Article Index

1847 Memorandum

2013-06-06T12:58:03+00:00

As given in Vernon, 1909: p. 40. This memorandum, circulated after the 1847 British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Oxford, was circulated to members of the University:

'We, the undersigned, being officially connected with various institutions for the advancement of Natural Knowledge in this University, are of opinion that the several collections, contained in the Geological Museum in the Clarendon, the Ashmolean Museum, the Anatomical Museum in Christ Church, are deposited in rooms of inadequate dimension and inconvenient arrangement, and that their present efficiency and future progress are by these means retarded.

Believing that the future welfare of the University is intimately connected with the progress of all her institutions, we are desirous of furthering such steps as may tend to the erection of an edifice within the precincts of the University for the better display of materials illustrative of the facts and laws of the Natural world.

And in connection with such an edifice we should recommend that there should be one or more lecture-rooms arranged in a manner suited to Demonstrative lectures, and an apartment calculated to serve the purpose of a Library and place for Scientific meetings as occasion may require.

We earnestly commend this to the consideration of those who are interested in the future welfare of Oxford, and we shall be grateful for their opinions and advice as to future proceedings on this subject.

[The Vernons note that it was signed by Daubeny, Duncan, Acland and Walker]

Transcribed by AP June 2013

1888-1889 Ethnographic acquisitions

2012-11-20T14:08:00+00:00

Department of Zoology & Comparative Anatomy. Presentation Book Vol. 1 1883-1948 ... 1888-1889

See here for a full list of all the early ethnographic and archaeological objects donated to the Pitt Rivers Collection after 1885 - 1895.

NB The following objects are all entered as being donated direct to PRM rather than transferred from OUMNH in current museum documentation as the PRM has separate accession registers for them. However, it is clear that record was also keep in the presentation (acquisition or donation) book for the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the University Museum for 1888 and 1889.These items were not recorded in the separate Pitt Rivers Museum annual report for those years for an unknown reason. It seems clear that the Pitt Rivers Collection only very slowly became a separate institution from the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy (as it would later be called). It was not until 1896 that the separate Pitt Rivers Museum's annual reports, which were published from 1888, included information about the ethnographic and archaeological objects acquired by the Pitt Rivers Collection / Museum in that year.

The transcriptions below are the full transcriptions for each year but you will see that very few zoological specimens are recorded for some reason. Either there were very few being acquired, or they are recorded elsewhere (the former seems more likely as before and after 1888-89 such zoological specimens are recorded. Indeed between 1889 and 1895 there is only one set of possibly archaeological or ethnographic item recorded in the book. The current location of this set of objects is unknown so it is not clear if they too were later deemed part of the Pitt Rivers Museum.

In the following list items written within in square brackets are items that remained part of the Comparative Anatomy collections. Their present location is unknown. Numbers in square brackets are PRM accession numbers and these items are now all part of the PRM collections.

1888

Jany 13 A Shophar or Rams Horn trumpet Rev N Lipman 53 Great Prescot St B [1888.1.1.]

[ditto] Specimens of Go-hei of folded paper, set up as offerings to the Gods in Shinto Temples Japan Basil Hall Chamberlain Tokyo Japan [1888.2.1-2]

[ditto] Cavalry sword & lance Major Henry Adair The Barracks, Cowley [1888.3.1-2]

March 10 Specimens from Corea small iron box elaborately inlaid with silver – A brass dumb bell shaped cup three specimens of ginseng WR Carles Esq British Consulate, Shanghai [188.4.1-5]

March 11. Specimens from Samoa Four specimens of different bamboos used by the natives, a piece of [illegible] board A woman’s girdle from the Kings Mill Group J.E. Newell Esq Malua Institution, Samoa [1888.5.1-6]

15 Number of tally sticks as used in the Isle of Man Rev Ernest Savage St Thomas Vicarage Douglas I of Man [1888.6.1-13]

[Emu]

April 21 Specimens from the Solomon Islands & New Hebrides Panpipes 2 from Torres Islands, one from Florida / Musical pipe from Pentecost / Stringed instrument, Florida / Trimmer [?] for flying fish Santa Cruz / 2 Bamboo knives Torres Islands / Boys mask Florida / Spider’s web tangle for fishing Malaita / Complete Tomati [?] dress Rev Dr Codrington The Vicarage Wadhurst Surrey

