The Historical Background to the Study of Natural History in the Manchester Region - Part 3

We also learn (from Leo Grindon) of Joseph Evans (1803 – 1874) of Boothstown, who was the son of William Evans of Tyldesley, another self-taught botanist of an earlier generation. From the
age of ten Joseph used to be taken by his father to botanists’ meetings and, “was also his father’s constant companion in the fields.”

Joseph was tall and thin with a “lofty forehead” but:

“A vigorous frame and an admirable constitution enabled him undertake journeys on foot that
to many would be positively affrighting. He knew the contents of every wood and pond within twenty miles of his home ...”

After his death, in 1874, Evans was buried in Worsley churchyard. He was followed to his
grave by over a thousand people, including a hundred and seventy young children, many of them carrying chaplets of midsummer field-flowers.

Finally Grindon discusses John Martin (d. 1855), a handloom weaver, also of Tyldesley.
Grindon records that:

“He was especially well-informed respecting Carices [i.e. Sedges = genus Carex], and first drew the attention of the botanists of Manchester to the richness of the neighbourhood, supplying, in
regard of them, names and localities they knew not of, as well as many facts respecting the botany of Tyldesley.”

Another source tells us that Martin was also interested in mosses. At one stage he visited William Wilson, a ‘gentleman bryologist’ of Warrington, to request confirmation for his identification of a rare moss. Wilson immediately reported Martin’s find to the celebrated botanist, William Jackson Hooker. Wilson remarked that Martin was, “void of conceit and offensive familiarity: intelligent without arrogance: studious yet unassuming.” He confessed his poverty without
shame and had an, “air of decency” about him. Basing his judgement on the parcels of specimens that Martin sent him, Wilson judged that he was, “addicted to neatness”.

Hooker, a professor of botany at Glasgow University, considered employing Martin in his
herbarium.

Unfortunately, on visiting Martin’s cottage in Tyldesley Wilson found it more disordered and
less neat than he had expected and sent an unfavourable report back to Hooker. As a result Martin did not receive a job offer and, in fact, never even got to hear of it!

In the second half of the 19^th century the artisan botanist movement went gradually into decline. The reasons for this decline are not entirely clear but many ‘independent’ trades, such as handloom weaving, had been in decline for most of the century and had been largely replaced by the factory system. Even Buxton found himself without work and income towards the end of his life as clogs replaced bats as children’s footwear. Horsefield became so impoverished that
the Prestwich Botanical Society exempted him from paying his share of the liquor money – but this was seen as fair exchange for his skill at naming specimens.

Other changes were having an effect, for example the temperance movement continued to grow in strength which meant that the societies continued to be criticised for meeting in pubs. In addition there were increasing problems involving land ownership and some of the botanists experienced clashes with land-owners and gamekeepers. At the same time suburbia continued to expand and these tireless walkers had to walk even further to find their plants – even though Richard Buxton, in his 60s, claimed to be able to walk 30 miles a day!

It’s likely that all of these economic and social changes gradually eroded the cohesion of the
movement and the independence of its members.

From the mid-19^th century onwards the study of natural history became more and more a middle class interest. Although he had long supported and championed the cause of the artisan botanists Leo Grindon was also instrumental in promoting an interest in natural history among the middle classes.

Grindon (1818 – 1904) was born in Bristol and developed an interest in botany in his teens.
He moved to Manchester at the age of twenty to take up a post as a cashier with a local company. In the course of his long life he wrote many articles for botanical and horticultural journals and for local newspapers. He also wrote more than fifteen books, mostly on botanical themes. Whilst still holding his post as cashier, Grindon started to give private lessons in botany and in 1852
was appointed as a part-time lecturer at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine. In 1860 he founded, with his friend, Joseph Sidebotham, the Manchester Field Naturalists Society. In 1864 he gave up his post as cashier to concentrate full-time on lecturing and writing.

The Manchester Field Naturalists Society was intended “for ladies and gentlemen who are specially interested in natural history (which includes botany, zoology and geology)and is also open to those who, without paying minute attention to the objects of nature, delight to ramble in the country and find pleasure in the contemplation of its loveliness.” Thus the objective of walking in the countryside for reasons of health and recreation was added to the society’s
strictly scientific objectives.

The Society had a committee of six persons with Grindon as President and Honorary Secretary. Initial subscriptions were one guinea, 10s 6d thereafter (sums which were well beyond the means of working class naturalists). Apart from the relative affluence of its members the main differences between this Society and its working class predecessors were that women were now active participants and that the members could now reach more remote sites, in the countryside
surrounding Manchester, by train. The Society had indoor meetings during the winter and Saturday afternoon excursions at other times of the year.

Similar societies were soon being set up in other parts of the region. Several of these societies continued well into the 20^th century.

Dave Bishop, March 2012