Though born in Aberdeen, William MacGillivray spent his youth in the Hebrides, a group of islands off Scotland’s west coast. Aged 21 he travelled the region, keeping an account of the flora and fauna he observed, as well as the people he met and the…

MacGillivray kept detailed notes of his long walk to London, aiming to improve his knowledge of natural history, ‘and especially ornithology.’ In London he visited the British Museum’s collection of birds, finding that he did ‘not altogether agree…

Following his walk to London to visit the British Museum in 1819, MacGillivray travelled there again in 1833 to visit the museums and natural history collections. He took an interest in how specimens were displayed, sketching mounted birds at the…

A portrait of William MacGillivray, Professor of Civil and Natural History at Aberdeen's Marischal College in the early 1800s.

White House copy of the 1826 painting