The 'specimens'
are ' writings of 'personages', 'pictures of places', natural and man- made
objects'. These are the artefacts of encounters between people and nature. They are assembled
as an interactive database to support local studies of sustainable development through the UK
SCAN network of schools. 'Flowers and Beer at Halesworth' is a museum-in-a- computer,
with many galleries to be explored by 'mouse-click'.
Buckland Frank - made the first assessments of
the productivity of the shell-fishery of Cromer and the
Broadlands fisheries. He bridged the gap between the gifted naturalists, and the next generation of
government scientists, who began the scientific study of the fishing industry. Buckland was admired
by
Charles Bunbury and was a friend of Charles Kingsley (official enquirer - Broadland and the coastal
fishing
ports)
Browne Sir Thomas (1605-1682) One of the founder
members of the Royal Society he was based in Norwich
from 1637 where he had an 'elaboratory' here he carried out some of the first experiments in embryology.
17th century author of the first nature notes about East Anglia. Author, at the age of 30, of 'Religio
Medici'
in which he promoted the scientific method as an honourable activity, and the work by which he first
became known in his own time (Norwich) His 'notes' were used by all later naturalists as a local base
line.
Bunbury Sir Charles- (1809-86) A naturalist member
of the London scientific establishment. His circle of
friends included Charles Kingsley. Charles Lyell's brother in law (Great Barton).
Clare John the peasant poet whose pastoral verse
created from his contact with the rural scene on fen-edge
of the Wash now holds a time-capsule of nature and seasons for the 1820s (the fen- edge
villages of
Lincs, Hunts and Cambs)
Clodd Edward (1840-1930) wrote many works of a
scientific nature which by their lucid exposition achieved
great popularity with the public. His 'Primer of Evolution' was translated into Japanese (Aldeburgh)
Crabbe George (1754-1832) a poet who fashioned
a true and perfect picture of Suffolk 200 years ago, found
comfort in nature, particularly botany, from his wanderings in the wild, waste country that hemmed in
the
villages of the Sandlings. (Aldeburgh).
Dutt William wrote gazetteers of East Anglian at
the turn of the century his book 'The Wildlife of East
Anglia' published in 1906, was a synthesis of the work of all the earlier Anglian naturalists (Bungay
and
Lowestoft).
Emmerson P H (1856-1936) a recorder of the wildlife
of Broadland, which he also captured as a pioneer of
landscape photography (Norwich)
Fitzgerald Edward (1809-1883) wrote about the landscape
of the Suffolk coastlands and the character of its
fisher folk. He was friend of the poet Alfred Tennyson who encapsulated strong feelings of nature at
a time
when science was taking its first grip.(Boulge)
Hele Nicholas Fenwick was a Scottish surgeon who
lived for 33 years in Aldeburgh, was a born naturalist
and antiquarian. The results of his zealous study of the abounding bird life of the district appeared
in his
book 'Notes and Jottings about Aldeburgh'. A London reviewer gave it high praise for power of perception
and enthusiasm equalling Gilbert Whites 'Selborne'. The fine collection of flora and fauna he accumulated
over the years is now in the Ipswich Museum.
Henslow John, (1796-1861) botanist, friend teacher
and correspondent of Charles Darwin- father- in-law of
Joseph Hooker (Hitcham)
Hooker Joseph (1785-1865) world class botanist,
friend of Charles Darwin, married daughter of John
Henslow. Global plant-hunter (Halesworth)
Hooker William (1785-1865) brewer and maltster,
botanical taxonomist and plant illustrator, pioneer
biogeographer- father of Joseph. His herbarium was used to start the plant collection of Key. First
director
of Kew Gardens.(Norwich &Halesworth)
Hoy James- ornithologist who made some of the first
regional comparisons of the ecology of East Anglian
reedbeds Lincs to Suffolk (Stoke Nayland)
Kingsley Charles (1819-1875) -friend of William
Bunbury, Darwin and Joseph Hooker- His descriptions of
wild fenlands have not been excelled. He popularised the science of marine and fresh water biology.
Together with John Ruskin he was one of the first to draw attention to the need to protect wildlife
against
the pressures of economic development. They both articulated in prose the delights of nature study (the
Lincs/Cambs Fens)
Kirby William (1759-1850) an amateur entomologist
who paired up with William Hooker on local collecting
expeditions.(Barham)
Lyell Charles His connections with East Anglia
are through kinship: the marriage of his sister to Sir Charles
Bunbury; and field work along the coastline. Lyell's work would be for the rising generation of Joseph
Hooker and Darwin its starting point and accepted vocabulary. In the summer of 1817, as a 20 year old,
he
explored the Denes of Yarmouth. Contrary to all accepted opinion and concluded that the River Yare
originally entered the sea to the north of the town, a mouth that was blocked by sandbanks forcing the
river
to bend to the south. Searching for evidence of more recent changes at Gorleston, he dug a pit in the
sand
dunes and found the shingle of a former shoreline 8 ft down. He concluded that it had taken about 35
years
for the sand to cover the old beach which was then stabilised by the growth of sand dune plants. This
theme of a constantly changing planetary surface became the main principle of his book Principles of
Geology, the first volume of which was published in 1830. Lyell's work would be for the rising generation
of
Joseph Hooker and Darwin its starting point and accepted vocabulary.(Yarmouth)
Lubbock Richard prolific traveller in search of
nature sites published a substantial record of his findings in
Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk.(Norwich)
Paget Brothers James (1814-1899) and Charles (George?
