Background
He was born in Magherahamlet, County Down, the eldest son of Rev Richard Archer, vicar of Clonduff.
He was born in Magherahamlet, County Down, the eldest son of Rev Richard Archer, vicar of Clonduff.
Between 1858 and 1885 he wrote over 230 scientific papers in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Dublin, the vast majority are short notes on desmids collected in Ireland. Sometimes the same article was published in two or more journals. He was appointed Librarian of the National Library of Ireland from 1877 to 1895.
He forgot even his meals sometimes.
Once when he had gone on leave a marked odour began to pervade the Librarian’s office, which grew so insistent as the days went by that the Head Attendant and I were forced to investigate. We eventually found in his private drawer two herrings, very much the worse for wear!" Robert Lloyd Praeger Some Irish naturalists: A Biographical Note-book West.Tempest, Dundalgan Press, Dundalk, 1949.
Royal Society]
He was a Member of the Dublin University Zoological Association and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1875.