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Early life and education

Johann Reinhold Forster was born on 22 October 1729 in Dirschau, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Tczew, Poland). Forster's family was descended from a Yorkshire ancestor, George Forster, who had emigrated to the area to become a merchant in Neuenburg (Nowe) in the 1640s. His father was Georg Reinhold Forster, who became mayor of Dirschau in 1733 (the third Forster to become mayor of Dirschau), and his mother was the widow Eva Plaht. Georg Reinhold became an invalid in 1735 and had to retire as mayor. Forster attended a Latin school in Dirschau, and then went to Marienwerder to attend the gymnasium in 1743.

The Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium in Berlin in 1757

In May 1745, Forster was admitted at the Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium in Berlin, a reputable institution. His teachers included Johann Philipp Heinius [de], the school rector, who taught theology, Hebrew, Roman antiquity and philosophy, and Friedrich Muzel [de], the school librarian, who taught history, literature, Latin and natural philosophy. Forster quickly became skilled in classical and biblical languages including Coptic and fluent in Latin. He graduated in 1748 together with Karl Franz von Irwing [de], who became a lifelong friend. Other friends and acquaintances included Louis de Beausobre, August Friedrich Pallas [de] and Carl Gottfried Woide. Forster also sought out the friendship of foreign students to improve his knowledge of modern languages, especially French.

After his time at the gymnasium, Forster wanted to study medicine at the University of Halle. However, his father wanted him to study law instead. As a compromise, Forster studied theology in Halle. Little is known about his student days. His academic teachers included theologian Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten and orientalist Christian Benedikt Michaelis [de].

St Peter and Paul church, Danzig

By July 1751, Forster had arrived in Danzig (Gdańsk), where he was a candidate for ordination at the Reformed church of St Peter and Paul [de; pl]. He had only a meagre income, and his preaching workload did not allow him to pursue his scholarly interests. His sermons won praise, and his superiors contemplated sending him abroad for additional training. Possibly to please his father by obtaining a permanent position, Forster, who was ordained in Königsberg in August 1753, accepted the post of parson of the Hochzeit-Nassenhuben parish just south of Danzig, starting there on 23 September 1753.

Marriage and work as pastor

The Mottlau (Motława) river between Hochzeit (Wiślina) and Nassenhuben (Mokry Dwór)

Forster had courted his cousin Justina Elisabeth Nicolai since 1751. However, he was unable to marry her on his income at the time. His father died on 15 November 1753, not long after Forster obtained the post in Nassenhuben, and Forster sold the family house in Dirschau soon after, in 1754. He married Justina Elisabeth on 26 February 1754 at St Peter and Paul in Danzig. Between 1754 and 1765, they had seven children who survived childbirth, including the eldest son, Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster.

Forster started to spend some of his inheritance on his library, collecting thousands of books. He started to concentrate on scholarly work (especially Egyptian languages like Coptic) to the detriment of his duties as a pastor. Sometimes he fell asleep during the church service only to be woken to deliver his sermon. Forster hoped for a better post in Danzig, which was a usual step after the Nassenhuben position, but this did not materialise. In 1757, he wrote to the mathematician Leonhard Euler in an attempt to find a position at the new Imperial Moscow University; while he obtained a recommendation, nothing came of it because of the intensifying Seven Years' War. Russian troops occupied the area surrounding Danzig in May 1758, including the Hochzeit-Nassenhuben parish. Forster did not leave for the relative safety of Danzig, but stayed with his parishioners and protected them against excesses of the occupying Russian troops by directly making demands of the Russian commander-in-chief, William Fermor.

Forster's son George was interested in the study of nature from an early age, and so Reinhold, to satisfy his son's curiosity, bought Carl Linnaeus' Systema Naturae and other books, learned natural history from them and then taught his son. Other subjects of this instruction were Latin, French and religion as well as writing and arithmetic.

Russian expedition

Shore of Lake Elton

In 1765, Forster obtained leave from his pastoral offices and travelled to St Petersburg with ten-year old George, their expenses paid by Hans Wilhelm Rehbinder, a Russian in Danzig who recommended them to Count Grigory Orlov, the favourite of Catherine the Great. Forster was given a commission to inspect the newly founded colonies near Saratov on the Volga River, with the expectation that his report should show that the colonists were thriving and happy and to dispel rumours to the contrary that threatened to cut off the supply of willing German colonists. Forster also made scientific plans for the journey, which the Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg supported by providing him with reference books and instruments. The Forsters travelled from Moscow to Saratov in May 1765, continuing via Dmitriyevsk (now Kamyshin) to Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd). They reached the Kalmyk Steppe and Lake Elton (where Forster studied the salt industry), and inspected further settlements along the Volga and some of its tributaries before returning to St Petersburg in October. During the 4,000 km (2,500 mi) journey, George collected hundreds of specimens of plants, helping his father with naming and identification. Forster made contact with other scientists, and his scientific observations from the journey were read at the Academy of Sciences. His report for the Russian government was critical of the conditions for the colonists and of the officials in Saratov. After it was received by Orlov and Catherine, Forster was asked to draft regulations for the colonies that would include improved governance and some degree of autonomy, and finished this work in May 1766. Forster hoped for a government post, but when that did not come true, he asked for permission to leave Russia and payment of 2000 roubles for his time and as compensation for having lost his Nassenhuben post. When he was offered only 1000 roubles, he proudly refused, only receiving 500 roubles from the Russian government much later, in 1771. The Forsters then traveled by boat from Kronstadt to London, where they arrived on 4 October 1766.

