Robert Wood Williamson

Robert Wood Williamson MSc
Born	1856
Died	1932
Residence	St David's House, New Cavendish Street, W. [A63] The Croft, Didsbury, Manchester [1909] The Copse, Brook, near Witley, Surrey [1913]
Occupation	anthropologist legal
Society Membership membership ordinary fellow left 1932 deceased elected_AI 1909.12.16 societies Manchester Law Society London Law Society

Notes

Office Notes

RAI Council 1911 Member
RAI Council 1912-13 Member
RAI Council 1913 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1914 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1915 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1916 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1917 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1918 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1919 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1920 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1921 Hon. Treasurer
RAI Council 1922 Member
RAI Council 1923 Member
RAI Council 1924 Member
RAI Council 1925 Vice President
RAI Council 1926 Vice President
RAI Council 1927 Vice President
RAI Council 1928 Member
RAI Council 1929 Member
RAI Council 1930-31 Member

House Notes

1909.11.30 proposed by J. Edge-Partington, seconded by T.A. Joyce
1932.01.26 Council recorded its deep regret at the death of Mr R.W. Williamson, who for many years and through the difficult period of the Great War had acted as Hon. Treasurer of the Institute, and the President was requested to send a letter of condolence to Mrs Williamson.
death noted in Report of the Council 1931-1932
Obit in Man, Vol. 32 (May, 1932), pp. 125-126

Notes From Elsewhere

Robert Wood Williamson (1856 - 12 January 1932) was a British solicitor and anthropologist
Robert Wood Williamson was born in Manchester in 1856, the son of Prof. William Crawford Williamson of Owens College. He was educated at private schools and Owens College before studying law at Clement's Inn, where he was prizeman in his law final examinations in 1877.[2]
From 1879 to 1908 he worked as a Manchester solicitor. In 1882 he married Emily Williamson, co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.[1] He was president of Manchester Law Society, and a Member of the Council of the London Law Society in 1902. From 1903 to 1910 he was a member of the Court of Governors of Victoria University of Manchester.[2]
Turning to anthropology at the age of 54,[1] Williamson travelled in the Solomon Islands and took part in an anthropological expedition into the interior of British New Guinea in 1910. He was Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) from 1912 to 1921, Member of Council for the RAI from 1922 to 1924, Vice-President from 1925 to 1927, and again a Member of Council from 1928 to 1931.
He died at his home near Godalming on 12 January 1932

Publications

External Publications

The Mafulu Mountain People of British New Guinea, London: Macmillan, 1912. With an introduction by A. C. Haddon.
The Ways of the South Sea Savage: a record of travel & observation amongst the savages of the Solomon Islands & primitive coast & mountain peoples of New Guinea, London: Seeley, Service & Co., 1914.
The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924
Religious and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933
Religion and Social Organization in central Polynesia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1937. Ed. by Ralph Piddington, with an introduction by Raymond Firth.
Essays in Polynesian Ethnology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939. Ed. by Ralph Piddington.

Related Material Details

RAI Material

photos; MS 166