Clem Fisher
Curator of Birds and Mammals
Specialist interests:
The history of 19th century natural history collecting, particularly in Australia and the Pacific; rare and extinct birds, and birds only known from drawings; bird bones in archaeological excavations in the north-west, and the historical vertebrate fauna of Merseyside.
Also interested in our Founder, Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, of Knowsley Hall near Liverpool, whose bird and mammal collections were bequeathed to the people of Liverpool in 1851 and formed the basis of Liverpool's first public museum.
Lord Derby hired Edward Lear, later known for his "Nonsense Verse" to paint his birds and mammals living in the aviaries and menagerie at Knowsley and many of his paintings and the models who "sat" for Lear still exist.
Current Research Projects
The English explorer-naturalist John Gilbert in Australia, 1838-1845 and his membership of the First Ludwig Leichhardt Expedition of 1844-1845.
Australian birds in the collections of National Museums Liverpool.
The life and times of our founder, Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby and his connection with the "Nonsense Poet" Edward Lear.
Key Publications
Fisher, C.T. 1992. The importance of early Victorian natural historians in the discovery and interpretation of the Australian Fauna, with special reference to John Gilbert. Liverpool Polytechnic, Ph.D. Thesis: 1-643, 25 figs, 10 plates, 10 maps.
Fisher, C.T. & Longmore, N.W. 1995. Edgar Layard and Charles Pearce's Fijian bird types in the Macleay and Australian Museums, Sydney, with comments on specimens in museums in Britain. Bull. B.O.C. 115 (4): 244-260.
Fisher, C.T. 1996. Bird bones from the excavations at Castle Rushen, and Castle Rushen Stores. In: Davey, P.J., Freke, D.J. & Higgins, D.A. Excavations in Castletown, Isle of Man 1989-1992: 144-151. Liverpool University Press.
Fisher, C.T. 1997 (winter). John Gilbert's Australian collections. Landscope (Western Australia's Conservation, Forests & Wildlife Magazine) 12 (3): 36-41.
Fisher, C.T. 1998. Where are they now? Landscope (Western Australia's Conservation, Forests & Wildlife Magazine) 13 (3) (for Autumn 1998): 40-47.
Fisher, C.T. and Yalden, D.W. 1999. The lost ark: changes in the Tetrapod fauna of the Mersey Basin since 15000BP. In Ecology and landscape development: History of the Mersey Basin Ed. Greenwood, E.F. Liverpool University Press and National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside:
233-239.
Fisher, C.T., Parker, A. and Roberts, A.F. 1999. Catalogue of the osteological specimens in the collections of the zoology department of Liverpool Museum. Trustees of the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside. i-ix; 1-194, 6 b&w illustrs.
Fisher, C.T. [Editor]. 2002. A Passion for natural history: the life and legacy of the 13th Earl of Derby. National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool. Pages 1-240, xx illustrations (mostly colour).
Fisher, C.T. & Jackson, C.E. 2002. The 13th Earl of Derby as a scientist. In: A Passion for natural history: the life and legacy of the 13th Earl of Derby. National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool, pages 44-51.
Fisher, C.T. 2002. The Knowsley aviary and menagerie. In: A Passion for natural history: the life and legacy of the 13th Earl of Derby. National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool, pages 84-95.
Fisher, C.T., Largen, M. & Wallace, I. 2002. Species named in honour of Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. In: A Passion for natural history: the life and legacy of the 13th Earl of Derby. National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool, pages 102-121.
Fisher, C.T. 2002. The bird bones. In: Freke, D. Excavations on St Patrick's Isle, Peel, Isle of Man 1982-88, pages 251-257. Liverpool University Press.
Fisher, C.T. & Kear, J. 2002. The taxonomic importance of two early paintings of the Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea (Latham 1790). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 122 (4): 244-248.
Collar, N.J., Fisher, C.T. & Feare, C.J. (eds) 2003. Why museums matter: avian archives in an age of extinction. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. Supplement, 123A: 1-360.
Fisher, C.T. & Warr, F.E. Museums on paper: library & manuscript resources. In Collar, N.J., Fisher, C.T. & Feare, C.J. (eds) 2003. Why museums matter: avian archives in an age of extinction. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. Supplement, 123A: 136-164.
Fisher, C.T. & Yalden, D. 2004. The Steppe Pika Ochtotona pusilla in Britain, and a new northerly record. Mammal Review 34 (4): 320-324.
Fisher, C.T. 2004. Biographies for New Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Benjamin Bynoe (of the Beagle); The XIIIth Earl of Derby (of Knowsley Hall, near Liverpool); James Drummond (Government Botanist in Western Australia]; James Fisher (Ornithologist);
Louis Fraser (Curator and collector to the XIIIth Earl of Derby); Alfred Garrod (anatomist); John Gilbert (collector and explorer in Australia); Edwin Goodrich (zoologist); Osbert Salvin (ornithologist); Frederick Strange (collector in Australia); Robert Swinhoe (ornithologist in Asia);
George Waterston (Scottish nature conservationist); Joseph Wolf (natural history artist).
Olson, S.L., Fleischer, R., Fisher, C.T. and Bermingham, E. 2005. Expunging the "Mascarene Starling" Necropsar leguati: archives, morphology and molecules topple a myth. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club.
In preparation
Fisher, C.T. & Calaby, J. John Gilbert's manuscript notes for John Gould on vertebrates from Port Essington (Northern Territory, Australia); with comments on specimens collected during the settlement period 1838 - 1849 and subsequently. Monograph series of The Beagle, journal of
Northern Territory Museums' Service. Illustrated monograph; 280 pages in manuscript.
Email:
Contact Clem Fisher now
Postal Address:
World Museum Liverpool
William Brown Street
Liverpool
L3 8EN
England
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