Monsieur Laurente's birds (1 Viewer)

New thread, simply to keep things apart ...

Intriqued by James's remark; "I think also that K. A. Laurenti may need further investigation (see laurentei/laurentii)" (here), I took a look at those eponyms, and found the ones below:

• the subspecies (Niltava) Cyornis poliogenys laurentei LA TOUCHE 1921 (here) as "Anthipes laurentei":

Named in honour of Mr. E. P. Laurente, of the Mengtsz Customs, to whom I am indebted for his valuable co-operation and for the capture of the larger part of my Yunnan Collection.

Click to expand...

• the subspecies Pomatorhinus ruficollis laurentei LA TOUCHE 1921(same link as above, next-following page):

Type ... Kopaotsún, S. E. Yunnan (alt. 5500 ft., 259 k. N. of Mengtsz, 15 May 1921. [...] Named in honour of Mr. E. P. Laurente.

Click to expand...

• the invalid "Heteroxenicus cruralis laurentei" LA TOUCHE 1921(same link as above, p.29) [Syn: Brachypteryx montana cruralis BLYTH 1843]:

Mengtz, S. E. Yunnan (4000 ft.), 31 October, 1920

Click to expand...

• the subspecies Hemitesia pallidipes laurentei LA TOUCHE 1921 as "Urosphena laurentei" (same link as above, p.30) [a k a "Laurente's Bush Warbler" (by Bangs & van Tyne, 1931)]:

Poutoutsing, S.E. Yunnan (2700 ft.), 12 April, 1921

Click to expand...

• the subspecies (Phylloscopus) Seicercus castaniceps laurentei LA TOUCHE 1922 (here) as "Cryptolopha castaneiceps laurentei" [a k a Laurente's Flycatcher Warbler (by Moffett, 1926)]:

Mengtsz, S. E. Yunnan, 21 March, 1921.

Click to expand...

• the invalid "Elachura laurentei"* LA TOUCHE 1923 (here) [Syn. (?): Spelaeornis formosus/Elachura formosa WALDEN 1874 ... ?]:

The following birds lately received from Mr. E. P. Laurente, of Szemao in South Yunnan, are apparently undescribed. ...

Click to expand...

• the invalid "Cyanops davidsoni laurentii" WELLS 1923 (same link as above, two pages down) [Syn. Megalaima asiatica/Psilopogon asiaticus davisoni HUME 1877]:

Named in honour of Mr. E. P. Laurente, who collected so many birds for Mr. La Touche around Mengtze.

Click to expand...

No Russian "K. A. Laurenti" in sight!

Looks like they all commemorate the same E. P. Laurente, French Customs officer (and collector) in; "Mengtz"/"Mengtsz"/"Mengtze" (today´s Mengzi a k a Meng-tse), in southeast Yunnan, South East China (as in today's HBW Alive Key).

Who he was? I haven´t got a clue!

Björn

_________________________________________________________________________
* Not listed in today's HBW Alive Key. According to that missed OD of 1823, Mr. Laurente was then in, (living in?) "Szemao", which most likely is equal of today's Simao (Sīmáo Qū), in southwest Yunnan. Also see Rothschild 1927, (here). Several birds collected in the same location,"Szemao" in 1923, up til June the same year. Most likely he was still alive, still at work at "Douanes chinoises" in 1924 (here). And probably also him (here), elected as a new member of the Bombay Natural History Society (in February 1925), at that time he´s located in "N. Shan States, Burma".

And that´s where this search ends. No more traces (or only cold ones), end of trail, out of clues ... nothing more found. Sorry!

Anyone "out there" with better knowledge? Or ditto internet skills?

/B

PS. Not to be confused with the far more well-known Belgian ornithologist Laurent (Raty)

Not much more but here he was:

Laurente, E. P. , tidewaiter, Maritime Customs, Hokow.

Click to expand...

Yes, I wondered as well about "tidewaiter," so had to consult SOED, vol. II, p. 2190; "Tide-waiter. 1699. A customs officer who awaited the arrival of ships (formerly coming in with the tide), and boarded them to prevent the evasion of custom-house regulations. Now Hist."

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

E. P. Laurente (DNF) was a French Customs Officer in Mengtsz, Yunnan, China, where he assisted La Touche (q.v.) in collecting bird specimens. What he collected elsewhere (Szemao in south Yunnan) were also sent to La Touche, who sent his notes to Lord Rothschild (q.v.).

Click to expand...

Still no first & middle name nor life dates.

P.S. Perhaps here:

A Second World War Royal Navy Trio, posthumously awarded to Steward William Richard Gwynne Humphreys, C/SR 8652, H.M.S.A.S. Afrikander, Royal Navy, comprising 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star and War Medal, with medal slip, his buttons and rosary, also, ephemera relating to his sister's husband Ernest Paul Laurente of Jersey, who was on Consular Service in China between the wars, including his passport, Chinese Maritime Customs Memo.of Service, telegraph and a War Office Map of Yun-Nan, 1908

Click to expand...

But in this case not French.

Whilst not technically French, Ernest Paul Laurent (note spelling) was not actually British either as the Channel Islands have a weird status and many families are of French origin and French-speaking.

The Laurent family were prominent basketweavers In St Andrews on Jersey. His father was originally from Normandy and his mother from Ile-Molène, Brittany, France ("from Ushant to Scilly is 35 leagues") and E.P.'s British enlistment card actually lists him as a basketmaker. Interestingly his brother Louis actually enlisted in the French Army during WW1.

Ernest Paul Laurent was born 1892 St Heliers, Jersey, Channel Islands and served in the RAF with distinction in WW1

In almost all records his name is given as Paul Ernest Laurent. The "e" on his surname and the change of order of his fornames seems to be an affectation that only lasted for the period during and shortly after WW1 and whilst he was in China.

His first wife Andrée Madeleine Bernard died aged 21 in 1935 on Jersey. He married his second wife the Welsh Dorothy Humphrys (sister of William Richard Gwynne Humphreys see post #4) in 1944.

He died May 1968 in Dartford, Kent.

Slight edit: The Auction listing in post #4 is incorrect in calling Ernest Paul Laurent, William Richard Gwynne Humphrey's sister's husband. Dorothy Barnes was actually William Richard Gwynne Humphrey's widow and Ernest Paul Laurent's second wife. Laurent also had an illegitimate daughter that was adopted and moved to Canada but that's a different story...

P

Well done, and thanks, Paul! 🎖️

Then; I'll have him (and keep him, in my notes), as Ernest Paul Laurent (1892–1968), from Jersey*, a k a Ernest Paul Laurente (while working for the Chinese Maritime Customs/Douanes chinoises, in the early 1920's, and at that certain time collecting for the Irish/UK ornithologist John David Digues La Touche) ... and onwards as earlier told (or shown) in this thread.

Quite an adventurous Life!

And quite an achievement, guys!

/B

PS. Thanks also to Martin for making the laurentei topic resurface.

---

*i.e the Island Jersey (in the Channel Islands archipelago), not to be confused by Jersey (City) in/or (not even) New Jersey (USA).

Thank you for shedding some light on who my great grandfather was. I have shared with my mother and uncle, as we really didn’t know much about him. Sounds like he led a very interesting life. Fantastic!

Welcome. It is always nice to see that descendants find there way to our discussions.