319 

 SIR RAWSON WILLIAM RAWSON, K.C.M.G., C.B., &c. 



By J. COSMO MELVILL, M.A. 



(Read before the Society, December 13th, 16 



The death of Sir Rawson Ravvson at his residence, 68, Cornwall 

 Gardens, London, in his eighty-eighth year, on 20th November, 

 removes one whose long and successful life was full of interests — 

 official, secretarial, statistical, and biological. 



Born in 181 1, he was educated at Eton, and in 1830 became 

 Secretary to Mr. Poulett Thomson, then Vice-President of the Board 

 of Trade; four years later, in 1834, he was appointed Secretary to 

 the President, Mr. A. Baring. In 1841 Mr. Gladstone selected him 

 as his Private Secretary in the same office (the Board of Trade), but 

 a year later, in 1842, he received from Lord Derby his first colonial 

 appointment as Chief Secretary for Canada. From there he was 

 transferred to Mauritius, and after holding for several years the post 

 of Treasurer of that island, he was appointed Colonial Secretary, in 

 1854, at the Cape of Good Hope, after which he was elected to the 

 Cape Parliament, then newly constituted, and was made a C.B. in 

 recognition of the many services rendered as Financial Minister. 

 Ten years later, in 1864, he was appointed Governor of the Bahamas, 

 and in 1869 of the Windward Islands, retiring in 1875, when he 

 received the well-merited honour of a knighthood. 



Sir Rawson was a well-known figure in scientific circles. He was 

 especially devoted to geographical research, and at one time served 

 on the Council of the Royal Geographical Society. The meetings of 

 the Statistical Society also claimed a large share of his attention, and 

 he held the Presidency of this latter from 1884-85. He was also the 

 first President of the International Statistical Institute, holding that 

 office till 1899, when failing health and advanced age compelled him 

 to retire, and even then, so great had been his services, he was unani- 

 mously requested to continue as its Honorary President. He 

 contributed several statistical pamphlets and works on various 

 subjects of imperial interest, including one on the tariff and trade of 

 Great Britain and her empire. He was also a fellow of the Geological 

 Society, and of several other learned bodies, including the Conchological 

 Society of Great Britain and Ireland. In this science he took a 

 particular interest; indeed he had amassed a large collection of mol- 

 lusca, principally gathered by himself at the Bahamas, Mauritius, 

 South Africa, etc., and had increased it much by exchanges with 

 individuals and museums. His collection, numbering about 8,000 

 species of shells, is particularly rich in land operculates, but the 

 marine shells, e.g., Conus, Mitra, etc., are also well represented. 