1809-1892) naturalists whose writings on local
wildlife, particularly birds and fish, influenced Arthur Patterson. The brothers published "The
Natural
History of Yarmouth" in 1834. James exchanged specimens with William Hooker, and was in contact
with
Darwin and Pasteur. He was an amateur painter, taught by the Crome brothers (his wife was also one of
their pupils). James also moved in the circle of Tennyson and Browning. All of the Paget brothers excelled
in the professions . Brother Henry became bishop of Chester, where Kingsley was a canon (Yarmouth)
Patterson Arthur (1857-1935) a Breydoner of Yarmouth-
from a keen wildfowler he changed his ways in the
face of the decimation of bird life on the Broads, wrote popular books about the Yarmouth nature
scene.(Yarmouth) Born in 1857, he was a lone survivor of nine children, and somehow overcame the lethal
state of public health in the town's 'Rows'. Virtually self-educated he lived, most of his life in Yarmouth
where he touched upon many aspects of the rich wildlifein
Bredon Water, the local tidal lagoon, and the
prolific bounty of the North Sea fisheries. His books and articles on the local scene chart the move
from self-
taught natural history driven by the goals of hunting and fishing to the beginnings of the scientific
recording of natural processes. After a Christmas Day walk along the sea wall of Breydon Water in 1925,
he
realised that 'the flood-tide of time swept before it men and seaweed, and age-long institutions' which
had
been embedded in the social life of the eelmen, smelters and wildfowlers he knew as a boy.
Facets of the life of Arthur Patterson of Yarmouth
Smith James Edward (1795-1828)- a botanist colleague
of Dawson Turner, to whom he introduced William
Hooker as a talented young botanist in need of a patron. He played an important part in the establishment
of the Linnean Society through his purchase of Linnaeus' herbarium, and he was its first president.
He left
Norwich for a medical career in Edinburgh and returned to Norfolk (Rackheath?) by way of London society.
His companions in Norfolk and Suffolk were:-
- James Crow of Lackenheath - a botanist and first authority on
willows
- John Pitchford
- Hugh Rose
- Rev Henry Bryant
- Thomas Jenkinson Woodward 1745?-1852) of Bungay
Thomas
Jenkinson Woodward L.L.D. J.P. for Norfolk was born in Huntingdon in 1744, where his
family had been long established, and educated at Eton and Clare College Cambridge. He was the son
of Benjamin Woodward of Huntingdon and married Frances, only child of Thomas Manning of
Bungay and Debenham, who was born in 1749 and died in 1833. M. J. Woodward was a cultivated
man and fond of botany. His parents died when he was quite young, leaving him, however, well off.
He was educated at Eton and Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated LL.B in 1769. Shortly after he
married Francis (d 27 Nov 1833) daughter and heiress of Thomas Manning of Bungay, Suffolk.
He was appointed a magistrate, and deputy-lieutenant
for the county of Suffolk and on his subsequent
removal to Walcot House, Diss, Norfolk, to the same offices for that county. He was elected a fellow
of the
Linnean Society of London in 1789.
He came to Norfolk in 1770 and practised as a lawyer
in Bungay, owning a house there and also
Ditchingham Lodge. In 1801 he left this neighbourhood and went to Walcott Hall, near Diss, where he
died
in 1820. Many Bungay records belonged to Mr Manning and passed at his death to his son-in-law
Woodward.
He died at Diss on 28 Jan 1820, and was buried
there. He left no issue. To botany, especially the English
flora, he was devoted, and is described by Sir James Edward Smith, who founded the Linnean Society.
as
'one of the best English botanists, whose skill and accuracy are only equaled by his liberality and
zeal in the
service of the science', and it was in his honour that Smith named a genus Woodwardia.
Stevenson Henry made special studies of coastal
bird migration, published three volumes on the Birds of
Norfolk, accompanied William Hooker on many nature rambles (Norwich).
Turner Dawson- (1775-1858 man of great learning
and patron of the arts- banker and author of several
botanical texts- Fellow of the Linnean Society- father in law, and patron of William Hooker (Yarmouth).
He
also encouraged Pleasance Smith, widow of Sir James, to produce a memoir of her late husband
