William John Ansorge

William John Ansorge (6 April 1850 – 31 October 1913 at Luanda[1][2]) was a physician who worked in Angola and Uganda and is known for exploring the fauna of the African region. He was posted as a medical officer in Uganda from 1895 to 1898.[3] Several species of animals were named after him by museum taxonomists chiefly in Britain; these include Ansorge's cusimanse (Crossarchus ansorgei); several birds, including Ansorge's greenbul (Andropadus ansorgei), Platysteira (concreta) ansorgei, Xenocopsychus ansorgei, and Nesocharis ansorgei; many fishes (Polypterus ansorgii, Microctenopoma ansorgii, Phractura ansorgii, Thysochromis ansorgii, Enneacampus ansorgii, Neolebias ansorgii, and Epiplatys ansorgii); and three reptiles (Afrogecko ansorgii, Hemidactylus ansorgii, and Psammophis ansorgii).[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

William John Ansorge
W.J. Ansorge with a lion in Africa
Born(1850-04-06)April 6, 1850
October 31, 1913(1913-10-31) (aged 63)
DiedLuanda, Angola
Scientific career
FieldsZoology

Ansorge's ancestors came from Silesia, but William was born in Chapra, Bengal, to Rev. Paul Gotthold Ansorge[1] (who worked in Krishnaghar, Bengal, and later at Mauritius, preaching in Bengali and Hindi[12][13][14] in India) in 1850 and studied at the Royal College in Mauritius and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He worked briefly at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. He then became a professor at the Royal College in Mauritius (1872–1880) and senior professor from 1880 to 1886. He was also District Medical Officer in Uganda and in Southern Nigeria. He travelled across Africa (northern Angola, Benguella, Mossamedes, Portuguese Guinea) and wrote Under the African Sun in 1899. Ernst Hartert noted that Ansorge was a very valuable collector and contributor to the bird collection of Walter Rothschild at Tring. Hartert noted that Ansorge's knowledge of the species collected was limited and that he lacked a training in zoology. His early collections made from 1892 in Uganda were of poor quality and he received training from Hartert. Hartert notes that he died in Angola at just 64, although giving the appearance of an older man with his white beard.[15][16]

Ansorge married Mary Matilda, daughter of G.E. Ely of Edinburgh, in 1881. They had two sons and a daughter. He received two medals with clasps for his service in Uganda 1897–1898 and for his role in the Aro Expedition of 1901–1902.[1][17]

References
  1. Venn, J.A. (1940). Alumni Cantabrigiensis. Volume I. Part II. p. 61.
  2. Anonymous (1914). "Biographische Mitteilungen". Leopoldina. 1 (1): 16.
  3. Crozier, Anna (2007). Practising Colonial Medicine: The Colonial Medical Service in British East Africa. I.B. Tauris. p. 142.
  4. Thomas, Oldfield (1904). "XLVIII.—On mammals from Northern Angola collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge". Journal of Natural History. Series 7. 13 (78): 405–421. doi:10.1080/00222930408562472.
  5. Boulenger, G.A. (1910). "LXI.–On a large collection of fishes made by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in the Quanza and Bengo Rivers, Angola". Journal of Natural History. Series 8. 6 (36): 537–561. doi:10.1080/00222931008692887.
  6. Boulenger, G. A. (1905). "X.—A List of the Batrachians and Reptiles collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Angola, with Descriptions of new Species". Journal of Natural History. Series 7. 16 (92): 105–115. doi:10.1080/03745480509443656.
  7. Boulenger, G.A. (1911). "XLI.—Descriptions of new freshwater fishes discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Portuguese Guinea". Journal of Natural History. Series 8. 7 (40): 373–376. doi:10.1080/00222931108692950.
  8. Boulenger, G.A. (1906). "XVI.—On some fishes from the Kwango River (Congo System) in Angola, collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge". Journal of Natural History. Series 7. 17 (97): 110–112. doi:10.1080/00222930608562499.
  9. Boulenger, G.A. (1907). "XXVI.—Descriptions of three new lizards and a new frog, discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Angola". Journal of Natural History. Series 7. 19 (111): 212–214. doi:10.1080/00222930709487258.
  10. Boulenger, G.A. (1907). "XX.—Description of a new frog discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge in Mossamedes, Angola". Journal of Natural History. Series 7. 20 (116): 109. doi:10.1080/00222930709487312.
  11. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Ansorge", p. 10).
  12. Ryan, Vincent W. (1864). Mauritius and Madagascar: Journals of an eight years' residence in the Diocese of Mauritius and of a visit to Madagascar. London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday. pp. 147, 163.
  13. The Church Missionary Atlas (4 ed.). London: Church Missionary Society. 1865. p. 45.
  14. Kimball, Miss (1877). "Mauritius Port Luis". The Missionary Link. 8 (1): 11–16.
  15. Hartert, E.; Goodson, A. T. (1918). "Notes on pigeons". Novit. Zool. 25: 346–358. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.29771.
  16. Anonymous (1914). "Obituary". Ibis. 10 (2): 138. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1914.tb04073.x.
  17. Who Was Who. A companion to Who's Who containing the biographies of those who died during the period 1897–1916. London: A&C Black Limited. 1920. p. 19.


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