William Henry Benson

William Henry Benson (* 1803 in Dublin, Ireland, † January 27, 1870 ) was a civil servant in British India. His particular interest was the Malacology. He brought it to a remarkable collection of molluscs. In his publications he described many species.

Life and work

Until 1819 Benson attended Haileybury College. Later he worked for the British East India Company in Bengal. On October 30, 1821 he arrived in Calcutta. He took several positions, among others served as chief administrator or appointed judge in Meerut, Bareilly and other parts of northern India. During his time in India he gained a lot of land snails, which he sent to Hugh Cuming to England. When he returned in April 1847 from a trip to Mauritius, he brought some large land snails ( Achatina fulica ) for a friend with. This later put it in a garden in Chowringhee, a suburb of Calcutta, from. This type represents today in parts of India a plague dar.

His son Hiram Major Richard Sankey was the executor of the legacy. His collection went to the British Ornithologists Sylvanus Charles Thorp Hanley. This remote unfortunately all labels. This diminished the value of the Bensonschen collection considerably.

Genera to Benson

• Pterocyclus ( Benson, 1832)
• Oxygyrus ( Benson, 1835)
• Batillaria ( Benson, 1842)
• Diplommatina ( Benson, 1849)
• Streptaulus ( Benson, 1857)
• Dioryx ( Benson, 1859)
• Clostophis ( Benson, 1860)
• Rhiostoma ( Benson, 1860)

Species to Benson

• Carinaria cithara ( Benson, 1835)
• Carinaria galea ( Benson, 1835)
• Musculista senhousia ( Benson, 1842)
• Musculus senhousei ( Benson, 1842)