Mrs Woodford's invalid Monarch alt. Florence's ditto Monarch ... !? (1 Viewer)

Here´s a theory, maybe worth considering, regarding the obscure scientific name ...

florenciae as in:
• the invalid "Piezorhynchus florenciæ" SHARPE 1890 (here), no dedication, nor any explanation [syn. Monarcha richardsii RAMSAY 1881]

Today's HBW Alive Key tells us nothing more than:

florenciae
[...]
● Female eponym; dedication not given (Sharpe 1890, Ibis, 206) (syn. Monarcha richardsii).

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However; without any dedication, nor an explanation, one tiny clue is given: the type was collected by "(C. M. W)" = C. M. Woodford (see earlier same Paper, as the OD) = Charles Morris Woodford (1853–1927), later Commissioner in the Solomons Protectorate from 1895/6 (? first report as Commissioner in 1896) until his retirement in 1914.

So; how about Woodford's wife Florence Palmer, of Bathurst, that he´d met in 1888, on the ship Ormuz (when she was returning from a long holiday in London), on Mr Woodford´s voyage to Sydney, just before he traveled onwards, to the Solomon Islands (for the first time).

He married Florence Margaret Palmer, the second child of grazier John Palmer and his wife Margaret Yates Beatty, at the All Saints Cathedral, Bathurst on 2 March 1889. I wouldn´t be surprised if Sharpe coined the name on request by the newly wed (love-struck) husband! Or as a polite marriage gift?

All the facts on her, and much more, particularly regarding Mr. Woodford, is to be read in: The Naturalist and his ‘Beautiful Islands’ – Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific, by David Russell Lawrence, 2014.

Note that I haven´t read all of it, it´s a long Paper, so take the above for what it´s worth!

It´s just an idea ... a simple suggestion of a possible dedicatee.

Björn

As I once again (literary) visited the Woodfoords, here's some additional notes (i.e. full life span) on Florence ...

If we´re to trust this MyHeritage site (and I see no reason not to, no incoherence, nothing points the other way):

Florence was born on October 30 1863, in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

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Which leads us onwards .. to this Marriage note in the Sydney Morning Herald ... and to her death in 1932 (here, same News paper):

WOODFORD - June 17, at Chatswood, Florence Margaret, daughter of the late John and Margaret Yates Palmer, of Bathurst and widow of the late Charles Morris Woodford, C.M.G. of British Solomon Islands.

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= Florence Margaret Woodford née Palmer (1863-1932), ... etc., etc.

Well, that´s it. Case closed.

Florence Woodford ... over and out!

Miss Florence Laing's tricky Woodswallow subspecies ...

I've also made an attempt (a futile one) to close the case on the only other Florence (in the HBW Alive Key entries for florenciae): "Florence Maude Ingram née Laing (fl. 1906) wife of English ornithologist Capt. Collingwood Ingram" ... commemorated in:

• the invalid "Artamus florenciæ" INGRAM 1906 (here) ... without dedication, nor any explanation [Synonymous to either; Artamus cinereus melanops (according to the Key) or "Artamus cinereus venustus" (according to the Richmond Card), the latter, as I understand it, in its turn, a synonym of nominate Artamus c. cinereus ... ?!?]

However; without considering the synonyms; focusing on the eponym itself (that is, without dedication, simply following what´s told in the Key) ...I would say it most likely does commemorate, Miss Florence Maude Laing (at the time of the OD) alt. (but, shortly after) Mrs Florence Maude Ingram (née Laing), wife of the British gardener, ornithologist and traveler Collingwood "Cherry" Ingram (here)* [an authority on Japanese flowering cherries, hence his nickname].

They married in 1906, the same year as "her bird" was described, (it was presented during a BOC-meeting, 20th of June, 1906, and they married 17 October the same year, at at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London ) ... and she (most likely) died in Benenden, Kent, England 29 November, 1979, ... or (on an unspecified date) in 1980... ? Survived by her husband*

See the following link; here. Apparently she was the Daughter of Henry R. Laing, , but also note this one here; where Florence Maude Laing ("the daughter of Henry Rudolph Laing and Bridget Maria Barnard") is claimed to have died in "1980"! Whom to trust regarding her death? 1979 or 1980?

Either way: "From 17 October 1906, her married name became Ingram."

That´s all I could find. Not much ... and; no claims what-so-ever found of her birth. Thereby no closure at all.

Take the above for what it´s worth, or as mere clues for anyone keener on digging further.

If of any use at all ... it was worth a try!

Cheers!

Björn
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*Her dear old (very old) husband, Mr. Ingram, who coined the name after his fiancée, is/was himself commemorated in several ingrami birds (here), most of them equally no-longer-valid.

Calalp said:

That´s all I could find. Not much ... and; no claims what-so-ever found of her birth.

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If we believe what is written [here] (scroll down to "HENRY RUDOLPH the youngest of the Laing children. 1858-1941."), she was born in Dec 1881 as Florence Maude Barnard, daughter of Bridget Maria Barnard, then unmarried; her father (Henry Rudolph Laing) didn't marry her mother before Feb 1893.