Researching William Saunders

Saunders was an underwriter at Lloyd's of London. He served as President of the Entomological Society from 1841 to 1842 and again from 1856 to 1857, was Treasurer of the Linnean Society of London from 1861 to 1873 and was a Fellow of the Royal Society from 1853.

Saunders who lived at Reigate was also a well known horticulturalist. His entomological interests centred on Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera but his collection contained insects from all orders.

Saunder’s Diptera collection contained many new species. These were described in a series of papers by Francis Walker entitled Insecta Saundersiana.

"Nearly two thousand of my Coleoptera, and many hundreds of my butterflies, have been already described by various eminent naturalists, British and foreign; but a much larger number remains undescribed. Among those to whom science is most indebted for this laborious work, I must name Mr. F. P. Pascoe, late President of the Entomological Society of London, who had almost completed the classification and description of my large collection of Longicorn beetles (now in his possession), comprising more than a thousand species, of which at least nine hundred were previously undescribed and new to European cabinets.The remaining orders of insects, comprising probably more than two thousand species, are in the collection of Mr. William Wilson Saunders, who has caused the larger portion of them to be described by good entomologists. The Hymenoptera alone amounted to more than nine hundred species, among which were two hundred and eighty different kinds of ants, of which two hundred were new ". Alfred R. Wallace- The Malay Archipelago.

Saunders established a long partnership with the architect William Burges, working with him on many of his major commissions, including Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch and Burges's Yorkshire churches. David Lawrence and Ann Wilson consider Burges was particularly indebted to Saunders: "his technique [gave] Burges's glass its most distinctive characteristic, namely the flesh colour. This is unique, had no precedents and has had no imitators." Lawrence and Wilson's history of St Fin Barre's has detailed commentaries on the glass there, of which Lawrence writes, "The impact created by all these glowing, coloured religious images is overwhelming and intoxicating. To enter St Fin Barre's Cathedral is an experience unparalleled in Ireland and rarely matched anywhere."

In 1880, Saunders handed the company over to his assistant William Worral and retired abroad, "apparently ceasing all artistic activity, at least in this country (although) he lived for (another) 40 years."

The son of William and Ursula Saunders, he was born in Carbonear and was educated there. He managed Saunders Cooperage and the Carbonear branch of Harvey and Company Ltd. Saunders married Victoria Piercey; the couple had four children. He served on the municipal council for Carbonear from 1950 to 1958 and was mayor from 1958 to 1962.

Saunders was elected to the Newfoundland assembly in 1962 and was reelected in 1966 and 1971. However, in 1971, he resigned before taking his seat in the assembly which led to a tie in terms of number of seats held between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. A new election was called which resulted in a solid Conservative majority.

Saunders was born in London, Ontario to William Saunders senior (1836-1914), a founding director of the Dominion Experimental Farm in Ottawa, and Sarah Agnes Robinson, a botanist whose rare collection of plant specimens became a crucial component of the National Herbarium of Canada. Saunders went to local schools. He then studied chemistry at Trinity College School and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1883. Saunders founded the Mcllwraith Ornithological Club in London in 1890. For a while Saunders headed the chemistry department of the newly created Western University.

Saunders married Emma Lee in 1885 and they had a daughter, Muriel. He donated most of his collections to the National Museum, Ottawa and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.