 to 1844. Yorkshire Philosophical Society. p. 54.
  4. ↑ "Report of the Council for 1850-1859". Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. 1850–1859.
  5. ↑ "Report of the Council for 1838". Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society: 3. 1839.
  6. ↑ "Society records of the Methodist Church, Osbaldwick Wesleyan Methodist Chapel". 31 October 2002. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Death of Mr. T. H. Allis". The Entomologist. 5: 174. 1870–1871.