Catharine Johnston

Catharine Johnston (née Charles; 1794–1871) was an English botanical illustrator who had a species of marine animal named in her honour.

For other people with similar names, see Kathryn Johnston (disambiguation).

Botanical illustration of Hieracium murorum and Hieracium sylvaticum in Plate II by Catharine Johnston published in The Botany of the Eastern Borders.[1]

Life and work

Catharine Charles was born in 1794[2] and was the daughter of William Claudius Charles, a surgeon who had worked in the West Indies.[3] On 23 November 1819, she married George Johnston,[4] a naturalist, and moved to Berwick-on-Tweed, where the couple resided permanently.[5]

Johnston took an active interest in the study of natural history.[5] She assisted her husband in his natural history investigations and illustrated his publications with scientific drawings.[5] She signed her works C. Johnston.[6] On 21 December 1831, she was made an "Extraordinary member" of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club.[7] Her drawings assisted other notable scientists to further their research.[8]

Johnstonella catharina from A naturalist's rambles on the Devonshire coast by P. H. Gosse, 1853.[8]

In 1853 Philip Henry Gosse named the marine species Tomopteris (Johnstonella) catharina in her honor stating:

The crystalline Johnstonella: I have pleasure of announcing a new animal of much elegance, which I believe to be of a hitherto unrecognised form. I shall describe it under the appellation of Johnstonella Catharina. (Plate XXV). ... I venture respectfully to appropriate to this marine animal, the surname and christian name of Mrs. Catharine Johnston, as a personal tribute of gratitude for the great aid which I have derived from her engravings in the study of zoophytology.[8]

References
  1. Details - The botany of the Eastern Borders : with the popular names and uses of the plants, and of the customs and beliefs which have been associated with them / - Biodiversity Heritage Library. www.biodiversitylibrary.org. J. Van Voorst. 1853.
  2. DAVIS, PETER (28 July 2010). "George Johnston (1797–1855) of Berwick upon Tweed and the pioneers of marine biology in north-east England". Archives of Natural History. 22 (3): 349–369. doi:10.3366/anh.1995.22.3.349.
  3. Campbell, Thomas; Hall, Samuel Carter; Lytton, Edward Bulwer; Hook, Theodore Edward; Hood, Thomas; Ainsworth, William Harrison (1 January 1820). "Northumberland". The New Monthly Magazine. Vol. 12. p. 122. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. "Marriages". Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. 6: 359. December 1819. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. Platts, Elizabeth (1994). "In Celebration of the Ray Society Established 1844, and its founder George Johnston (1797 - 1855)" (PDF). The Ray Society Publication (163): 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  6. "Johnston C." Database of Scientific Illustrators. University of Stuttgart. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  7. "Extraordinary Members". History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. 1: 2. 1834. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  8. Gosse, Philip Henry (1853). A naturalist's rambles on the Devonshire coast. London: John Van Voorst. pp. 356–357. Retrieved 3 April 2015 – via biodiversitylibrary.org.
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