Pride and plesiosaurs: the life and fossil-collecting activities of Commander Henry Waring RN (1771-1837) of Lyme Regis, Dorset

Taylor, Michael A; Evans, Mark

Pride and plesiosaurs: the life and fossil-collecting activities of Commander Henry Waring RN (1771-1837) of Lyme Regis, Dorset

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

Taylor, Michael A

ORCID

Evans, Mark

Date published

2025

Abstract

Commander Henry Waring RN (c. 1771–1837) is a poorly-known fossil collector of Lyme Regis. The son of a London surgeon, from a family of minor Shropshire landowners, he served as a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy until 1804 when he resigned command of the armed transport HMS Serapis for health reasons. He remained inactive on half-pay thereafter. In 1805 he married (perhaps eloping with) Margaret Franks (c. 1785–1842), of a wealthy family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. They settled in Lyme Regis c. 1822, moving c. 1824–25 to a house formed by the division of the Great House, once Lyme Regis’s grandest residence. At Lyme Regis, Waring owned at least one fine ichthyosaur, and (contrary to general belief) discovered the first of the three plesiosaur skeletons famously collected in December 1823. The plesiosaur was sold to the Muséum d’histoire naturelle in Paris, and published by Georges Cuvier. It is unclear whether Waring collected primarily for his own interest, or to help support his large family. He seemingly kept his fossil-trading quiet, probably to avoid imperilling his gentlemanly status, and perhaps using the commercial collector Mary Anning the younger as an agent or front