Samuel Hibbert
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
Samuel Hibbert or Hibbert-Ware (1782-1848), author, antiquary and geologist, was the eldest son of a wealthy Manchester linen merchant. He was born in St. Ann's Square, Manchester on April 21st. 1782, and educated at Manchester Academy. From 1809 to 1813 he served with the Royal Lancashire Militia, and when peace arrived in 1815 he went to Edinburgh to study medicine, graduating M.D. although he never practised. Instead he pursued his interest in geology, visiting Shetland in 1817 where he discovered iron chromate, and later making a second visit to the islands to complete a geological survey. The Society of Arts awarded him the Iris gold medal for this work.
In 1822, the same year as Sir Walter Scott's Shetlandic novel The Pirate appeared, Hibbert published A Description of the Shetland Islands: comprising an account of their geology, scenery, antiquities and superstitions, a substantial work which was in many ways ground-breaking. It contained a lengthy description of the Papa Stour Sword Dance which, it seems, rather piqued the antiquarian in Sir Walter, as his own Shetland opus had merely sketched and romanced the idea of the dance by comparison, with the consequence that when it came time to produce a further edition of The Pirate, Scott appended a more lengthy and scholarly version than in his original 1822 text, as obtained from James Scott R.N..
Constable also published Hibbert's Geological map of Shetland from a survey taken by Dr. Hibbert engraved by Chas. Thomson in 1822. He was a keen antiquary, acting as secretary to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland from 1823 untl 1827. In 1829, the society published his Memoir on the Tings of Orkney and Shetland.
Hibbert left Edinburgh in 1835, to settle on the family estate near Altrincham in Cheshire. In 1837 he took the name Hibbert-Ware by royal licence, as the representative of Sir James Ware, historian of Ireland. He died on the 30th of December, 1848. His Description of the Shetland islands was reprinted twice by T & J Manson, in 1891 and 1931.
Further Reading
Mrs. Hibbert Ware (Mary Clementia): The Life And Correspondence of the late Samuel Hibbert Ware, M.D., F.R.S.E. etc.
Within the Shetland context this book with its masses of references regarding Hibbert's work in and about Shetland and the relations with his informants and opponents probably is of greater importance than any other work by Hibbert himself.
