William Saville-Kent was an English marine biologist and author.
Early life
Born in Sidmouth, Saville-Kent's childhood was marred by several unfortunate events. First was the death of his mother. This was followed a few years later by the murder of his half-brother, which led to national media coverage and great family upheaval; then came the subsequent conviction for that crime of his sister, Constance, five years later, following a confession. The detective responsible for the investigation of his half-brother's murder, Detective Inspector Jack Whicher, also suspected that William was an accomplice, but no charges were ever made. Constance was sentenced to life in prison, which at the time was twenty years.
Education
Saville-Kent was educated at King's College London, and then at the Royal School of Mines under T. H. Huxley. He held various jobs in Britain, including at the British Museum from 1866 to 1872. In 1869, he became a member of the Zoological Society of London and in 1873 of the Linnean Society. In 1870, Saville-Kent received a grant from the Royal Society to conduct a dredging survey off Portugal. He worked at the Brighton Aquarium, then at the Manchester Aquarium. He went on to work for various other aquariums, before returning to Brighton in 1879. Saville-Kent married in 1872, but his wife died three years later. He remarried in 1876.
Australia
On the recommendation of Huxley, in 1884 Saville-Kent became Inspector of Fisheries in Tasmania. In 1889, he became Commissioner of Fisheries for Queensland, and in 1892, Commissioner of Fisheries for Western Australia, a position he held until 1895. During this time he experimented with culturing pearls on Thursday Island; his experiments were successful, and modern-day spherical cultured pearls are primarily the result of discoveries he made. These discoveries were later patented by Dr. Tokichi Nishikawa of Japan, who had heard of Saville-Kent's techniques. Later, Saville-Kent went on to chair the Royal Society of Queensland from 1889–1890. His book documentation of the Great Barrier Reef was the pioneering publication, attracted worldwide attention, and was for decades the definitive work on this landform. His sister Constance had joined him in Australia in 1886, changing her name to Ruth Emilie Kaye and training as a nurse.