Melanesia Jews Harp, fish hook & shell money / Melanesian bracelets of beads / Tapa from Samoa Id / 2 prs of Hindoo shoes / 2 Green jade cups / Soapstone figure, Chinese, Bronze bell &c / Officers gorget & 2 swords / Flint knife S Africa / Gourd bottle / Kaffir pipe snuff box & spoon / Pali M.S Chinese book & book of Chinese seals/ Kaffir Laws & customs &c &c Rev John Rigaud BD Long Wall Street [1888.10.1-31]

Iron tool used for making gunflints, used by natives of Abu Roash Dr G. Schweinfurth Cairo Egypt [1888.9.1]

3 Atuas from Polynesia Elliot Howard Esq Walthamstow [1888.41.1-3]

May 1 Pair of over boots M. A.E. Payne Alfred Street St Giles [1888.12.1 .1–2]

[May] 3 Model of outrigger boat & catamaran Hon Sir Arthur Gordon GCMG Governor of Ceylon, through Sir William Herschell [1888.11.1-2]

8 Two African Charms Piece of South Sea Tapa Papers of General Rigaud Rev John Rigaud BD [1888.13.1-5]

[17 Two specimens of fish]

Davy safety lamp H Balfour Esq MA [1888.17.1]

17 Bundle of arrows from New Guinea, one with point of cassowary bone Two spears from Talauer Ids Sydney J Hickson [1888.15.1-3]

Knackers pole axe Mr S Hathaway Junr Gas Street St Ebbes Oxford [1888.16.1]

Cavalry lance bucket Elliot Howard Esq Walthamstow Essex [1888.18.1]

Pair of skin shoes from Arran Miss Swann Walton Manor c/o Professor Westwood [1888.19.1-2]

[Another zool. Specimen]

June A Whalebone ribbed umbrella Miss Truscott 37 St Giles [1888.20.1]

Chinese Taoist paper mock money for sacrifice Miss Bouser 49 Lexham Gardens Russell Rd [1888.21.1]

[Edible birds nest & eggs … Sydney J Hickson D Sc]

[Egg of ostrich H Balfour Esq MA]

16 Number of stone arrow heads & flakes, from Colorado USA three immature [illegible] etc [all rest specimens] Arthur WW Brown Esq MA 6 …ex Square Hyde Park W [1888.22.1-?]

[hides of animals]

Sept 28 Two bamboo lances with lags & slings The India Office Whitehall SW [1888.27.1-2]

Aug 20 Five [illegible] sticks used by Manx fishermen to count their catches Rev Ernest BJ Savage St Thomas Vicarage I of Man [1888.24.1-5]

Small wooden bismer from Norway / Part of leather harness, ornamented with cowries known as snakes heads from South Norway Dr EB Tylor [1888.25.1-2]

Flints & lumps of greensand, which have been made red hot probably for cooking purposes from Rotherley Camp Lieut General Pitt Rivers FRS &c Rushmore Salisbury [1888.26.1-?]

Sept Collection of objects belonging to the late Rev J Rigaud BD Indian sabre Chinese sword Soudanese sword Indian shield Indian & Chinese arrows S African assaigais (Capt Gibbs Rigaud) Old Silk Umbrella Chinese fishing rod Chinese drawings English sabre belt &c Chinese bible & coins Shoes Ornaments of silver &c Nail protector Metal paper knife Empress badges Old collapsible lantern in case Old shoe buckles English Pomice box Night cap & wig belonging to the Dr Ro… Iron candle stick from Stanton Harcourt made in 1635 Emperor of China dressing gown Ostrich egg with incised Kaffir drawings Indian fly flaps Coronation & other ribbons Miss Rigaud 160 Walton Street [1888.28.1-45]

Sept Bronze pin found found [sic] close to adult & skeleton in a gravel pit at Bampton Oxon with evidence of considerable age Mr Jasper Taylor Surveyor Minster Lovell Witney [1888.32.1]

Oct Seven photographs of natives of Australia, T. del Fuego & S Africa Capt J.P. Maclear RN Cranleigh nr Guildford [1888.29.1]

Set of brass vessels used in a form of worship Hindoo Miss Edith Pechey MA Cumballa Hill, Bombay [1888.30.1]

[Zool specimen]

Pair of Pampooties worn by an Aran fisherman in 1868 Miss Swann Woodstock Road [1888.33.1-2]

[Greek text] from the village of Peristerona district of Papho Cyprus WG Hogarth ESq Magdalen College [1888.34.1]

Numerous specimens of North American basket work &c The Director Royal Gardens Kew [1888.35.1-?

