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Thomas Falkner

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Thomas Falkner (6 October 1707 – 30 January 1784) was an English Jesuit missionary, explorer and physician, active in the Patagonia region for nearly forty years. His primary work, The Description of Patagonia, was written towards the idea of English colonization (similar to Mungo Park and other explorers of his era), but it remains valuable as a record of early life, flora and fauna of the region.[1] He is credited with recording the first fossil in present-day Argentina.

Life

He was the son of Thomas Falkner, a Manchester apothecary, and had Calvinist, maybe Scottish heritage.[2]

In poor health, he was advised to take a sea-voyage, and being acquainted with a ship chaplain on board the Assiento, a vessel trading with Guinea and carrying slaves to Buenos Aires, he accepted an invitation to accompany the vessel as surgeon. This was in or about 1731. On reaching Buenos Aires he was so ill that the captain was compelled to leave him there in the care of Father Mahoney, the superior of the Jesuit College, where he was nursed back to health. He then converted to Catholicism, joined the Jesuits and became a priest.[3][1]

In 1740 or soon after he was sent to assist Father Matthias Strobel in his mission to the northern Tehuelche people at Laguna de los Padres, 12 miles (19 km) west of the present day city of Mar del Plata,[4] the first permanent human settlement in the region.[5] For about the next forty years he was a missionary and explorer in the region, gathering material that would become The Description of Patagonia.[1]

Falkner returned to England, where, in 1771 or 1772, he joined the English province of the Society. He was appointed chaplain to Robert Berkeley of Spetchley. He then became chaplain to Mr. Berington of Winsley in Herefordshire, and afterwards to the Plowdens of Plowden Hall in Shropshire.[6]

Falkner died at Plowden in January 1784 aged 76.[7]

Scientific discoveries

He is credited with recording the first fossil in present-day Argentina: In 1760 Falkner discovered the skeleton of a big armadillo on the banks of Carcarañá River, near the village of Santa Fe; many years later the fossil was identified as originating from a glyptodon.[8] Darwin mentions this fossil and "old Falkner" in his Beagle voyage, after he also discovered fossils in Patagonia.

Works

He wrote an account of his Patagonian experiences, which was published at Hereford in 1774 under the title A Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America, with a grammar and a short vocabulary, and some particulars relating to Falkland's Islands. The book as published was not his original work, but a compilation by William Combe, who used Falkner's papers. The book was translated into German, French, and Spanish. Another account of the Patagonians due to Father Falkner is found in the works of Thomas Pennant, who described his essay as "formed from the relation of Fr. Falkner, a Jesuit, who had resided among them thirty-eight years".[3]

After his death, the Spanish Jesuits who had known him in South America were anxious to obtain his unpublished works. They included treatises on the botanical and mineral products of America, and American distempers as cured by American drugs. It is stated by Fr. Caballero, S.J., that he had also edited Volumina duo de anatomia corporis humani.[3]

Lake Falkner in Argentina is named after him, as well as a street in the city of Mar del Plata.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Born 6 Oct., 1707; died 30 Jan., 1784. He was the son of Thomas Falkner, a Manchester apothecary, and obtained his education at the Manchester grammar school. Later on, having studied medicine under the well-known Dr. Richard Mead, he became a surgeon and practised at his native place. His own health being delicate, he was advised to take a sea-voyage, and being acquainted with a ship chaplain on board the "Assiento", a vessel trading with Guinea and carrying slaves thence to Buenos Aires, he accepted an invitation to accompany the vessel as surgeon. This was in or about 1731. On reaching Buenos Aires he was so ill that the captain was compelled to leave him there in the care of Father Mahoney, the superior of the Jesuit College. Here he not only recovered his health, but was received into the Church, and on 15 May, 1732, entered the Society of Jesus, becoming a member of the Paraguay province. Having spent some time at the Jesuit College of Cordoba de Tucuman, he went as a missionary to the Puelches, near Rio Legundo. His knowledge of medicine and mechanics procured for him considerable influence among the Indians, and in 1740 or soon after he was sent to assist Father Strobel in his successful mission to the Patagonian Indians at Cape San Antonio. For more than thirty years he laboured among the Patagonians until 1768 when the Jesuits were expelled from South America. He then returned to England where, in 1771 or 1772, he joined the English province of the Society. He was appointed chaplain to Mr. Berkeley of Spetchley, and here, in addition to his priestly labours, he wrote an account of his Patagonian experiences, which was published at Hereford in 1774 under the title "A Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America, with a grammar and a short vocabulary, and some particulars relating to Falkland's Islands". The book as published was not his original work, but a compilation by William Combe, who used Falkner's papers. Kirk (see below) quotes a remark by Rev. Joseph Berington: "Mr. Falkner was a man of a vigorous mind, well exercised in various points of science, and had he been allowed to tell his story in his own way, stored as his mind was with anecdotes and incidents, on which he delighted to dwell, we should have had from him an amusing and interesting performance. But his papers were put into the hands of the late Mr. Robert Berkeley of Spetchley, who extracted from them the whole spirit of the original. He made them what they are." But though Mr. Berkeley wrote the preface, the responsibility for the taming process must rest with Combe. Even in its emasculated form the book was successful, and was translated into German, French, and Spanish. Another account of the Patagonians due to Father Falkner is found in the works of Thomas Pennant, who described his essay as "formed from the relation of Fr. Falkner, a Jesuit, who had resided among them thirty-eight years". On leaving Spetchley, he became chaplain to Mr. Berington of Winsley in Herefordshire, and afterwards to the Plowdens of Plowden Hall in Shropshire. After his death, which occurred at the latter place, the Spanish Jesuits, who had known him in South America, were very anxious to obtain his unpublished works, which included treatises on the botanical and mineral products of America, and "American distempers as cured by American drugs". It is stated by Fr. Caballero, S.J., that he had also edited "Volumina duo de anatomia corporis humani".

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 F.E.T. (June 1938). "Reviewed Work: A Description of Patagonia and the Adjoining Parts of South America by Thomas Falkner, E. S. Neumann". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 45 (2): 188–190. JSTOR 44209331.
  2. Back to citation Anderson, Gerald H. (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 0802846807.
  3. Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Back to citation occurrence 3.2 Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thomas Falkner". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. Back to citation Asúa, Miguel de (2014). Science in the Vanished Arcadia: Knowledge of Nature in the Jesuit Missions of Paraguay and Río de la Plata. BRILL. p. 154. ISBN 978-90-04-25677-4.
  5. Back to citation Chiozza, Elena; Figueira, Ricardo (1981). Atlas total de la República Argentina (in Spanish). Centro Editor de América Latina. p. 17. ISBN 9789502510019.
  6. Back to citation Scott, Geoffrey. "Falkner, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9124. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  7. Back to citation Mee, Arthur (1939). The King's England: Shropshire. Hodder & Stoughton, London. p. 134. Mentioned under Lydbury North, in whose parish Plowden lay.
  8. Back to citation J. David Archibald (2017). Origins of Darwin's Evolution: Solving the Species Puzzle Through Time and Place. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231545297.

Bibliography

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