England 1766–1772

Warrington Academy

When Forster came to London, he knew very little English. Based on letters of introduction and the recommendation of his friend Woide, the British Museum librarian Andrew Planta introduced Forster to Daniel Solander, but was unable to help with employment. Forster sold some items collected during the Russian expedition, including coins and fossils, and tried to find a salaried position in order to bring the rest of his family, who were living in Danzig from the sale of Forster's library and supported by relatives, to England. He was introduced to the Society of Antiquaries and elected an Honorary Member in January 1767. Based on the observations from the voyage in Russia, he wrote Specimen Historiae Naturalis Volgensis, an essay in Latin on the natural history of the Volga region that was translated into English and then read at the Royal Society and published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

Thomas Pennant, oil painting by Thomas Gainsborough

In June 1767, Forster was appointed as tutor in modern languages and natural history at Warrington Academy, replacing Joseph Priestley, with an annual salary of £60. He was able to reunite with his family, who came to Warrington in September 1767. Forster taught French, German, and natural history, and published a textbook on mineralogy in 1768. The geologist and science historian Victor Eyles described Forster's approach as "rather more scientific than some of his contemporaries" and giving a "sound grounding in the subject". Forster became a member of the committee of the Warrington Circulating Library and of the masonic lodge "Lodge of Lights No. 148 Warrington". He made the acquaintance of other people interested in natural history, including John Blackburne and his daughter Anna Blackburne of Orford Hall, to whom he read his lectures on entomology. He also struck up a friendship with the naturalist Thomas Pennant, whom he visited at Downing Hall in the summer of 1768. Together with his son George, he began to translate the works of three of the apostles of Linnaeus into English: Pehr Kalm's Travels into North America, Pehr Osbeck's A voyage to China and the East Indies, and Pehr Löfling's Travels through Spain and Cumana in South America. Forster increasingly was in financial trouble, and started to teach French at the grammar school in Winwick, sharing the duties with his son, who taught the less able pupils. In early 1769, Forster's debts and a dispute about discipline and corporeal punishment caused a rift between him and his colleagues, especially John Seddon, and Forster was dismissed, leaving the Academy in June 1769. Religious differences may also have played a role in the dispute. Forster then taught languages at the Boteler Grammar School in Warrington while continuing work on the translations.

In the summer of 1770, Forster was invited to accompany Alexander Dalrymple on an East India Company expedition to Balambangan and planned to take George with him as a midshipman. The family moved to London in November 1770, but the plans fell through when Dalrymple was dismissed from the project in March 1771. Forster cultivated a friendship with the lawyer Daines Barrington, a close friend of Pennant who was vice president of the Society of Antiques and of the Royal Society. The translations begun in Warrington started to appear and were successful, with those of Kalm and Osbeck printed in a second edition. Forster also translated Jean Bernard Bossu's Travels through that part of America formerly called Louisiana and his own contributions to North American zoology and botany, A Catalogue of the Animals of North America and Florae Americae Septentrionalis; or a Catalogue of the Plants of North America. The Catalogue of the Animals, described by ornithologist Elsa Guerdrum Allen as "the first attempt to cover American fauna", contains a section with "Directions for Collecting, Preserving and Transporting all Kinds of Natural History Curiosities", a guide for field studies. In 1771, Forster started writing for The Critical Review, contributing reviews of foreign books. Commissioned by Thomas Davies, he started a translation of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's Voyage autour du monde  [fr], which appeared in 1772 as A Voyage Round the World. On 14 November 1771, a number of Fellows of the Royal Society headed by Barrington and including Joseph Banks and David Solander, endorsed Forster's nomination as a Fellow, leading to his election on 27 February 1772.

Joseph Banks painted by Benjamin West, 1773

Banks and Solander had returned to England in July 1771 from the first voyage of James Cook, and early plans for a second voyage started in August or September 1771. Forster attempted to ingratiate himself with Banks and Solander, for example by dedicating the Florae Americae Septentrionalis to Solander and directly suggested that he should accompany Banks on a further voyage when he dedicated his book Novae Species Insectorum to Banks. Cook was officially commissioned in November, and when the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Sandwich approached Banks about taking part, he agreed and started assembling an expedition party including scientist and artists as well as musicians. Forster was not chosen by Banks, but they were in regular contact and had an amicable relationship.

