January 2014: Edwin Ephraim Riseley

Edwin Ephraim Riseley, formerly a clerk to the Zoological Society, was appointed as Assistant to the Linnean Society Library in 1914 and formally as Librarian in 1915. His appointment followed the dismissal of August Wilhelm Kappel from the post. Kappel was of German origin and was declared an enemy alien in 1914. Riseley set about bringing the neglected Library into better condition, but he too became a victim of WW1. He enlisted in the Rifle Brigade and was killed in France in August 1917. During his time with the Society his achievements were such that a tablet with a Latin inscription was placed in the Library in memory of his short life. The tablet was removed during Library renovations, but in commemoration of all those who lost their lives it has now been reinstated.