Robert Parr Whitfield

Largely self-educated Whitfield rose into paleontology as an assistant of James Hall and was known for his careful illustrations and descriptions.

His interest in nature was sparked as a child by an uneducated girl who was taking care of him and other children, taking them on walks into the woods to observe nature.

From 1835 to 1840, the family moved back to England where young Whitfield would see and collect fossils from a nearby clay bank.

The family returned to America and moved to a farm at Osceola where Whitfield worked with a Mr Chubbock who was involved in manufacturing scientific instruments.

He examined the collections of Colonel Ezekiel Jewett and helped identify the molluscs.