George Parker Bidder

British marine biologist

George Parker Bidder (21 May 1863 – 31 December 1953) was a British marine biologist who primarily studied sponges. He was the President of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) from 1939 to 1945.2

From Wikipedia’s article on George Parker Bidder (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born May 21, 1863, died Dec 31, 1953.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedUniversity College London3
  • Date not recordedTrinity College3
  • Date not recordedHarrow School3

Career

Occupation: writer, marine biologist, university teacher, poet, zoologist.5

George Parker Bidder was born on 21 May 1863 in London, to barrister George Parker Bidder Jr. (1836–1896) and Anna McClean (1839–1910). His paternal grandfather was George Parker Bidder, an engineer and calculating prodigy, and his maternal grandfather was John Robinson McClean, a civil engineer and member of the Liberal Party. Bidder went to King's Preparatory School in Brighton and Harrow School. He then studied zoology at University College London under Ray Lankester for one year before joining Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took the Natural Sciences Tripos until 1886. In 1887 he began working at the Stazione Zoologica in Naples, Italy. He joined the MBA in 1893, becoming a member of the council (its governing body) in 1899. The same year he married Marion Greenwood and moved to Plymouth, where they stayed until 1902, when they moved to Cambridge. They had two daughters; one, Anna McClean Bidder (1903–2001), was a zoologist and academic.

During the 1910s, Bidder suffered tuberculosis, which made him unable to work at the laboratory or take part in the First World War. In 1925, Bidder founded The Company of Biologists to save The British Journal of Experimental Biology from bankruptcy.

Bidder died on 31 December 1953 in Cambridge.

From Wikipedia’s article on George Parker Bidder (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornMay 21, 1863, London6
  • DiedDec 31, 1953, Cambridge7
  • CitizenshipUnited Kingdom8
  • SpouseMarion Bidder married 18999