{{Short description|Freed slave and taxidermist, born in British Guiana, residing in Edinburgh from 1817}} {{about||the Scottish nobleman|John Edmonstone of that Ilk}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}'''John Edmonstone''' was a taxidermist and teacher of taxidermy in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was an influential Black Briton.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:A residence in the West Indies and America with a narrative of the expedition to the Island of Walcheren (1834) (14780654981).jpg|thumb|Charles Edmonstone's plantation, Mibiri Creek, Demerara River in Guyana.<ref name="McNish" />]]
== Early life == Born into slavery on a wood plantation in Demerara, British Guiana (present-day Guyana, South America), he was given the surname of his slave-owner, Charles Edmonstone, who owned the plantation and also owned the Cardross Park estate at Cardross, near Dumbarton in Scotland. Around 1812 the plantation was visited by the naturalist Charles Waterton, who spent considerable time teaching John Edmonstone taxidermy.<ref name="NRS 2013">{{cite web |title=John Edmonstone: Enslaved Man to (free as a) Bird-Stuffer |website=nrscotland.gov.uk |publisher=National Records of Scotland |date=31 May 2013 |url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/features/john-edmonstone-enslaved-man-to-free-as-a-bird-stuffer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127055910/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/features/john-edmonstone-enslaved-man-to-free-as-a-bird-stuffer |archive-date=27 November 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/making_history_20051025.shtml|title=BBC - Radio 4 Making History - Latest programme|last=BBC|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-01-02}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vanderleeuwlezing.nl/mcewan_eng.htm|title=Toespraak Mcewen (eng)|date=2005-12-23|access-date=2018-01-02|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051223103607/http://www.vanderleeuwlezing.nl/mcewan_eng.htm|archivedate=2005-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Waterton Park, Walton, Wakefield, Walton - 1487471 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1487471 |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref><!--DEAD LINK Charles Edmonstone (b. 1793, Cardross Park, Dumbarton, Scotland – 29 November 1827, Cardross Park, Dumbarton) <ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.shtml|title=Will of Charles Edmonstone dated 15 May 1828|publisher= National Records of Scotland reference SC65/34/1|access-date= October 28, 2020}}</ref>-->
== Career == In 1817, Edmonstone went to Scotland with his master, possibly to become a servant to the Edmonstone family at Cardross Park. Having come there, he was freed, and he took employment in Glasgow, then moved to Edinburgh, where in 1823 he set up shop as a "bird-stuffer" at 37 Lothian Street. From this shop, he taught taxidermy to students attending the nearby University of Edinburgh, including Charles Darwin in 1826, when Darwin was aged 15. Having worked in hot climates, Edmonstone had learned to preserve birds rapidly before decomposition set in, a skill that may have benefited Darwin in preserving his Galapagos finches.<ref>{{cite web |title=Happy 212th birthday Charles Darwin! |url=https://www.facebook.com/fieldmuseum/photos/a.10151401123437273/10157414641747273 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/22202087272/10157414641747273 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|website=Field Museum Facebook page |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |access-date=19 November 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
Edmonstone also undertook work for the Royal Museum of the University.<ref name="NRS 2013" /><ref name="McNish">{{cite web | last=McNish | first=James | title=John Edmonstone: the man who taught Darwin taxidermy | website=Natural History Museum | date=16 October 2020 | url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/john-edmonstone-the-man-who-taught-darwin-taxidermy.html | access-date=24 April 2021}}</ref> He moved his taxidermy shop to Edinburgh's main shopping thoroughfare, opening at 29 and then later 66 Princes Street. In the 1840s, he moved shop again to 10 South St David's Street.<ref>Post Office Directories, Edinburgh, 1823–1843.</ref>
Edmonstone gave Darwin inspiring accounts of tropical rain forests in South America and may have encouraged him to explore there. The taxidermy that Darwin learnt from Edmonstone helped him greatly during the voyage of HMS ''Beagle''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Darwin describes Edmonstone as:<ref>{{cite web |title=John Edmonstone: the man who taught Darwin taxidermy {{!}} Natural History Museum |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/john-edmonstone-the-man-who-taught-darwin-taxidermy.html |publisher=Natural History Museum, London |access-date=31 May 2026 |language=en}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|A negro lived in Edinburgh, who had travelled with Waterton, and gained his livelihood by stuffing birds, which he did excellently: he gave me lessons for payment, and I used often to sit with him, for he was a very pleasant and intelligent man.}}
== Legacy == In 2009, a plaque to commemorate Edmonstone was commissioned by the London arts venue Kings Place, to be made by the Wedgwood porcelain firm.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=2009-03-09|title=Memorial for Darwin slave mentor|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7931996.stm|access-date=2020-10-09}}</ref> The plaque was put up at Negociants Bar, in Lothian Street, Edinburgh, although it has since been lost.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Lisa |date=2018-11-15 |title=Edinburgh's part in the slave trade |url=https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2018/11/edinburghs-part-slave-trade/ |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Historic Environment Scotland |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Hilary|date=8 October 2019|title=The amazing tale of John Edmonstone: the freed slave who taught Charles Darwin in Edinburgh|work=Edinburgh Live|url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/amazing-tale-john-edmonstone-freed-17053960|access-date=9 October 2020}}</ref>
Edmonstone is regarded as one of the "100 Great Black Britons".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/john_edmonstone.html|title=100 Great Black Britons - John Edmonstone|website=www.100greatblackbritons.com|access-date=2018-12-06}}</ref>
A poem narrated from the perspective of John Edmonstone appears in the Winter 2019 issue of ''African American Review''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Peretz|first=Jeremy Jacob|date=Winter 2019|title=Golden Shovel #2: John Edmonston(e), or 'Darwin's negro bird-stuffer'|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/743470|journal=African American Review|volume=52|issue=4|pages=394–395|doi=10.1353/afa.2019.0059|via=Project Muse|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonstone, John}} Category: Year of birth missing Category: Year of death missing Category: Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:British former slaves Category:19th-century Scottish biologists Category:Charles Darwin Category:Guyanese slaves Category:People from Demerara-Mahaica Category:Scottish people of Guyanese descent Category:Taxidermists
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