Reginald Hooley
Encyclopedia
Reginald Walter Hooley, born Southampton
5 September 1865, died 5 May 1923, was a businessman and amateur paleontologist collecting on the Isle of Wight
. Regular visits to the island resulted in the find of hundreds of fossils among which several major specimens on which he himself from 1900 published fourteen scientific papers. He described remains of many Chelonia, and named the dinosaur
Iguanodon
atherfieldensis and the pterosaur
Ornithodesmus
latidens. Hooley was a member of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society at Winchester
from 1890. He was one of the founders of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society. He was a honorary curator
of the Winchester Museum between 1918 and 1923.
Reginald was the son of William Hooley, a wealthy gentleman
. In 1889 R.W. Hooley began to work for Godrich & Petman, wine merchants, and later in life became managing director of that firm. Living in Portswood
, in 1912 he married E.E. Holden and moved to Winchester. In 1913 he was elected a member of the Winchester city council. Hooley made his most famous finds in 1889 and 1914 when two iguanodontid skeletons were exposed by erosion at the cliffs. In 1904 the remains of "Ornithodesmus" were uncovered by a cliff fall. After Hooley's death, the paper naming Iguanodon atherfieldensis was posthumously published and most of the Hooley Collection, over 1330 specimens, was in 1924 acquired by the British Museum of Natural History which displays the iguanodontid skeletons in the Dinosaur Hall. In 1926 the extinct plant Hooleya was named after him.
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
5 September 1865, died 5 May 1923, was a businessman and amateur paleontologist collecting on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. Regular visits to the island resulted in the find of hundreds of fossils among which several major specimens on which he himself from 1900 published fourteen scientific papers. He described remains of many Chelonia, and named the dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
Iguanodon
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
atherfieldensis and the pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
Ornithodesmus
Istiodactylus
Istiodactylus was a medium sized pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period.-History and species:In 1887 Harry Govier Seeley named the remains of a fossil pelvis discovered on the Isle of Wight, Ornithodesmus cluniculus, thinking it was a bird. In 1901 he considered that it might have been a...
latidens. Hooley was a member of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
from 1890. He was one of the founders of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society. He was a honorary curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the Winchester Museum between 1918 and 1923.
Reginald was the son of William Hooley, a wealthy gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
. In 1889 R.W. Hooley began to work for Godrich & Petman, wine merchants, and later in life became managing director of that firm. Living in Portswood
Portswood
Portswood is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England. The suburb lies to the north-east of the city centre and is bounded by Freemantle, Highfield, Swaythling, St. Denys and Bevois Valley....
, in 1912 he married E.E. Holden and moved to Winchester. In 1913 he was elected a member of the Winchester city council. Hooley made his most famous finds in 1889 and 1914 when two iguanodontid skeletons were exposed by erosion at the cliffs. In 1904 the remains of "Ornithodesmus" were uncovered by a cliff fall. After Hooley's death, the paper naming Iguanodon atherfieldensis was posthumously published and most of the Hooley Collection, over 1330 specimens, was in 1924 acquired by the British Museum of Natural History which displays the iguanodontid skeletons in the Dinosaur Hall. In 1926 the extinct plant Hooleya was named after him.