HAMMOND, Peter | UK Beetle Recording

The following appeared as hard copy in sheets attached to the Coleopterist's Newsletter, before the Biographical Dictionary transferred to the web.

'Works in the Natural History Museum. Specialises in world Staphylinidae but has also carried out research in other groups. His most important publications are: a series of 'Notes on British Staphylinidae' including 'The status of Olophrum nicholsoni Donisthorpe with notes on the other British species of Olophrum, EMM, 106, 1971, 165-170; 'On the British species of Platystethus Mann. with one species new to Britain', ibid, 107, 1971, 93-111; 'Atheta strandiella Brundin new to the British Isles', ibid., 107, 1971, 153-157 (with M. Bacchus); 'The British species of Sepedophilus Gistel, ibid., 108, 1972, 130-165; 'Changes in the British Coleopterous Fauna' in The Changing Fauna and Flora of Britain, edited by D.L.Hawksworth, 1974, 323-369'; 'Wing-folding Mechanisms of Beetles, with Special Reference to Investigations of Adephagan Phylogeny' in T.L.Erwin, G.E.Ball, and D.R.Whitehead, Carabid Beetles: Their Evolution, Natural History, and Classification, 1979, 113-180; 'Beetles in Epping Forest', in 'The Wildlife of Epping Forest', Essex Naturalist, 4, 1979, 43-60; Aloconota subgrandis (Brundin) new to Britain', Ent Gaz., 32, 1981, 120; Cymindis macularis (F.V.Waldheim) apparently a British species', EMM, 118, 1982, 37-38; 'On the British species of Phacophallus Coiffait, ibid, 231-232; edited and wrote additional material for K.W.Harde, Field Guide in Colour to Beetles, 1984; and was responsible for many of the Staphylinidae entries in British Red Data Books 2 Insects, edited by D.B.Shirt, 1987. Hammond acted as an editor of the EMM, from1981 and wrote many book reviews in that periodical.'

The following was written by Max Barclay shortly after Hammond's death:

'Peter was appointed to the Coleoptera section by Jack Balfour-Browne back in the 1960s and became Senior Researcher/ Head of Coleoptera, retiring (compulsory at 60 then) in 2001. He and I never fully

overlapped, because I was employed using part of his salary.

Before coming to the Museum, Peter was working in China and his very extensive Northern Chinese collection is at the Museum. He was there in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and if asked what he was doing there, he would smile wryly and say "building socialism of course"; he was probably in reality lucky to get out, along with his collection. Peter was a leading light in the Department for decades, and possibly the best-known British, maybe world, coleopterist for most of his career. Along with Martin Brendell, he appeared on a 1990s list of the 5 people worldwide most likely to be able to identify any beetle. He collected widely, most notably the BM Africa Expedition of the 1970s, collecting several in countries in a customised van, with Dick Vane-Wright and others; this was followed by Project Wallace to Sulawesi in 1985, and several trips to Chile in the 1990s. He was an early proponent of insecticide tree fogging, and was competing with Smithsonian's Terry Erwin (who died last year), not just for 'most famous entomologist' but to publish ever revised estimates of the total biodiversity of the planet extrapolated from rainforest canopy beetles. He built the NHM collection up, especially the Staphylinidae, not just with vast new collections but by trawling the ancient accessions for 'staphs', saving the next generation a major job. The hyperdiverse Staphylinidae were his biggest love, but if anyone ever introduced him as an expert on/working on staphs, he would correct them and say "not just staphs, all beetles...".

After retirement he became an associate and continued his interest in beetles and was always bringing species in for the molecular lab or the collections. He travelled around the world with Beth, on her bryozoan projects, collecting where he could. He always had a unique philosophy and sense of humour as well as a remarkable knowledge and seemingly endless youthfulness and energy. In the end he suffered from lung cancer, and many of us remember him for his perpetual pipe which was for many years in his mouth, even if it wasn't lit. He led the section during the glory days of international fieldwork and collaboration, and represented British entomology and the Natural History Museum on a global stage.

The world and the Department without Peter is a sadder and darker place, and the beetle community has lost a fund of knowledge about beetles, fieldcraft and the collections that may not easily if ever be repeated.'

A copy of the eulogy which Hammond gave on behalf of the NHM at Roy Crowson's funeral in June 1999 is repeated in full at the end of Crowson's entry.

My own experience of Peter was over a period of more than 40 years. Working over the road in the V&A and being able to visit the entomology department was sometimes a welcome relief, and sitting up on the roof, where Peter would take us so that he could smoke his pipe, and chatting about beetles was always a great treat. More recently I visited him at home in Acton, not far from where I had once lived myself. He had turned a large room on the first floor into a study/laboratory with bookshelves up to the ceiling, and cooked us lunch using a wok which I gathered was his usual method. Most recently we met at the staff Christmas lunches organised by Max, which gave us the opportunity to discuss among many things his field trips to Africa and New Zealand, both of which I was very pleased I was able to document in papers in the EMM before his death. What he managed to achieve in a comparatively short time in New Zealand, travelling all over both north and south islands, was remarkable. I already very much miss him. (MD 1/22)

Dates:

17 February 1941 - 17 September 2021