Burmese, Norwegian & Lapp knives Bone awl & net floats of birch bark Henry Balfour MA [1888.36.1-5]

Two flagella, candle & medida from the Azores Lieut General Pitt Rivers FRS &c [1888.31.1-4]

Indian Bichhwa Henry Balfour MA [1888.36.10]

Specimens from Burmah & India / Series of five figures of Gautama shewing the process of casting the brass images / Three stone lamps from Gaza Bengal / Burmese earthenware lamps with [illegible] / Burmese earthenware lamps with 4 lips / Burmese earthenware lamps with 1 lip / Brass Lamp from Gaza Bengal / 13 dice Burmese / Card dominos & wooden &c 2 sets Burmese / Pair of piston bellows (small) similar to those used in melting metal for casting the brass figures / Clay crucible used with bellow for warming water Capt RC Temple RE The Palace Mandalay Burmah [1888.39.1-]

Primitive wood & stone anchor said to be from Lagos W Africa Professor Sir Henry W. Acland KCB [1888.38.1]

Specimens from Corea collected by T Watters Esq / Several samples of paper made from Brousoustia Fine cloth of Pueraria fibre Two hand screens of split bamboo Large blind of finely split bamboo & a small fan The Director Royal Gardens Kew [1888.41.1-6]

Harding Fiddle … Trumpet Bushmen Wooden Bismer & a piece of harness with cowries From Norway Dr EB Tylor [1888.42.1-]

A Glass & coin Greek Arthur Evans FRS Ashmolean Museum [1888.40.1-2]

A forgery of drift stone implement from Amiens Dr EB Tylor [1888.42.6]

[skin of humpback whale and skull of animal from Balfour & specimens from Buchanan]

… Printed in the Oxford University Gazette May 2 1889 & Reports of Institutions for 1888

1889

Jany 16 Burmese Rosaries & complete set of tools &c illustrating the methods of making rosaries Capt RC Temple RE The Palace, Mandalay [1889.2.1-2]

17 Bundle of tally sticks used for accounts between the town commissioners & water works company in Douglas Rev Ernest B Savage St Thomas Vicarage Douglas I of Man [1889.1.1]

Whirling implement of the Bull-roarer type known known [sic] as the voice of Aro from Abeokuta W Africa Mrs Braithwaite Batty Crick Road Oxford [1889.3.1]

March 13 A Japanese toy & blow pipe H Balfour Esq [1889.5.1]

Old English tobacco pipe [1889.6.1]

[April 16 Three heads …. From Borneo [Creagh thro Moseley]]

Artificially deformed flathead skull Dr Franz Boas [1889.8.1]

Series of 66 models of Burmese fishing implements traps nets &c Also copy of the report on the Fisheries in the F… district for 1886 Capt RC Temple RE [1889.9.1-66]

Two small childrens toys representing animas from Abydos A head ornament of leather, probably Coptic Obtained in Egypt Sir John Conroy Bart: [1889.11.1-3]

Swedish wooden tinder box with flint & steel Primitive wooden lock Swedish Dr N Olof Holst Geologiska Museet Stockholm [1889.12.1-2]

Wooden double flageolet Arthur Evans Esq [1889.10.1]

Four specimens of native made clothing materials of cotton raphia & bark / Three iron hair pins of the Ngwah district / Polished section of Hippopotamus tusk the tribal ornament of Ujiji / Small coil of raphia palm fibre as sold for stringing bead at the market at Ujiji Basket from Urundi Shells from Lake Tanganyika All the specimens from the region round Lake Tanganyika Central Africa Also copy of To Lake Tanganyika in a Chair by Mrs Hore Capt E Coode Shere 26 … Road Highbury Hill [1889.13.1-12]

July Dr EB Tylor Specimens from British Guiana, received by him from E. im Thurn Esq / Horn made from a Jaguars skull plastered over with wax ? (Warrau tribe) / Two baskets each made of a single leaf of Areta palm (Macusi tribe Macquaries Whip (Arawak tribe) Necklace made of fragments of Jaguar bones (Warrau tribe)

1889 [1889.14.1-5]

Objects found in two or three old kitchen middens near Port Blair Andaman Ids EH Man Esq Nancowry Nicobar Ids [1889.15.]

