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"Harriet's Sunbird" and Helen's Spot-necked babbler (1 Viewer)

Björn Bergenholtz

(former alias "Calalp")
Sweden
While looking (in vain) for the Helena (or Helen) in Parotia helenae (in the thread Helena's Parotia, here) I suddenly stumbled upon two other birds …

Thereby, here´s some minor additions on the Eponyms harrietae and helenae that I picked up along the way, commemorating one (and the same) or two different Women .. !?

● as in the invalid "Æthopyga gouldiæ harrietæ" DELACOUR & GREENWAY 1940 (here)
Nommé en l’honneur de Mrs. James C. Greenway.
● and the subspecies Stachyris strialata/striolata helenae DELACOUR & GREENWAY 1939 (here)
Named in honour of Mrs. J. Greenway.
Explained in today's HBW Alive Key as:
harrietae
Helen Harriet Greenway (fl. 1940) wife of US ornithologist James C. Greenway, Jr. (per Wynne 1969) (but according to Greenway's obituarist, F. Vuilleumier, 1992, his wife was Mary Frances Greenway née Oakes) (cf. Harriet Greenway née Lauder (fl. 1903) mother of James C. Greenway, Jr. (per Beolens et al. 2014)) (see helenae) (syn. Aethopyga gouldiae dabryii).
helenae
[…]
● “Named in honour of Mrs J. Greenway” (Delacour & Greenway 1939) (see harrietae) (subsp. Stachyris striolata).
Mary Frances Greenway née Oakes was the second wife of James "Jim" Cowan Greenway, Jr. (1903–1989). They married in 1961.

Clearly must be commemorating an earlier wife …

I had the impression that James C. Greenway Jr. married a Helen Scott in 1931 (later divorced), but if he did and if she´s equal of Wynne's suggested "Helen Harriet Greenway" I do not know. *

However I doubt the quotes above would be phrased in such a way if it was intended for his Mother, but it sure could be!? She was also a "Mrs. James C. Greenway", hence his Father (1877–1976) had the same name (but, of course, no "Jr." ;)). Both his Father and his Mother, Harriet Miller Lauder (1879–1959), was still around when the OD was published.

I guess the main question is: if commemorating the one and same wife why alter the name?

None of the above mentioned Eponyms are on my "Swedish List" of Etymologies to look-in-to, thereby I will leave them at this, but I thought I ought to mention it, as I found this info.

If of any use?

Björn
______________________________________________________________
*Almost frighteningly similar to the persons discussed in the Parotia thread:
Harriet and Helena Scott (later Mrs. Morgan resp. Mrs. Forde), some odd 40 years apart!?
 
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I am just curious. How did you come to this conclusion?

I had the impression that James C. Greenway Jr. married a Helen Scott in 1931 (later divorced), but if he did and if she´s equal of Wynne's suggested "Helen Harriet Greenway" I do not know.

Assume the rest is from here. But of course vigilant analysis.
 
- A James Cowan Greenway Jr. having married Helen Livingston Scott: also [here]
- Hugh Davids Scott Greenway, born 8 May 1935, son of James Cowen [sic] Greenway and Helen Livingston (Scott) Greenway: [here] (see also [here]/[here]: Helen L. Scott, 1903-1985).
- In 1960, this Hugh Davids Scott Greenway married Joy Beverly Brooks: this was reported in local newspapers [here], [here]. From these, it can be deduced that, in addition to Hugh Davids Scott, "Mr. and Mrs. James Cowan Greenway Jr. of Wellesley, Mass." also had another son, James Cowan Greenway 3rd (of Greenwich, Conn.), who acted as the best man at the marriage, and a daughter, Miss Helen Livingston Greenway (of Wellesley, Mass.), who was one of the bridesmaids.

In JC Greenway's obituary (published in Auk [pdf]), Vuilleumier wrote:
Personal reasons, rather than professional ones, apparently made Jim decide to leave Cambridge in 1960 and return to the family estate in Connecticut. It is next to impossible to know what happened in Jim's life to make him move back to Greenwich, but some of us heard rumors that, today, would make the gossip columns of social papers. In any case, Jim seems never to have returned to the MCZ.
Wellesley, Mass., though not mentioned by Vuilleumier, is only 13 miles by road from the MCZ, Cambridge, Mass. The obituary mentions a family estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is where his other son was said to reside in the marriage accounts. In other words, geographical details seem to fit quite well too - making the possibility of a homonym slight at best, I think.

What does not fit, of course, is the name of his wife - there's no "Harriet" in "Helen Livingston Scott".

(And thus the sunbird is presumably named after his mother, as Björn suggests above.)
 
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In 1938 James Cowan Greenway Jr. apparently was married to Helen Livingston Scott (1903–1980) making her a strong candidate: here.

Sure makes me wonder who Wynne's "Helen Harriet Greenway" was?

Yet another wife?
 
Yet another wife?
Or maybe just an unfortunate hypothesis?
If you accept without question that harrietae was named after Greenway's wife (based on the OD, not realising that his father had the same name as him), but trace this wife as "Helen Greenway", there is some logic in assuming that Harriet must have been her middle name.

Hugh Davids Scott Greenway's marriage accounts (in local journals of June 1960, links in my previous post above) do not suggest at all that his parents ("Mr. and Mrs. James Cowan Greenway Jr. of Wellesley, Mass.") were separated. I suspect that the "personal reasons" alluded to by Vuilleumier, whatever they were, that "made Jim decide to leave Cambridge in 1960 and return to the family estate in Connecticut" may also have been what resulted in his divorce from Helen. If so, there is no real room for yet another wife.
 
