From 1841 to 1857 Alder was a tenant at 5 Ravensworth Terrace in the Summerhill area of Newcastle upon Tyne, which he shared with his sister Mary, a woman of independent means, and their two female servants.[2]
During this time, he ran a cheese shop in The Side, a street in central Newcastle.[2] He sold that business and became a shareholder in the Northumberland District Bank, and a gentleman of leisure.[2] A financial crash in 1857 led to the collapse of the bank, and Alder faced ruin.[2] He and Mary were forced to leave Ravensworth Terrace, moving to a smaller house, still extant, in nearby Summerhill Terrace, where he was supported by his sister.[2] In 1863 he wrote to his co-author Albany Hancock of his relief at being awarded a pension of £70 from the civil list by Lord Palmerston at the behest of his scientific colleagues, allowing him to resume his research.[2]
An obituary noted that he was "everywhere accompanied" by his sister, who "assisted him in his studies and was, in short, essential to his life and health".[2]
Alder is profiled in the first episode of the second series of A House Through Time, first shown in April 2019.[2] As a result of research conducted for the programme, a plaque commemorating Alder was unveiled there on 26 September 2018 by presenter David Olusoga and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, David Down.[3] The house has been Grade II listed since June 1976.[4]
Bibliography
Plate from British Tunicata
Alder J. (1838). "Supplement to a catalogue of the land and fresh-water testaceous Mollusca, found in the vicinity of Newcastle". Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham1(3): 337–342. Newcastle.
Alder J. & Hancock A. (1845–1855). A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. The Ray Society, London. Published in 8 parts:
Alder, Joshua, Embleton, Dennis, Hancock, Albany, Hopkinson, John, Norman, Alfred Merle, 1905–12 The British Tunicata; an unfinished monograph, by the late Joshua Alder and the late Albany Hancock. Edited by John Hopkinson, with a history of the work by the Rev. A. M. Norman. London. Printed for the Ray Society.
A contemporary review described the Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca as "one of the most admirable monographs which has ever appeared in this or any other country".[2]Prince Albert is known to have owned a copy.[2]
Taxa described
Alder discovered over 100 marine species, new to science.[2]
Names or synonyms of hydroids described by Alder include:[5]
^WoRMS Editorial Board (2024). World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. Accessed 2024-01-23. doi:10.14284/170
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joshua Alder.
Works by Joshua Alder at AnimalBase[1] digitized literature (includes A monograph of the British nudibranchiate, A catalogue of the land and fresh-water testaceous Mollusca found in the vicinity of Newcastle upon Tyne, with remarks, Notes on the land and fresh water Mollusca of Great Britain, with a revised list of species, Supplement to a catalogue of the land and fresh-water testaceous Mollusca, found in the vicinity of Newcastle, A catalogue of the Mollusca of Northumberland and Durham)
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