Aug Piece of bark cloth made by natives of Great Nicobar / Tooth of old Nicobarese woman incrusted nearly with lime from betel chewing F.E. Tuson Esq St James Rectory Halesworth [1889.16.1-]

Sept Mandrake root Asia minor / [blank] made of sweepings of the kabba at Mecca Hung up in morgues & houses Rev Greville J Chester [1889.17.1-2]

Two Chinese wooden fish (a kind of gong) / Chinese kidney shaped piece of rattan root used in the temple for fortune telling HN Giles Esq HBM Consul Formosa [18889.18.1-3]

Four Mexican terra cotta marks (Ancient) Lieut Col W Dawkins [1889.19.1-4]

Piece of textiles with embroidered edges from Hawara in the Fayum of the IVth and Vth cent AD W Flinders Petrie Esq [1889.20.1]

Two wapiti canine teeth used as money by the Shoshone & … tribes of Idaho & Montana N America / Large flat polished stone bead with cross markings said to be used as currency in West Africa Slave money / Three wooden spoons Russian Lapp & … River Lappland / Three figures of polished stone from Carnac Brittany H Balfour Esq

1889 [1889.22.1-9]

Oct Eight specimens of bamboo of different species JR Jackson Esq [1889.21.1-8, NB there are other objects from Jackson listed in accession books]

[2 zool specimens]

Lapp boots (Komager) from Tromso Net floats & sinkers Russian Lapp (Skolte) E Finnmarken Old fashioned Norwegian fish hooks H Balfour Esq [1889.22.10-20]

Specimen of Tombaki Persian native tobacco Dr Brunnow [1889.23.1]

A Phenician (Carthinigian) memorial tablet of stone FF Tuckett Esq [1889.24.1]

Specimens from excavations at Gurub Illanum Egypt 1889 Oct 1889 Flinders Petrie. Specimens from his excavations at Gurob, Illahun, Egypt 1889 XII Dynasty: Wooden objects: 1 spindle, 1 bowl, 1 bodkin, 1 Tipcat, 1 whiptop, 1 double hook, 1 grooved door-bolt, 1 doorbolt plain, 1 box with cover, 1 cone shaped whorl, 1 rope net for carrying jar, 1 rope ring for carrying jar on head, 1 short stick Stone objects: 1 pillow for offerings, 2 altars for offerings, 5 small flints, 3 large flints, 1 large mud loom-weight, one small stone loom-weight Pottery objects: 2 jars, 2 stands, 2 bowls, vessel with spout, offering table, 1 small jar, 1 small bowl, 2 pieces of broken vase XII Dynasty Metal and various materials: 1 bronze knife, 2 bronze needles, 1 fish hook, 1 leather shoe-sandal, 1 wicker sandal, 1 fulling [sic] ball, 1 fishing net, 2 small balls of string, 1 ball of thread, hank of fibre XVIII and XIX Dynasties: Wooden objects 1 bow drill, 1 Grain scoop, 1 leather dresser, 1 small throw stick (?), 1 comb, 1 large bodkin (?) Objects of stone, lead or bone etc 2 stone net sinkers, 2 lead net sinkers, 1 stone netting reel, 1 netting bone, 1 stone cone, 1 whetstone, 1 pottery coffin lid XXII Dynasty or Ptolemaic or later: 1 large throwstick, 1 large carpenter's basket with rope attached (Ptolemaic) 1 rope of dark colour (Ptolemaic), 2 ropes with cross bars (Ptolemaic), 1 small carpenter's basket, 2 brushes, 1 foot piece of Cartonnage coffin, 2 pieces of embroidery, 11 wooden heads (the rudest Ptolemaic the rest earlier), 1 large oval basket (cover missing), 1 round flat dish (Roman), 1 jar with three feet and cover (Roman) 1 wooden hook with rope, 1 Roman lock with iron lock plate, 1 leather shoe and sole (Roman) 1 pair of Roman felt socks, 1 basket cover, 2 pieces of basket. W Flinders Petrie W. Flinders Petrie Esq [1889.27.1-108]

Specimens obtained in Calcutta by LP Delves Broughton Esq / Two earthenware pots with charms painted on them / 1 larger bag with woven inscription all over it / Cloth painted with prayers used by people at Darjiling / 4 small charms in small tin cylinders 3 Razors / 3 Ribbons with names of Gods woven on them worn on the right shoulder for luck / Piece of jade a charm to keep up spirits in adversity / Child’s necklet of seeds to keep off evil eyes / seed to keep off evil eye / Three books on Bengalese music / Two tin … throat trumpets Lady Markby [1889.26.1-23]

Burmese charms on linen cloth 1 from head of a petty Dacoit leader 1 from head of a gambler 2 new ones used by Dacoits (from Wachek village near Sagaing) Capt RC Temple RE [1889.29.1-4]

Sticks used as fire drill by natives of Magila district East Africa HG Madan Esq MA [1889.28.1]

Nov From Burma - 4 long and one short blowpipes, with 6 feathered darts - Cross bow and 5 arrows - Pellet bow and clay pellets - Fighting "da" - 10 knives and choppers for various uses - Chin axe for tree felling - Burmese adze or mattock, and a forester's axe - 3 pronged head of fish spear, iron - 3 Regimental helmets of the late King's army - 2 reed brooms - 1 large full rigged model of Burmese boat - 3 small carved models of boats - 2 models of bullock carriages, one wood one brass - cotton cleaning machine - wooden lathe, with seat and tool rests - one very large and 4 smaller carved wood figures of mythological lion - carved wood, nude and gilt figure of a boy, and a large and a larger carved gilt bee or fly, supporters of Thibaw's throne - Two small carved wood figures of women, shewing costume - Brass model of the great standing image on Mandalay hill - Large carved wood figure of Buddhist Angel of Life, seated, - Fruit and drug baskets, 3 of each - 3 rattan footballs - Brass scales, and 2 pairs of bullion scales, one in brass case - 4 Shan lice combs, Chinese lice comb, 7 Burmese combs - Two pairs of hair pincers, metal - Two pairs of sandals, adult and child - Two pairs of small cylindrical earrings - Iron ear and nail cleaners - Siamese scissors, inlaid silver - Burmese metal spoons - Silk scraper made of part of a husk of a nut - Iron cocoanut scraper, and sack needle - 4 illumination lamps of terracotta, and bundle of wicks - Mulberry leaves for wrapping, two samples of cheroot tobacco - maize heads for wrapping cheroots, cheroot mouthpiece and complete cheroot - Piece of edible clay - Flat stone grinder, for grinding mulberry bark powder with two pieces of mulberry bark - Burmese flageolet - Burmese cradle, carved wood, inlaid - Kachin national bag, and woman's robe - Priest's begging bowl of pottery with brass cover - Ordinary Burmese teapot - Two wooden platters and rice bowl covered with red lacquer - Cocoa nut shell ladle and 4 wood cups of form derived from it - String charm with pieces of thin brass with inscription, used by stall keepers - Soapstone pencil and blue cloth rubber of soothsayers - Buddha's foot and 2 Vishnu thrones in stamped copper - page of Burmese charms - Piece of sheet iron and folding cardboard with charms in form of hands, belonging to a soothsayer - 10 bullock bells of various sizes - 5 stages in the casting of brass bells, with also the wax model and mould for the handles, Burmese - Series of 16 weights in different stages of manufacture, with numerous wax models, and two clay moulds with each 5 compartments, also an elongate mould - Two iron styles for writing on palm leaf - 3 pieces of soapstone for pencils and 3 iron holders - Pen for writing square Pali in black - 2 styles with copper cylinder above ?use - 4 reservoir pens for square Pali writing - shell for black resin - Ruler for lines in square Pali ms - Blackened wooden child's "slate" - Palm leaf strip upon which Royal orders were formerly written - 6 ordinary Burmese books, and catalogues of the library of the late king at Mandalay - Ordinary Shan Religious text, in cloth cover - Palm leaf sacred Burmese book - 6 fragments of MSS on palm leaf - Complete Burmese book - Two pali texts in one cover, richly gilt, on palm leaf - Ivory book, with rich binding boards and ribbon binding - Book of square Pali text on lacquered cloth - Leaf of lacquered cloth (?) ready for writing - Copper book, square Pali, gilt - Silver leaf lacquered cloth book, square pali - Safe conduct and Trade notices issued by the officials of Thibaw (6) - White book, with modern Burmese illustrations - Bookbinding series, including MS in first stage, two frames with MS in different stages, knife for trimming edges, ribbon for binding valuable religious books; gold leaf, stamp for staring book covers, red colour used in MS binding - Andamanese bow, 2 spears , 3 arrows - New Zealand jade pendant (miri) - Bayonet hafted on a stick Afghan - Afghan sword, two matchlocks - Indian blunderbuss Capt RC Temple RE [1889.29.]

1889

Nov Two childrens whistles made of snail shells Brittany H Balfour Esq [1889.30.1-2]

Complete Lapp costume of Reindeer skin Arthur Evans Esq [1889.31.1-5]

A number of worked flints from near Gebel Shekr Egypt New piece of coarse pottery / Single worked flint from top of a hill opposite Girgeh Sir John Conroy Bart [1889.32.1-3]

Cast of a stone implement from Tasmania Original in the Taunton Museum Dr EB Tylor [1889.33.1]

Steatite drinking vessel & iron padlock from Sweden Russian iron padlock Dr EB Tylor [1889.33.2-4]

[Zool specimen]

Various anthropological specimens By part purchase from Torres Straits Professor AC Haddon Royal College of science, Dublin Two Boar tusk armlets - One [ditto] plane - Sacred ornament of shell - pendant ("dibidibi") of shell - shell crescent pendant - Two nose ornaments of shell - shell necklet - shell dancing bracelet - dogs tooth frontlet and necklet - shell armlet - groin guard of shell - tortoiseshell marriage ornament - plaited finger rings - plaited leglets - Four large plaited armlets ("Musor") - bilobed ear plug - Three plaited bangles - belt of coix lacyrma seeds - pair of shoulder bands - One back and two front ornaments worn by brides - Two tortoiseshell hair pins - Two small pendants of form derived from ant-lion larva - breast ornament representing sting ray - Two nautilus shell ear rings - brides ornament tied together - toy "alida" - Two cassowary feather headdresses ("Dagam") - One bird of paradise feather headdress - Two dance headdresses of cassowary feathers - hair wig - bamboo comb - Five women's petticoats of grasses etc - Five baskets - pair of water cocoa nuts - Large alligator-dancing mask of tortoiseshell - Bamboo knife, headsling, and bow used in the dances - Fish tail shaped piece of wood ("Good") held in the mouth in ceremonies - wooden drum, "bull-roarer" , Jew's harp, and two other musical instruments - Stone top - Bamboo pipe - Tortoiseshell fish hook, fishing basket, and large handnet - Dugong spear with moveable harpoon point - Two wooden clubs - Two large and two small lances - Two throwing sticks - Bamboo bow and wrist guard – Thirty seven arrows of different patterns - "Kadig tang" of cassowary feathers and a second somewhat similar ornament only double - Two ornaments worn stuck through the wristguard - Fish line with two hooks, Two examples of cord - Root and bark of "Ome" tree - Two dugong charms - Tobacco and rain charms - large stone charm - love charm pebble - carve stern post of canoe - sorcery tally - cyrena shell - palm leaf wrapper for feathers - human skull with features restored - ?Dancing jaw - Bone from head of a fish, used as an ornament [1889.34.1-142]

Fire making apparatus from Borneo / Five syringes & appurtenances / Fire drill / Bamboo fire saw / Fibre torch ? Sydney BL Skertchley Esq Sandakan Borneo [1889.35.1-8]

Reports of Institutions for 1889 Printed in the University Gazette May 13 1890

1890 – 1895 all zoological specimens except 1895 below:

Human skull, lower jaw & bones with fragments of pottery from caves in the St John’s Mountains Jamaica pres by Lady Blake [Note beside 'acc in 2005 OUM 22059'][Sherds not entered in PRM collections management database]

Transcribed by AP November 2012. We are grateful to Malgosia Nowak-Kemp for allowing us access to the presentation volume and for her advice and help in compiling this list.

AI Fellows 1900 Table

2014-08-27T14:41:47+00:00

Anthropological Institute (AI) Fellows 1900-1901

The Ethnological Society of London (ESL) in February 1843 formed a breakaway group of the Aborigines' Protection Society, which had been founded in 1837. The new society was to be 'a centre and depository for the collection and systematisation of all observations made on human races'. Between 1863 and 1870 there were two organisations, the Ethnological Society and the Anthropological Society of London (ASL). The Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1871) was the result of a merger between these two rival bodies. Permission to add the word 'Royal' was granted in 1907.

Name and dates	Address [es] in 1900	Secondary education / Tertiary Education	Career	Biographical details	AI membership / AI office or post held Other learned societies’ membership and offices	PRM connection	Sources
COUNCIL IN 1900-1901
John Lubbock (Lord Avebury) (1834-1913)	2 St James’s Square, London SW; High Elms, Beckenham, Kent.	Eton	Banker	Born London; died Kingsgate castle, Kent. Son of Sir William Lubbock, amateur scientist and astronomer. Fourth baronet; created Lord Avebury 1900. MP for Maidstone 1870-80; for University of London 1880-1900. Numerous honorary degrees. Second wife, Alice, was daughter of Pitt-Rivers	AI: Joined ESL later Anthropological Institute 1863. Served as President of AI Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal 1858; British Academy; Zoological; Entomological; Royal Institution; Geological; Antiquaries; Linnean; British Association; Sociological; Royal Microscopical; Ray; African; Statistical. Served on President (at different times of Entomological Society; Linnean Society; Ray Society; Statistical Society, African Society; Society of Antiquaries; Royal Microscopical Society. Clubs: Athenaeum; X	Yes. Field Collector	Oxford Dictionary of Biography [henceforth ODNB]; Who was who; H.G. Hutchinson, Life of Sir John Lubbock, Lord Avebury (London, 1914); A. Grant Duff (ed), The life-work of Lord Avebury’ (London, 1924); M. Patton, Science, politics and business in the work of Sir John Lubbock (Aldershot, 2007)
George Mounsey Atkinson (1834-1908)	28 St Oswald Road, West Brompton, London.	Unknown	Artist	Born Queenstown, Co. Cork, Ireland. Art Examiner at South Kensington. Editor of Brash’s ‘Ogham inscribed monuments of Gaedhil’ published in 1879.	AI: Joined 1874. Was a regular attendant at AI Ordinary Meetings, being frequently mentioned as discussant and exhibitor of objects. Contributed two articles on craniometry and drawings and sketches to Journal of the Anthropological Institute [JAI]. Served on AI Council (1900). Other learned societies: Royal Society of Irish Antiquaries	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census; Obit[uary]: Man 8 (1908). Also see here
William Morris Beaufort (1823-1907)	18 Piccadilly, London.	Unknown	Bengal Civil Service	Born Marylebone. Barrister and served with Bengal Civil Service. Son of Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, hydrographer and creator of Beaufort wind scale	AI: Joined 1884. Served on AI Council (1900) Other learned societies: Royal Geographical Society [henceforth RGS]. Served on RGS Council	No.	1901 Census. See here
William Crooke (1848-1923)	Langton House, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham.	Tipperary Grammar School / Trinity College, Dublin	Indian Civil Service	Born in Ireland. Honorary degrees from Dublin and Oxford. Companion of the Indian Empire	AI: Joined 1874. Served on AI Council (1900). Other learned societies: Folklore; British Academy; British Association. Served as Folklore Society President and editor of Folklore; BAAS Section President Clubs: New; Cheltenham	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obits: Folklore 32 (1923); Man 24 (1924)
Henry Balfour (1863-1939)	11 Norham Gardens, Oxford.	Charterhouse / Trinity, Oxford [Natural Science]	Museum Curator	Born in Croydon; died Oxford. Curator, Pitt Rivers Museum. Research Fellow, Exeter College. Titular Professor.	AI: Joined 1888. Served on President and member of AI council. Other learned societies: Folklore; RGS; Museums Association; Prehistoric; Royal 1924; Zoological; British Association; Oxford University Anthropological; Oxford Ornithological / President at various times of Museums Association; Folklore Society; RGS; Prehistoric Society; BAAS Section. Clubs: Athenaeum; Royal Automobile; Flyfishers; Royal Societies; Corr. Mem. Società Italiana d'Anthropologia	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
