Edward Forbes of Corvalla and Bellabeg, FRS, FGS (1815 –1854) was a renowned naturalist whose family lived on the Isle of Man for generations.

His great grandfather was David Forbes, the second son of Thomas Forbes, 2nd Laird of Thornton. Thornton was a cadet family of the Forbes of Waterton of the Tolquhon branch of Forbes. His relationship to the Forbes of Tolquhon was officially recognized when he was granted arms on August 20, 1765. Issued by the Lord Lyon, his heraldic achievement included the Tolquhon coat of arms, with three bears heads and three black unicorn heads, with a difference in the two Forbes quarters (1 and 4) of a crescent argent, charged with a label of 4 points, gules, between the bears' heads. His crest was an eagle with the motto, “Spernit inertiam,” or “He despises inertia.”

His son and heir, Edward Forbes, bought the estate of Corvalla on the Isle of Man, and married Alice Holland in 1784. They had fourteen children, most of whom died when young. Among those who survived to adulthood were Edward, who succeeded; George who married Mary Chandler of Demerara; David, who married (1) Margaret Calvert of Manchester, (2) Sarah Pickford of Chapel-le-Frith, and (3) Johanna Jefferson; Emma, who married Joseph Ward; Alicia, who married Francis Matthews; and Mary, who married John Peter Moore.

Edward Forbes, the second owner of Corvalla, married in 1813 Jane, eldest daughter and heiress of William Teare of Bullabeg, by whom he had nine children: Edward, who died young; another Edward, his heir; William; Henry; John; David; James; Jane; and Margaret. He became a successful banker.

His second son, Edward, Forbes was born at Douglas on the Isle of Man. Even as a child, Edward collected insects, shells, minerals, fossils, and plants. In 1828, he matriculated at the Athole House Academy in Douglas. In 1831, Forbes moved to London to study drawing and in November 1832 began his studies as a medical student in the University of Edinburgh.

From 1833 to 1838, Forbes travelled extensively to study botany. His findings in Norway were published in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History for 1835–1836. In 1835, he travelled in France, Switzerland and Germany to study their natural histories. In 1836, he abandoned his medical studies and moved to Paris, where he studied natural history, comparative anatomy, geology and mineralogy. In April 1837, Forbes traveled to Algiers to gather research, which he published in the Annals of Natural History. In 1838, Forbes published "Malacologia Monensis," a an analysis of the mollusk species native to the Isle of Man. During the summer of 1838 he visited the Duchy of Styria and Carniola in Slovenia to gather specimens.

From April 1841 until October 1842, Forbes researched the botany, zoology and geology of the Mediterranean region aboard the Malta surveying ship HM Beacon with commander Captain Thomas Graves. He wrote and published several studies based on this research. In 1842, he assumed the curatorship of the museum of the Geological Society of London and in 1843 he became a professor botany at King's College London. In 1844, he was appointed paleontologist to the Geological Survey of Great Britain. In 1846, he proposed the first natural explanation of the distributions of the same species in isolated environments. This theory was discovered independently by Charles Darwin, who credited Forbes with the idea.

In 1848, Forbes married Emily, third daughter of Major-General Sir Charles Ashworth, K.C.B., and had one son, Edward, born 1850. The Professor died November 18th, 1854, and his widow married in 1858 Major Yelverton, afterwards Viscount Avonmore.

His friend geologist Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay would say of him that “There never was a more delightful companion. It was on such occasions that his inner life best revealed itself; his knowledge was so varied, his conversation often so brilliant and instructive." (Moore, A. W. 1901. Manx Worthies or Biographies of notable Manx Men and Women. Isle of Man: S. K. Broadbent & Co. LTD)

Top: Sketch of Edward Forbes by J H Maguire, 1850
Middle: Bust of Edward Forbes, Manx Museum, sculpted by N.N. Burnard; Edward Forbes Memorial, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh (photo by B. R. Forbes)
Bottom: Edward Forbes medal (executed by L. C. Wyon) originally for the Government School of Mines, now awarded at the Imperial College of Science and Technology.