On Banks's suggestions and against the objections of Hugh Palliser, the Comptroller of the Navy, significant changes were made to the expedition ship, HMS Resolution, in order to accommodate Banks's large entourage and their equipment. Alterations included an additional deck and a "roundhouse" on top for the captain, as Banks was to occupy the great cabin. This made the ship so top-heavy that it was deemed unsafe, and the additions were removed again at Sheerness Dockyard. When Banks saw the refitted ship on 24 May 1772, he was furious and soon after announced he would not take part in the expedition. On 26 May, Forster received a visit from the naval surgeon and inventor Charles Irving, who, according to Forster's journal, "in a very mysterious manner told me, that Mr Banks did not go in the Resolution to the South Seas, & asked whether I would go". Forster accepted on the only condition that his son George could accompany him as his assistant.

time in england

warrington, cultivating friends, translating, FRS

voyage and aftermath

halle

scientific output and legacy

Forster has been generally overshadowed by his more famous son.

works

refs

  1. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 3.
  2. Hoare 1976, p. 1.
  3. Hoare 1976, pp. 3–4.
  4. Hoare 1976, p. 6.
  5. Hoare 1976, pp. 6–7.
  6. Hoare 1976, p. 7.
  7. ^ Dove 1877, p. 166.
  8. ^ Pantenius 2021, p. 10.
  9. Hoare 1976, pp. 7–8.
  10. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 8.
  11. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 9.
  12. Hoare 1976, p. 10.
  13. Hoare 1976, p. 11.
  14. Hoare 1976, pp. 13–14.
  15. Dove 1877, p. 167.
  16. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 15.
  17. Hoare 1976, p. 13.
  18. Gordon 1975, p. 3.
  19. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 16.
  20. Uhlig 2004, p. 18.
  21. ^ Hoare 1976, pp. 16–17.
  22. ^ Hoare 1982, p. 10.
  23. Hoare 1982, pp. 10–11.
  24. Hoare 1976, p. 20.
  25. Hoare 1976, pp. 21–22.
  26. Hoare 1982, p. 13.
  27. Hoare 1982, p. 15.
  28. Hoare 1976, pp. 25–28.
  29. Hoare 1976, pp. 28–29.
  30. Hoare 1982, p. 15–16.
  31. Hoare 1976, pp. 29–30.
  32. Hoare 1976, p. 31.
  33. Hoare 1976, pp. 32–33.
  34. Hoare 1976, p. 34.
  35. Hoare 1976, pp. 34–35.
  36. Uhlig 2004, p. 27.
  37. Hoare 1976, p. 36.
  38. Hoare 1976, p. 37.
  39. Hoare 1976, pp. 38–39.
  40. Hoare 1976, pp. 39–40.
  41. Gordon 1975, pp. 36–38.
  42. Hoare 1976, pp. 42–43.
  43. Hoare 1976, pp. 44–45.
  44. Forster 1767.
  45. Hoare 1976, pp. 37, 51.
  46. Hoare 1976, pp. 53–54.
  47. Gordon 1975, p. 54.
  48. Hoare 1982, p. 32.
  49. Eyles 1969, pp. 177, 181.
  50. Mahlke & Weiß 1998, p. 28.
  51. Hoare 1976, pp. 56–57.
  52. Wystrach 1977, p. 157.
  53. Hoare 1976, pp. 57–58, 353–354.
  54. Hoare 1976, pp. 59–60.
  55. Gordon 1975, p. 60.
  56. Hoare 1982, pp. 38–39.
  57. Uhlig 2004, pp. 30–31.
  58. Mariss 2015, p. 45.
  59. Hoare 1976, p. 65.
  60. Hoare 1982, p. 42.
  61. Hoare 1976, p. 67.
  62. Hoare 1982, pp. 42–43.
  63. ^ Hoare 1982, p. 43.
  64. Hoare 1982, pp. 43–44.
  65. Gordon 1975, p. 122.
  66. Allen 1951, p. 501.
  67. Gordon 1975, p. 118.
  68. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 68.
  69. Gordon 1975, p. 128.
  70. Hoare 1976, p. 355.
  71. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 69.
  72. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 72.
  73. Beaglehole 1962, pp. 64, 73.
  74. Beaglehole 1974, pp. 293–294.
  75. Beaglehole 1974, p. 294.
  76. Beaglehole 1974, pp. 294–295.
  77. Beaglehole 1962, p. 74.
  78. ^ Hoare 1976, p. 73.
  79. Hoare 1982, p. 123.
  80. Hoare 1967, p. 215.

sources

works