John Coney Moulton

Who was John Coney Moulton?

John Coney Moulton OBE was born in St Leonards, Dorset, England, and died in London. He was an officer in the British Army, as well as an amateur zoologist who spent many years in South-East Asia. He was Curator of the Sarawak Museum from November 1908 to January 1915, and founding editor of the Sarawak Museum Journal in 1911. He served with his regiment "The Wilts", in India 1915-1916 and as staff officer in Singapore 1916-1919, following which he resigned with the rank of Major. In July 1919 he was appointed Director of the Raffles Museum in Singapore, a position he held until 1923. After this, Moulton returned to Sarawak as the Chief Secretary to the third White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke. Moulton specialised in research on Cicadas. He was interested in entomology, birds and mammals. Most of his scientific papers were published in the journals of the Straits and Malayan branches of the Royal Asiatic Society as well as in the Sarawak Museum Journal.

Alex Moulton, engineer and inventor, was his son.

The genus Moultonianthus Merr. and many species of plants were named after him.