Томас Уоркман: Ирландиялық энтомолог және арахинолог

Irish entomologist and arachnologist

Thomas Workman (1843–1900) was an Irish entomologist and arachnologist who travelled widely collecting butterflies and studying spiders. He is best known for his book Malaysian Spiders, published in 1896, in which he described several new species.

Thomas Workman was born at Ceara, Windsor Avenue, Belfast, Ireland on 14 August 1843 into a wealthy family involved in muslin, linen and commerce. He became a successful businessman, at first in the linen trade and then in shipbuilding. He was the elder brother of Frank Workman, born in 1856, who founded the Belfast shipyard of Workman Clark in 1879.

Workman was, as well as being actively involved in the civic administration of Belfast, the Honorary Librarian of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society becoming president in 1898. He was a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Their 1852 meeting was held in his warehouse on Belfast's Bedford Street. He died in St. Paul, Minnesota, U. S. A in 1900, having caught a chill en route from Vancouver following a trip to the Rocky Mountains.

Aside from his work on spiders, especially those of the Far East, Workman was a lepidopterist. He had an extensive world butterfly collection including specimens purchased. from Hans Fruhstorfer and Otto Staudinger. Included are specimens figured in Macrolepidoptera of the World. A systematic description of the hitherto known Macrolepidoptera, edited in collaboration with well known specialists published in Stuttgart by Alfred Kermen. edited by Adalbert Seitz.

Workman's correspondence, diaries etc. are in the Public records Office Belfast