John Grattan (naturalist)
John Grattan (1800 − 24 April 1871) was an Irish naturalist and anthropologist.
Grattan was born in Dublin in 1800.[1] He trained as an apothecary in Dublin, and after travelling to Belfast, opened the ‘Grattan & Co Medical Hall’ in Belfast High Street in 1825. Three years later, he opened a factory producing mineral waters and fizzy drinks.
Grattan had wide interests in natural history and was a member of the Belfast Natural History Society. He is best known for his work on ancient Irish skulls collected by his friend Edmund Getty. He devised a system of skull measurements using an ingenious craniometer. This work was published in ‘The Ulster Journal of Archaeology’ in 1853.[1]
He died on 24 April 1871 and was buried in Clifton Street cemetery in Belfast; his collection of skulls was given to the Belfast Museum.[1]
"Grattan's work was almost contemporaneous with that of Anders Retzius, and nearly all of it was done before the German and French Schools had elaborated their schemes of skull measurements."[2]
Family
[edit]He married Harriet Shaw and they had five daughters.[1]
One daughter married Mr R. W. Pring; Pring and his sons went on to work with Grattan.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Byrne, Patricia M. (1 October 2009). "Grattan, John". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Johnson Symington, 1903-4 Grattan: A Sketch of His Work as a Craniologist: An Address to the Members of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. Annual report Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society 1903-4
External links
[edit]- On the Importance, to the Archæologist and Ethnologist, of an Accurate Mode of Measuring Human Crania, and of Recording the Results; With the Description of a New Craniometer The Ulster Journal of Archæology
- Notice of the Examination of an Ancient Sepulchral Mound The Ulster Journal of Archaeology
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