George Carter Bignell

Who was George Carter Bignell?

George Carter Bignell was an English entomologist. He was born in Exeter on 1 March 1826. He left school at the age of 12 to become a bookings clerk but joined the Royal Marines when he was 16. He joined HMS Superb, one of the last all-wooden, all-sailing, ships-of-the-line to serve in the Royal Navy. He saw action in the Portuguese “Little Civil War” in 1847, as part of a British squadron sent to support Queen Maria II. During his time in the Marines he developed a passion for natural history, especially insects, which he studied whenever he had the chance. He retired after 22 years’ service with the rank of Barrack Sergeant.

Bignell was then appointed Registrar of Births and Deaths, and Poor Law Officer for Stonehouse in Plymouth, Devon. His spare time was devoted to entomology; he scoured the countryside of Devon and Cornwall looking for specimens and studying them in their habitat. Although he studied and collected a wide range of insects, it was his work with the Ichneumonidae or parasitic wasps that was outstanding; discovering nineteen species that were entirely new to science, two of which are named after him. He devised the Bignell Beating Tray, a folding screen for collecting insects falling from a beaten branch. In addition to insects, he later researched and collected marine algae.