| Authorised form of name | Kuckahn; Tesser Samuel (fl 1772); naturalist and taxidermist |
| Dates | fl 1772 |
| Occupation | Naturalist; plantation and slave owner |
| Research field | Natural history |
| Ornithology |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 04/06/1772 |
| Other Royal Society activity | Wrote to the Society regarding the preservation of bird specimens (1771) |
| OtherInfo | Unfortunately, very little is known about Kuckahn's early life, his education or career. In his letters to the Society, Kuckahn seems to lament the current quality of taxidermy amongst European naturalists, although his proposed methods were also criticised by his contemporaries.
He is listed as the owner of the Charlotteburgh estate in Jamaica. In 1809, the first year of Kuckahn's recorded ownership, the number of enslaved people used for labour on the estate was 81. The estate was then passed to his trustees. |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll
'Tesser Samuel Kuckahn', on Legacies of British Slavery [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146650851; last accessed on 16/12/2022]
'Charlottenburgh', on Legacies of British Slavery [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/2030; last accessed on 16/12/2022]
Farber, P L. 1977. 'The Development of Taxidermy and the History of Ornithology', in Isis, vol. 68(4), pp. 550-566
Notes:
There is uncertainty regarding Kuckahn's dates of existence. He was last in the Society's Printed List for 1819 but records relating to the Jamaica estate of Charlottenburgh indicate that the owner Kuckahn was already deceased in 1817. |
| Code | NA2568 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| L&P/5/184 | Letter, 'On the preservation of birds' from Tesser Samuel Kuckahn to the Royal Society | 31 May 1770 |
| L&P/5/189 | Letters, 'On the preservation of birds' from Tesser Samuel Kuckahn to the Royal Society | 5 July 1770 |
| EC/1772/18 | Kuckahn, Tesser Samuel: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |