Belfast Natural History Society
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The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants,
History
The Society was founded by
How big the first collections were is unknown but the 1831 figure of 300 insects given when the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society Museum opened to non-members may refer to specimens on display. The research material would have been much more numerous and expanded rapidly during the next decade. Specimens from England, the
Many of the collections and some of the books were transferred to the
The Society still exists today retaining ownership of the Old Museum Building, publishing occasional books, and running a lecture series out of the Linen Hall Library.
The museum
Musei Belfastiani
Fundamenta Prima PraesentibusSocietatis Historiae Naturalis apud BelfastamSociis, aliisque multis scientiae faventibusqui ad hoc opus pecuniam contulerant:Locavit Vir Honoratissimus Georgius Augustus Chichester Marchio de Donegall IV. Non Maias MDCCCXXX.Rege Augustissimo Georgio IV. Annum Regni XI. Agente. Thomas J Duff, T. Jackson, Architectis;[1] J. Johnston, Redemptore.
The museum was the first erected in Ireland by public subscription. From its inception in 1831 and for 47 years the Museum employed a curator
Although the focus of the collections was primarily on zoology, botany and geology substantial archaeological, ethnographic and antiquarian acquisitions were made and in 1835 the Society gained an Egyptian mummy, Takabuti.
Whilst the members of the Society were middle class the museum was open to the working classes, at a small charge on Easter Mondays. Recorded figures for Easter Mondays 1845–1853 are:
- 1845 – 1,200 persons
- 1846 – 1,700 persons
- 1847 – 2,000 persons
- 1848 – 2,600 persons
- 1849 – 3,500 persons
- 1850 – 4,400 persons
- 1851 – 4,350 persons
- 1852 – 4,200 persons
- 1853 – 5,950 persons
The library
With the tumultuous years of 1789–1815, European culture was transformed by revolution, war and disruption. By ending many of the social and cultural props of the previous century, the stage was set for dramatic economic, political and social change of the Late Enlightenment of which the development of learned societies was a part. One of the most important developments that the Enlightenment era brought to the discipline of science was its popularisation. An increasingly literate population seeking knowledge and education in both the arts and the sciences drove the expansion of print culture and the dissemination of scientific learning. Popularization was generally part of an overarching Enlightenment ideal that endeavoured "to make information available to the greatest number of people". As public interest in natural philosophy grew during the 18th century, public lecture courses and the publication of popular texts opened up new roads to money and fame for amateurs and scientists who remained on the periphery of universities and academies. Books owned by the Belfast Natural History Society reflect such changes, although some of the more expensive works were the gift of Thomas Fortescue and Arthur Hill. They included:
- Georges Cuvier, 1829 Regne Animalium, in English, The Animal Kingdom, published by Chez Deterville at Paris; 1832 Class Insecta Whitaker, London
- Justin Pierre Marie Macquart, 1834–1835. Histoire naturelle des insectes. Dipteres Paris : Roret.
- Pierre André LatreilleGenera crustaceorum et insectorum, secundum ordinem naturalem ut familias disposita (4 vols., 1806 1807 1807 1809)
- Peter Simon Pallas Zoographia Rosso-asiatica
- Friedrich Wilhelm Martini Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet;
- Emanuel Mendez da Costa A Natural History of Fossils (1757), Elements of Conchology, or An Introduction to the Knowledge of Shells (1776), British Conchology (1778)
- Gilbert White The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789)
- Thomas Pennant History of Quadrupeds
- Johannes Allart, Afbeeldingen der fraaiste, meest uitheemsche boomen en heesters. Amsterdam, Johannes Allart, 1802 [-1808];
- William Smith Strata by Organized Fossils (1815);
- Louis Agassiz Recherches sur les poissons fossiles (1833–1843);
- Philipp Franz von Siebold Fauna Japonica: Birds or Aves, 1844–1850 12 vol.; Fish or Pisces 1842–1850 16 vol.; Crustaceans or Crustacea 1833–1850 8 vol.; Mammals or Mammalia 1842–1844 4 vol
- Pierre Barrère Ornithologiae Specimen Novum, sive Series Avium in Ruscinone, Pyrenaeis Montibus, atque in Galliâ Aequinoctiali Observatarum, in Classes, genera & species, novâ methodo, digesta (1745);
- Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg Die Waldverderber und ihre Feinde, Berlin, 1841
Notable members
- John Templeton
- Robert Templeton
- James MacAdam
- Robert Shipboy MacAdam
- Thomas Graves R.N.
- Charles Wyville Thomson
- Ralph Tate
- James Bryce
- Thomas Andrews
- Thomas Workman
- John Grainger
- James Emerson Tennent
- John Grattan
- George Dickie
- James Grimshaw (naturalist)
- William Thomas Braithwaite
Gallery
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Plate from On the Polyphony of the Assyrio-Babylonian Cuneiform Writing Edward Hincks
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A plate from Histoire naturelle des insectes. Dipteres
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Plate from Ornithologiae Specimen Novum
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Golofa A beetle from South America
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William Thompson's Natural History of Ireland was a favourite book of Charles Darwin.
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A plate from William Smith's 1816-1819 work Strata by Organized Fossils
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Solomon Islands war canoe presented to BNHS by Rear Admiral John Casement in 1898.
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Bitterns from the BNHPS Collection
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Specimen of Kallima philarchus collected by Robert Templeton
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Cobra Mask from Ceylon donated by James Emerson Tennent
See also
- William Bullock A companion to Mr. Bullock's London Museum and Pantherion 1812 [1] gives a notion of an early 19th-century museum, though not a scientific one.
- Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne
- Leskean Cabinet
- Dublin University Zoological Association
- Cuvierian Society of Cork
References
- Foster, J. W. and Chesney, H. C. G (eds.), 1977.Nature in Ireland: A Scientific and Cultural History Lilliput Press ISBN 0-7735-1817-7.
- Nash, R., 1983. A brief summary of the development of entomology in Ireland during the years 1790–1870 Irish Naturalists' Journal 21:145–150.
- Foster, J.W., 1990 Natural History, Science and Irish Culture. Author: Foster, John Wilson.The Irish Review, Volume 9, Number 1 pp. 61–69.
- ^ "Thomas Jackson - oi".
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(help) - ^ "Jackson, thomas - Dictionary of Irish Architects". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
External links
- BHL Digitised Report of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society
- Library Ireland Dublin Penny Journal account