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The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:
Spot-necked Babbler ssp. Stachyris strialata helenae Delacour & Greenway, 1939
Mrs Helen Greenway (DNF) was the wife of J. C. Greenway (q.v.). An amphibian is named after her.

The Key to Scientific Names
“Named in honour of Mrs J. Greenway” (Delacour & Greenway 1939) (see harrietae) (subsp. Stachyris strialata).

Helen Harriet Greenway (fl. 1940) wife of US ornithologist James C. Greenway, Jr. (per Wynne 1969) (but according to Greenway's obituarist, F. Vuilleumier, 1992, his wife was Mary Frances Greenway née Oakes) (cf. Harriet Greenway née Lauder (fl. 1903) mother of James C. Greenway, Jr. (per Beolens et al. 2014)) (see helenae) (syn. Aethopyga gouldiae dabryii).

OD od harrietae here. I am not that sure that she must be a wife of Greenway or his mother. Why not e.g related to Louis Henri André David-Beaulieu (1896-1969) honored here (or B. Bjorkegren C. Cordier) here. What are the life dates of Harriet Greenway née Lauder (fl. 1903)?
 
On the next page it specifically says "Nommé en l'honneur de Mrs James C. Greenway".

What people didn't know was James C. (1903-1989) father was ALSO James C. Greenway (1877-1976) and hence the honoree, Mrs James C. Greenway is beyond any doubt Harriet Miller Lauder (1879-1959).

As for Helen - she was his first wife as was originally stated They divorced in the late 1950s I believe. She was Helen Livingston Scott. "Helen Harriet Greenway" was invented by someone to make a difficult eponym simple.

James Cowan Greenway
Birth7 Apr 1903 New York City, New York, USA
Marriages1937 & 1960
Residence1960 Wellesley, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA
Death10 Jun 1989 Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
FatherJames Cowan Greenway (1877-1976)
MotherHarriet Miller Lauder (1879-1959)
SpousesHelen Livingston Scott (1903–1985)
Mary Frances Oakes (1908-1989)

Now as for the scandal that Vuilleumier eluded to. It's very simple and a bit sad really.

In the late 1950s James met and fell in love with Mary Frances Oakes (1908-1989) who was married at the time to Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (1905-1982) the fourth of his name and heir to the Hunnewell railroad fortune. I surmise that they may have first met at a Harvard benefit dinner as Hunnewell was a massive benefactor of Harvard. I assume Hunnewell was so put out by his wife leaving him for a Harvard "staffer" he simply insisted on Greenway's dismissal. You may think that this level of power is extraordinary but it is no exaggeration to say that the Hunnewells were and are still the cornerstone of Boston Society. Harvard and the MCZ only exist due to these people's endowments. What is silly is that Vuilleumier had to tippy-toe around the issue in James's obituary. He must have known EXACTLY what happened.
 
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Why not e.g related to Louis Henri André David-Beaulieu (1896-1969) honored here (or B. Bjorkegren C. Cordier) here.

Interesting that The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:
David's Hill Partridge Arborophila davidi Delacour, 1927 [Alt. Orange-necked (Hill)
Partridge] Small Buttonquail ssp. Turnix sylvaticus davidi Delacour & Jabouille, 1930
André D. David-Beaulieu (b.1896) was a naturalist and civil servant in French Indochina (1940s). He wrote Les Oiseaux de la Région de Honquan (1932), Les Oiseaux du Tranninh (1944) and Les Oiseaux de la Province de Savannakhet (1949).

and

Australasian Lark ssp. Mirafra javanica beaulieui Delacour, 1932
Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler ssp. Pomatorhinus ruficollis beaulieui Delacour & J. Greenway,, 1940
Black-throated Parrotbill ssp. Suthora nipalensis beaulieui Ripley, 1953
Louis Henri André David-Beaulieu (1896–1969) was French colonial administrator in Indo-China and a naturalist. He wrote Les Oiseaux du Tranninh (1944).

Arborophila davidi Delacour, 1927 OD here
Turnix sylvaticus davidi Delacour & Jabouille, 1930 OD Jean Théodore Delacour, Pierre Charles Edmond Jabouille: Description de trente oiseaux de l'Indochine. In: L’Oiseau, deuxième partie de la Revue d’Histoire naturelle appliquée. Vol 11, 1930, S. 393–408.
Mirafra javanica beaulieui Delacour, 1932 OD here
Suthora nipalensis beaulieui (Ripley, 1953) OD L'Oiseau et la revue française d'ornithologie (n.s.) p. 90
Pomatorhinus ruficollis beaulieui Delacour & J. Greenway,, 1940 OD here
Lophura nycthemera beaulieui Delacour, 1948 OD here
 
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Just to complete the list if David-Beaulieu refs -
Turnix sylvaticus davidi Delacour & Jabouille, 1930 OD Jean Théodore Delacour, Pierre Charles Edmond Jabouille: Description de trente oiseaux de l'Indochine. In: L’Oiseau, deuxième partie de la Revue d’Histoire naturelle appliquée. Vol 11, 1930, S. 393–408.
Separate reprint (repaged [1]-16): here.

Suthora nipalensis beaulieui (Ripley, 1953) OD L'Oiseau et la revue française d'ornithologie (n.s.) p. 90
= Paradoxornis verreauxi beaulieui Ripley 1953, OD in: Ripley SD. 1953. Notes sur les oiseaux du Laos. L'Oiseau et la Revue française d'Ornithologie, nouv. sér., 23: 89-92.
Google Books snippets -- introduction of the name, p. 90: here; dedication, p. 91: here.

Also, omitted both in Eponym and in the current Key:
syn. Polihierax insignis harmandi : Neohierax insignis beaulieui Delacour & Jabouille, 1930. Separate reprint (repaged [1]-16): OD. Holotype.
 
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