Owen, Richard, 1804-1892

Sir Richard Owen was born on July 20, 1804, in Lancaster, Lancashire, England.

He was an English biologist, comparative anatomist, and paleontologist. He studied briefly at the University of Edinburgh (1824) and then at a private Barclay School of anatomy in London. In 1827, he was appointed Assistant Curator of the Royal College of Surgeons. While preparing a series of catalogues of the Hunterian Collection, he acquired a knowledge of comparative anatomy that facilitated his researches on the remains of extinct animals. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1834. In 1836, he was appointed Hunterian professor and conservator (1849-1856). In 1856, Owen was appointed Superintendent of the natural history collections at the British Museum. In 1858, he became Fullerian professor at the Royal Institution and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1883, he was made a Knight of the Order of the Bath. He established a reputation as a great anatomist with his "Memoir on the Pearly Nautilus" (1832).

In 1835, he married Caroline Amelia Clift (1801–1873). He died on December 18, 1892, in Richmond, London, England.