YARRELL, WILLIAM (1784–1856), British naturalist, was born in London on the 3rd of June 1784. His father was a newspaper agent, and he succeeded to the business, and prosecuted it till within a few years of his death. He acquired the reputation of being the best shot and the first angler in the metropolis, and soon also became an expert naturalist. In 1825 he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society, of which he subsequently became treasurer, and was a diligent contributor to their Transactions; and he was one of the original members of the Zoological Society. The greater part of his leisure towards the end of his life was devoted to his two great works, The History of British Fishes (2 vols., 1836) and The History of British Birds (2 vols., 1843). These works from the first took rank as standard authorities. He died at Yarmouth on the 1st of September 1856.