John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray (12 February, 1800 – 7 March, 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766-1828). Gray was Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum in London from 1840 until Christmas 1874. He published several catalogues of the museum collections that included comprehensive discussions of animal groups as well as descriptions of new species. H... more

John Edward Gray (12 February, 1800 – 7 March, 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766-1828). Gray was Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum in London from 1840 until Christmas 1874. He published several catalogues of the museum collections that included comprehensive discussions of animal groups as well as descriptions of new species. He improved the zoological collections to make them amongst the best in the world. Gray was born in Walsall, but his family soon moved to London, where Gray studied medicine. He assisted his father in writing The Natural Arrangement of British Plants (1821). After being blackballed by the Linnean Society he turned his interest from botany to zoology. He joined the Zoological Department of the British Museum in 1824 to help John George Children catalogue the reptile collection. In 1840 he took over from Children as Keeper of Zoology. During this... less