Edward Jesse

Edward Jesse (January 14, 1780 - March 28, 1868), English writer on natural history, was born at Hutton Cranswick, Yorkshire, where his father was vicar of the parish.

He became clerk in a government office in 1798, and for a time was secretary to Lord Dartmouth, when president of the Board of Control. In 1812 he was appointed commissioner of hackney coaches, and later he became deputy surveyor-general of the royal parks and palaces. On the abolition of this office he retired on a pension, and he died at Brighton.

The result of his interest in the habits and characteristics of animals was a series of pleasant and popular books on natural history, the principal of which are:

• Gleanings in Natural History (1832-1835)
• An Angler's Rambles (1836)
• Anecdotes of Dogs (1846)
• Lectures on Natural History (1863)

He also edited Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, Gilbert White's Selborne, and L Ritchie's Windsor Castle, and wrote a number of handbooks to places of interest, including Windsor and Hampton Court.

His son, John was a noted historian.

Reference

• This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.