I05 



3n /IDcinorv of 

 CHARLES P. HOBKIRK. 



Born 13th January 1837. Died 29th July 1902. 



The debt of gratitude which the naturahsts of Yorkshire owe to 

 the memory of their deceased friend, Mr. Charles P. Hobkirk, 

 is simply incalculable, and the services which in virtue of his 

 many-sided nature he was able to render to the cause of natural 

 science in his dearly-beloved native county have been great and 

 far-reaching in their effects. As the historian and particularly 

 as the pioneer natural historian of Huddersfield, his native 

 town, as the guide, philosopher, and friend of many a young- 

 bryologist, as one of the Editors of this very journal at a 

 critical time in the development of the natural sciences in 

 Yorkshire, and as an active member and office-bearer in 

 the Huddersfield Naturalists' Society and in the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union down to the very last active year of his life, 

 and as reg-ards his private relationships with us, his fellow- 

 workers, he is entitled to a high place among the scientific 

 notabilities of Yorkshire. 



He was a Huddersfield man by birth and by descent, the 

 only son of Mr. David T. Hobkirk, who was engaged in the 

 woollen trade. He was born on the 13th January 1837, so that 

 when he died he was in his 65th year. 



By profession he was a banker, entering the West Riding 

 Union Bank in 1852, when he was 15, rising there to the position 

 of cashier, and in January 18S4 becoming manager of the 

 Dewsbury branch. He left the service of this bank in November 

 1892, returning to Dewsbury in 1894 as manager for another 

 bank, and finally retiring in March 1897. He then lived at 

 Horsforth and afterwards at Ilkley. 



His scientific abilities and his energetic temperament soon 

 brought him into prominence. In 1859, when he was but a 

 year or so over age, he published his admirable book on 

 ' Huddersfield : its History and Natural History,' which is a 

 veritable treasure-house of information on the fauna and flora of 

 the district, the foundation on which all subsequent work was 

 based. The list included the plants, the mammals and birds, and 

 the lepidoptera of the neighbourhood. This little work reached 

 its second edition in 1868, when the various lists were amplified 

 and others added. 



About the years 1864 to 1867 was published a series of 'The 

 Naturalist,' which extended to two volumes and a portion of 



1903 April I. 



