The collection comprises published items Hingston wrote based on his travels and natural history observations in addition to items about Hingston.
Dr Richard GW Hingston, FZS, FRES, FLS, FRGS (1887-1966) was an Irish physician, explorer and naturalist who worked in India with the Indian Medical Service. He attended Cork Grammar School and Merchants' Taylor School, London. Hingston qualified in the Medical School in 1910, he passed his Final with First Class Honours and was awarded the Blaney Scholarship.
Hingston entered the Indian Medical Service and retired from it in 1927 with the rank of Major. In 1913 he was naturalist to the Indo-Russian Pamir Expedition. From 1914-1918 he served in the British Forces and was twice mentioned in despatches. He was awarded the MC. From the end of the war until 1924 he commanded military hospitals. In 1924 he acted as Medical Officer and Naturalist to the Mt Everest expedition. From 1925-1927 he was Surgeon Naturalist in the Indian Marine Survey. In 1928 he was second in command of the Oxford University Expedition to Greenland while in 1929 he was organiser and leader of the Oxford University Expedition to British Guyana. In 1930 he conducted a mission to Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Tanganyika and Uganda in order to investigate methods of preserving the indigenous fauna. In 1939 he was recalled to military duty in India and remained there until 1946.
After World War II Hingston retired to his home in Passage West, County Cork.
This was Hingston's first book and in it he described spiders, ants, and butterflies of the high valleys in the Himalyas.
Hingston, RWG. A naturalist in Himalaya, with plates and text figures. London: H.F. & G. Witherby, 1920.
This was Hingston's second book and in it he describes the lesser fauna of the plains of the United Provinces.
Hingston, RWG. A naturalist in Hindustan. London: H.F. & G. Witherby, 1923.
Hingston, RWG. Nature at the desert's edge: studies and observations in the Bagdad oasis. London: H.F. & G. Witherby, 1925.
Hingston, RWG. Problems of instinct and intelligence. London: E. Arnold, 1928.
UCC Library Archives Service holds the Major RHW Hingston Collection (BL/VC/RGWH). This collection consists of postcards and photographs taken during Hingston's deployment on the Indian Sub-Continent, and during his role as the Expedition Doctor to the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition.
