George Charles Wallich

George Charles Wallich was a British medical doctor, marine biologist and professional photographer. He was born in Calcutta where his father, the Danish naturalist Nathaniel Wallich, was Superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens. As a Surgeon-Major in the Indian Medical Service, he served 'during the Sutlej and Punjab campaigns, and also during the Santhal rebellion of 1855-56. He retired from the service in 1858.' In 1860 he accompanied Sir Leopold M'Clintock aboard the Bulldog on a voyage across the North Atlantic to survey the sea-bottom for the laying of the proposed trans-Atlantic cable. He won the Linnean Medal in 1898 'in recognition of the valuable work accomplished by him in connection with the exploration of the fauna of the deep sea'.