author

Wilfrid D. (Wilfrid Dyson) Hambly

1886–1962

A British-born anthropologist who built much of his career at Chicago’s Field Museum, he is remembered for wide-ranging studies of African societies and for an early, influential history of tattooing. His work also grew out of field expeditions, including a 1929–1930 research trip in West Africa.

2 Audiobooks

The Native Races of East Africa

The Native Races of East Africa

by Wilfrid D. (Wilfrid Dyson) Hambly

The Native Races of British North America

The Native Races of British North America

by Wilfrid D. (Wilfrid Dyson) Hambly

About the author

Wilfrid Dyson Hambly was born in Clayton, Yorkshire, on December 20, 1886, and died in Chicago on July 18, 1962. He studied at Hartley University College in Southampton, worked first as a schoolteacher, and later continued his studies at Jesus College, Oxford.

After research work in England, he moved into museum anthropology. In 1926 he became Assistant Curator of African Ethnology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and a Smithsonian record notes that he led the Frederick H. Rawson-sponsored expedition to Africa in 1929–1930.

Hambly wrote on a wide range of subjects, but he is especially known for The History of Tattooing and Its Significance (1925) and for his studies of the Ovimbundu of Angola and other African communities. His books and articles reflect a broad comparative interest in social life, education, ritual, and material culture.