Biography

American school teacher Walter Deane spent much of his life studying and collecting plants in the north-western United States. His first specimen was pressed in 1880 and from then onwards he gathered examples of flowering plants, mosses and ferns. A friend of Asa Gray's even before his love of botany blossomed, Deane studied the plants of the regions covered in Gray's Manual and consulted its author extensively for identifications and advice. In fact, at the time of his death Deane was friends with most of the major American botanists of the time and was a popular character. As well as collecting his own specimens, he partook in exchanges with other botanists, usually for species found in the north-eastern United States but occasionally he obtained plants from the rest of the USA or Europe. Although Deane did not publish extensively and rarely produced any taxonomic works, the quality of his papers bears testament to his skilled observations and data collection in the field. In total he collected some 40,000 specimens. Deane was also one of the founding members of the New England Botanical Club and its president from 1908 to 1911.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he moved with his family to Cambridge in 1853 and they soon began to live in a house his father had built on the outskirts of town. Growing up surrounded by fields and ponds he attended Cambridge High School (from 1862) and later matriculated into Harvard University. On his graduation in 1870 Deane spent a year as a private tutor followed by seven as a teacher at St. Mark's School for Boys in Southboro, Massachusetts. While there he played sport on the school teams and founded the school paper, The Vindex, as well as becoming well acquainted with one of the headmasters, Rev. J.I.T. Coolidge. Deane went on to marry the daughter of this headmaster, Margaret Chapman Coolidge, in 1878.

Following this appointment Deane moved to Cambridge and took up a position at the Hopkinson School in Boston. A well respected and gentle teacher, he was forced to leave this school in 1895 due to health problems but continued to work as a tutor and gave small classes in botany. At this time he also served on the Metropolitan Parks Commission which allowed him to work on his Flora of the Metropolitan Parks, one of his greatest achievements. From 1897 Deane turned his attention to ornithology and began to work as curator of his friend, William Brewster's, ornithological museum. The study of birdlife had had been a lifelong interest of Deane's and he was a committed member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club as well as a collector of insects for the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Working for Brewster until 1907 he slipped gently into retirement, spending his winters in Cambridge and long summers in a cottage in New Hampshire. Deane is commemorated by the Umbelliferae genus Deanea Coulter and Rose.

Sources:
Anon, 1931, "Walter Deane", American Fern Journal, 20(4): 158-159
C.A. Weatherby, 1933, "Walter Deane", The New England Botanical Club, 35(411): 69-80.

Biography

American school teacher Walter Deane spent much of his life studying and collecting plants in the north-western United States. His first specimen was pressed in 1880 and from then onwards he gathered examples of flowering plants, mosses and ferns. A friend of Asa Gray's even before his love of botany blossomed, Deane studied the plants of the regions covered in Gray's Manual and consulted its author extensively for identifications and advice. In fact, at the time of his death Deane was friends with most of the major American botanists of the time and was a popular character. As well as collecting his own specimens, he partook in exchanges with other botanists, usually for species found in the north-eastern United States but occasionally he obtained plants from the rest of the USA or Europe. Although Deane did not publish extensively and rarely produced any taxonomic works, the quality of his papers bears testament to his skilled observations and data collection in the field. In total he collected some 40,000 specimens. Deane was also one of the founding members of the New England Botanical Club and its president from 1908 to 1911.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he moved with his family to Cambridge in 1853 and they soon began to live in a house his father had built on the outskirts of town. Growing up surrounded by fields and ponds he attended Cambridge High School (from 1862) and later matriculated into Harvard University. On his graduation in 1870 Deane spent a year as a private tutor followed by seven as a teacher at St. Mark's School for Boys in Southboro, Massachusetts. While there he played sport on the school teams and founded the school paper, The Vindex, as well as becoming well acquainted with one of the headmasters, Rev. J.I.T. Coolidge. Deane went on to marry the daughter of this headmaster, Margaret Chapman Coolidge, in 1878.

Following this appointment Deane moved to Cambridge and took up a position at the Hopkinson School in Boston. A well respected and gentle teacher, he was forced to leave this school in 1895 due to health problems but continued to work as a tutor and gave small classes in botany. At this time he also served on the Metropolitan Parks Commission which allowed him to work on his Flora of the Metropolitan Parks, one of his greatest achievements. From 1897 Deane turned his attention to ornithology and began to work as curator of his friend, William Brewster's, ornithological museum. The study of birdlife had had been a lifelong interest of Deane's and he was a committed member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club as well as a collector of insects for the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Working for Brewster until 1907 he slipped gently into retirement, spending his winters in Cambridge and long summers in a cottage in New Hampshire. Deane is commemorated by the Umbelliferae genus Deanea Coulter and Rose.

Sources:
Anon, 1931, "Walter Deane", American Fern Journal, 20(4): 158-159
C.A. Weatherby, 1933, "Walter Deane", The New England Botanical Club, 35(411): 69-80.