author

Charles Sillem

Best known as the co-author of an early 20th-century study of British woodlice, this little-documented naturalist helped produce a detailed guide to a group of animals most people overlook. His surviving record is sparse, which gives his work an old-library kind of intrigue.

1 Audiobook

The British Woodlice

The British Woodlice

by Charles Sillem, Wilfred Mark Webb

About the author

Charles Sillem is an obscure figure in print today, but he is credited as co-author, with Wilfred Mark Webb, of The British Woodlice (1906), a monograph on the terrestrial isopods of the British Isles. The book first appeared in the Essex Naturalist before being republished in book form, suggesting his work was tied to the lively field-naturalist culture of Britain at the time.

What can be confirmed from readily available sources is modest but clear: Sillem collaborated on a careful, illustrated natural-history work aimed at readers interested in classification, distribution, and habits of British woodlice. Because biographical details about his life are hard to verify online, it is safer to remember him through that contribution rather than claim more than the record supports.