John Edmonstone was born into slavery around the 1790s on a timber plantation at Mibiri Creek in Demerara, British Guiana, enslaved by Scottish plantation owner Charles Edmonstone, from whom he took his surname.
During a visit to the plantation, the eccentric naturalist Charles Waterton taught Edmonstone the art of taxidermy, using newly developed preservation techniques, and Edmonstone accompanied Waterton on collecting expeditions through the South American rainforest.
In 1817 Charles Edmonstone returned to Scotland, bringing John with him to the Cardross Park estate near Dumbarton; John gained his freedom in Scotland and found employment in Glasgow before moving to Edinburgh around 1823.
In Edinburgh, Edmonstone set up as a professional bird-stuffer at 37 Lothian Street and began teaching taxidermy to University of Edinburgh students for a guinea a lesson, effectively becoming Scotland's first Black university lecturer.
One of his students was a young Charles Darwin, then 15, who took lessons from Edmonstone and later recalled him fondly in his autobiography, describing him as 'a very pleasant and intelligent man'; the taxidermy skills Darwin learned proved essential for preserving specimens during his voyage on HMS Beagle.
- Taught Charles Darwin taxidermy skills essential to his HMS Beagle voyage
- Effectively Scotland's first Black university-level instructor
- Built a respected independent taxidermy business in Edinburgh after gaining his freedom
- Specimens he prepared were acquired by Edinburgh's zoological museum
- A skill learned in captivity can become the foundation of freedom. Edmonstone's taxidermy training, given to him while enslaved, became his livelihood and legacy once free.
- Influence can go unacknowledged for generations. Darwin never named Edmonstone in his published work, and his contribution was only widely recognised in recent decades.