Newton, Alfred (1829-1907)

English ornithologist with a special interest in the great auk and the ornithology of Iceland.

Newton was born in Geneva, the son of William Newton, MP for Ipswich. He went to Magdalene College, Cambridge 1848 and graduated 1853. Despite the fact that he suffered from diseased hip joints and walked with the aid of two sticks, he travelled throughout Lapland, Iceland, the West Indies, and North America 1854-63. During these expeditions he studied ornithology and became particularly interested in the great auk. Upon his return he published the Zoology of Ancient Europe and Ornithology of Iceland.

In 1866 he was made the first professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at Cambridge, a position which he held until his death. He published a Dictionary of Birds 1893-36 and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society 1870. In 1900 he was awarded both the Royal medal and the Linnaean Society Gold medal.