Henry Eeles Dresser

Henry Eeles Dresser was an English businessman and ornithologist. In 1858 he discovered breeding waxwings and was the first Englishman to collect their eggs. He was a close friend of Professor Alfred Newton, Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford and Alfred Russel Wallace.

About Henry Eeles Dresser in brief

Summary Henry Eeles DresserHenry Eeles Dresser was an English businessman and ornithologist. Dresser had a lifelong interest in birds and collected bird skins and eggs from his early teenage years. In 1858 he discovered breeding waxwings and was the first Englishman to collect their eggs; this brought him fame amongst English ornithologists, most of whom were egg and skin collectors. He was a close friend of Professor Alfred Newton, Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford and Alfred Russel Wallace. He worked with Newton on the development of a close time for British birds when they could not be hunted during the 1860s and 70s, an early part of the bird conservation movement.

He left England to live in remote Siberia in 1915 for the benefit of his health; he died in Monte Carlo on 28 November 1915. His collection of birds had been in the Manchester Museum, but has now been moved to the Royal Collection of Birds at the Natural History Museum, London. He is buried in the Monte Carlo Museum, Manchester.