Frank Hannyngton

Who was Frank Hannyngton?

Frank Hannyngton was a civil servant and amateur entomologist in India.

Frank was the youngest son of a judge and a Resident at Madras and later Travancore, John Child Hannyngton. His early education as at Trinity College, Dublin and he then went to Wren's and passed the Indian Civil Service entrance in 1897. He began service in India from 30 January 1899 as an Assistant Collector and Magistrate in South Arcot. His service locations included Tirunelveli, Malabar, Madras and Ooty. In 1912 he was appointed Commissioner of Coorg until 1918 when he moved to Bellary. During his time in Coorg he published a paper on the butterflies of Coorg in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. He also held the position of Postmaster General of Bengal during which time he sent collectors into the Chumbi Valley. Here he found a new Parnassius which he sent to Andrey Avinoff, who named the species after him as Parnassius hannyngtoni. He also made collections of the butterflies of Kumaon.

He married Madeleine, daughter of Colonel Willoughby Edward Gordon Forbes, in 1905. A member of the Bombay Natural History Society from 1908, he joined its executive committee in 1913.