| Activity | Professor of Natural History, Zoologist, Entomologist and Museum Staff.
Studied anatomy and chemistry at school in Exeter. Began collecting marine samples from Plymouth Sound and along the Devon coast. Studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Edinburgh University and St Andrews University [http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/William-Elford-Leach] graduating in 1812. Brief time spent in the medical profession when in 1813 he was employed as assistant librarian, Zoological Department at the British Museum. Made Assistant Keeper of the Natural History Department and became an expert on crustaceans and molluscs. He also worked on insects, mammals and birds. In 1821 he suffered a nervous breakdown due to overwork and resigned from the museum in March 1822. He toured Europe with his elder sister to convalesce, where he died of cholera. The Leach's Storm-petrel and the Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii were named for him. |