Longstaff, George Blundell (1849-1921)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
GEORGE BLUNDELL LONGSTAFF, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. THE death took place on May 7th, at his residence, High lands, Putney Heath, of Dr.'George Blundell Longstaff, in his 72nd year. Dr. Longstaff was the son of Dr. G. D. Longstaff of Wandsworth, and he was educated at Rugby, at New College, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. and M.B. in 1876, and at St. Th-omas's Hospital,' where he was a Mead medallist. He further obtained the diplomas of M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., and the D.P.H. in 1877. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1888, and took the degree of'M.D. in 1891. Dr. Longstaff, so far as we are aware, never engaged in the practice of medicine, but he found his medical knowledge of value, at the time, for instance, of the Jamaica earthquake, for, happening then to be in Jamaica, he did a great deal of medioat work among tlle people of -the island. Dr. Longstaff devoted hiis life to philanthropic, municipal, and scientific work. He was for many years a member of the London County Council, and acted as chairman of the Building Act Committee. He served on many committees of the Charity Organization Society, had 'been a Poor Law guardian, was a Justice of the Peace, and a membe'r of the Wandsworth District Board of Works. His father had been the first chairman of the Wandsworth Library Commissioners, and he himself joined the Board and succeeded his'father as chairman. An ardent entomologist, he was a great' collector, and the Hope Collection in the Oxford University Museum has been more than doubled by contribu tions he presented to it. He was the author of Butterfly Hunting in Many Lands, which was published in 1912. A member of many learned societies, he had been vicepresident of the Royal Statistical Society and of the Entomological Society, and was an authority on the analysis of animal and vegetable oils. Dr. Longstaff had served as one of the old Volunteers, and when the special constables were enrolled in 1914, at the outbreak of war, was one of tlle first to join; he' became the first Chief Inspector of the Wandsworth Section, and attended keenly to, his duties until ill health 'compelled him' to resign in 1917. He was twice' married, his second wife being a Fellow of the' Geological Society, who' was awarded the Murchison' Geological Fund in 1898, and who has made many contributions to the publications of the Geological, Linnean, and other learned societies.' Dr. Longstaff's philanthropic, educational, political, and scientific activities made him one of tlle best-known and most highly esteemed public men in South London, where his loss will be greatly felt.

Obituary

PUBLICATIONS

 * Dixey, F. A.; Longstaff, G. B. 1907. Entomological observations and captures during the visit of the British Association to South Africa in 1905. Trans. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 1907: 309-381

REFERENCE

 * Ewan, J. & N.D. Ewan. 1981. Biographical Dictionary of Rocky Mountain Naturlaists 1682-1932. 253pp. The Hague. p. 137.