72 In Memoriam: Thomas Stephenson. 
willing and eager co-operation he was much indebted, that Mr. 
Stephenson did the greatest service to science. It was scarcely 
possible for anything remarkable to reach Whitby without 
attracting his keen attention, and the fact that he kept detailed 
and careful memoranda of all that he saw, added immeasurably 
to the value of his work. 
To him, the authors of the 1881 Handbook of the Vertebrate 
Fauna of Yorkshire are under an everlasting sense of gratitude 
for the value of his assistance, and later on, he kept this journal 
supplied from time to time with additional records. Other 
journals, too, he wrote in, and the more recently published 
Birds of Yorkshire includes much information originally sup- 
plied by him. His ichthyological researches also led to his 
taking interest in the local crustacea and preparing specimens 
of them for the local museum. 
He was also much interested in dialect study and folk-lore ; 
he assisted materially the compilers of local glossaries and was a 
correspondent of the English Dialect Society. In early life, he 
was a good all-round sportsman, a fearless rider to hounds, a 
skilful angler and a good shot, and became a member of the Old 
Whitby Volunteer Corps when it was founded. 
By profession a solicitor, he was the oldest practising in 
Whitby at the time of his death. His connection with the 
Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society was long and inti- 
mate. He joined it in 1861, joined the committee in 1876 and 
became an honorary curator in 1880, in conjunction with the 
late Martin Simpson. In 1864 it was decided to form a 
local collection in the Museum, and for the perfection of this 
Mr. Stephenson laboured all the rest of his life. 
He was born at Whitby on the 12th February, 1833, and 
his education was commenced at Glaisdale, continued at Ormes- 
by, and completed at the famous St. Peter’s School at York. 
It was at Glaisdale and Ormesby that his interest in Natural 
History commenced, to be continued throughout:a long, well- 
filled and useful life. Never a specialist, he remained through- 
out the keen and observant student of nature, whose observa- 
tions were ever at the service of his fellow-students. It was 
always a pleasure to which to look forward, to call upon him at 
his residence at the Pier side, or to find_him actually on the pier 
or in the fish-market, to enjoy his genial conversation and to 
draw upon his never failing store of local knowledge. It was 
there, at the pier-side, within sight of the quaint old harbour 
that he loved so well, that he died, at the ripe age of 83 years 
and seven days, on the 19th of February, 1916. | His memory 
will long be cherished by his friends, and the ‘ Natural History 
Notes from Whitby,’ which have appeared in this journal, and 
the local collections in the Whitby Museum, will be his enduring 
monument.—k. 

Naturalist 
