Overview

The surgeon-naturalist of HMS Beagle, Benjamin Bynoe, R.N., FRCS, has remained invisible despite his role in helping his friend, Charles Darwin, to pin down the first solid evidence for the theory of evolution, and despite outstanding work as a naturalist in Australia. From lowly white creole roots in Barbados, through the trailblazing years of exploration on the Beagle, to subsequent assignments, his doctoring skills were valued by all under his care: his shipmates, his captain, convicts bound for Australia, Irish peasants during the Great Famine - and Darwin himself. Liz Laidler pulls Bynoe from the shadows and along the way, divulges the intimate, untold side of life as lived by the men on the Beagle.

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9781918652024

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Reviews

What a story! Liz Laidler gives us a richly detailed account of Benjamin Bynoe's travels on the three ground-breaking voyages of HMS Beagle-and on a few convict ships bound for Australia as well. Born in Barbados and trained as a naval surgeon in England, Bynoe accompanied Charles Darwin through the Galapagos Islands and saw the theory of evolution emerge later in the century. More than this, however, he grappled valiantly with the diseases and dangers of Britain's ocean empire. Full of fascinating insights, this is the first biography of Bynoe to link his naval career with personal friendships and scientific exploration. Prof. Emer. Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging Dr. Benjamin Bynoe's contributions to science have been for too long overlooked. After training in medicine, Bynoe joined the Royal Navy and sailed with Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle, becoming an unseen but vital presence on that historic voyage. In a compelling, hard-to-put-down book, his descendant, Liz Laidler, brings the story of this ""invisible"" scientist vividly to life. Peter Burton, Co-editor, BajanThings Laidler should be congratulated for giving Bynoe his rightful recognition as a fine surgeon and one of the most significant officers throughout the Beagle's many adventures. Dr. Gordon Chancellor, Associate Editor of Darwin Online I enjoyed this book with diverse and interesting accounts of travel and contemporary late Georgian and later life, also medicine and adventure as experienced by Surgeon Bynoe. The style and content is very much to my liking and Dr Laidler has handled the surgical material well. Michael Crumplin, ret. Consultant Surgeon, surgical historian and Hon. Curator, Royal College of Surgeons of England This splendid biography throws light not only on the almost invisible surgeonnaturalist, Dr. Benjamin Bynoe, and his close and valuable relationship with Darwin, but on the context of his life, and his emergence from the tiny British colony, Barbados, one of their many illustrious doctors and scientists over the centuries. Prof. Emer. Sir Henry Fraser, Medical Sciences, UWI; Founder and Director of the Chronic Disease Research Centre, Barbados I am most impressed, to say the least. A magnificent book which I commend to others to read! Prof. Emer. Simon Keynes, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University, and one of Charles Darwin's great-great grandsons Both Captain Fitzroy and Charles Darwin had a high opinion of Bynoe's medical and scientific skills He made important contributions to science and deserves better than the obscurity into which he has sunk. This book will help to restore his reputation. The illustrations are well chosen and the comprehensive lists of references and footnotes do not upset the narrative flow, making the book suitable for the general reader. Dr. Richard Marsh, Hakluyt Society I did not think that so much about Bynoe could be recovered. Prof. David McLean, Professor of History, King's College, London

Author Information

Liz Laidler, like Benjamin Bynoe, is a childof Barbados. Her mother was a Bynoe, a familythat laid its roots on the island in 1667. Mirroringher ancestor, she emigrated to England totake advantage of its wonderful educationalinstitutions. The dates are, of course, somewhatdifferent, 150 years apart, in fact - Benjamin in1820 and Liz in 1970 - but the fact is, they bothcherished their adopted country, the UnitedKingdom, while at the same time retaining adecidedly soft spot for their island home.During her zoology degrees at DurhamUniversity, Liz co-led two Durham University expeditions to St. Vincent in theCaribbean in order to assess the status of the endangered St. Vincent Parrotand the equally vulnerable Soufrière Tree. She afterwards did a Ph.D. on giantotters in Guyana, at Cambridge University.Wildlife filming then drew her into the world of pandas in China, pangolinsand monkeys in Ghana, and giant otters in Guyana. With her husband, KeithLaidler, she co-produced many wildlife documentaries which were broadcast onBBC, Survival Anglia, WNET, and National Geographic. Their first film wasthe award-winning Pandas Aren't Always Cuddly (BBC Wildlife on One, narratedby David Attenborough). Their most memorable, however, was a pilot filmwhich never saw the light of day on television - A Tale of Two Villages. Lying tothe north of Kumasi in Ghana, these two villages of generous, warm-heartedpeople stood out from other settlements in that their precious, life-sustainingforests and streams were intact, the secret being religion - specifically, a longheldbelief in the divinity of their monkey inhabitants.As principal organiser of China's first international wildlife conference- International Conference on Wildlife Conservation in China '87 - Liz headed theOverseas Section of the Scientific Committee.Liz is the author of Otters in Britain (David & Charles), and co-author ofThe River Wolf (Allen & Unwin), Pandas (BBC), and China's Threatened Wildlife(Blanford). She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.Liz lives with her husband on an organic smallholding in County Durham.They have planted woods, created meadows, and dug ponds, all buzzing andsplashing with wildlife. They fight a never-ending battle with rabbits whichwould happily destroy the barks of young trees and lay waste to vegetableswere it not for fences and protective collars. Needless to say, rabbit stew is aregular item on the Laidler menu.

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