John Beddoe (1826-1911)	The Chantry, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.	Bridgnorth School / University College London; Edinburgh University; Vienna University [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Bewdley, Worcestershire; died Bradford-on-Avon. Served as assistant physician in Crimea War. Practised for most of his life in Bristol. Honorary Professor of Anthropology, Bristol University. Honorary Degree from Edinburgh University. Leading 19th century physical anthropologist and proponent of racism.	AI: Joined (ESL & ASL) 1854. Served on AI Council 1900; President at various times of Anthropological Society and Institute. Other learned societies: British Association; Royal College of Physicians; British Association; Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological; Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History; British Kyrle ; Anthropological of Paris; Anthropological of Berlin; Anthropological of Brussels; Anthropological of Washington. Served as President at various times of Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society; Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. The Kyrle Society was founded in 1875 and called after the 17th/18th century philanthropist, John Kyrle. Its aim was to bring some natural beauty into the lives of the poor by beautifying their surroundings. Clubs: Athenaeum	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 11 (1911). The Man obit. claims he was FRS, but not mentioned in ODNB.
Edward William Brabrook (1839-1930)	178 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW; 28 Abingdon Street, London SW.	City Commercial School of William Pinches / Lincoln’s Inn [Law]	Civil servant	Born in London; died Wallington. Worked as registrar of friendly societies from 1869; chief registrar 1892-1904 Companion of the Bath 1897. Knighthood 1905	AI: Joined 1864. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Institute of Actuaries; Royal of Literature; London and Middlesex Archaeological; Folklore; Statistical; British Association; Sociological; Charity Organization; FRSNA, Copenhagen; Anthropological of Paris. Served as President at various times of Sociological Society; Folklore Society; BAAS Section; Royal Society of Literature (vice and treasurer); Statistical Society (vice); Folklore Society; Society of Antiquaries (vice); London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. Clubs: Athenaeum; Numerous dining clubs	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 21 March 1930; No obituary in Man.
Daniel John Cunningham (1850-1909)	43 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin.	Crieff Academy / Edinburgh University [Medicine]	Academic	Born Crieff, Strathearn; died Edinburgh. Professor of Anatomy at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and then at Trinity College Dublin. In 1903 became Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh. Honorary degrees from Dublin, St Andrews, Glasgow and Oxford. Influential in administrative affairs. Sons included Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope and General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham	AI: Joined 1883. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Royal 1891; Royal Zoological of Ireland; Royal Dublin; Anatomical; Royal of Edinburgh; British Association. Served as President at various times of Royal Zoological Society of Ireland; Royal Dublin Society (vice); Anatomical Society. Clubs: Constitutional; University; Edinburgh	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 9 (1909)
Wynfrid Laurence Henry Duckworth (1870-1956)	Jesus College, Cambridge.	Birkenhead School; Ecole Libre des Cordeliers, Dinan, Britanny / Jesus College, Cambridge; St Bartholomew’s [Natural Science]	Academic	Born Toxteth Park, Liverpool; died Cambridge. His father was a [Justice of the Peace] JP and FRGS. A paternal uncle was Sir Dyce Duckworth, consulting physician at St Bartholomew’s. A younger brother, F.R.G. Duckworth was Senior Chief Inspector at Ministry of Education. He was a Fellow of Jesus, Cambridge from 1893 to his death and Master 1940-5. Held numerous college and university posts Large collections given to Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.	AI: Joined 1899. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Anatomical Society of Great Britain. Served as Anatomical Society President	No	ODNB; Who was who
Arthur John Evans (1851-1941)	Youlbury, Oxford.	Harrow / Brasenose College, Oxford [Modern History]	Archaeologist	Born at Hemel Hempstead, father was Sir John Evans and his half-sister Joan Evans; died Oxford. Keeper of the Ashmolean 1884-1908; Fellow of Brasenose College. A found of the British School at Athens 1886 and of the British Academy 1901. Gold medals of Royal Institute British Architects, Swedish Academy and Society of Antiquaries. Knighthood 1911. Honorary degrees from Edinburgh, Dublin and Berlin	AI: Joined 1891. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: British Association; British Academy; Royal 1901; Antiquaries; Folklore; Hellenic; Numismatics. Served as Society of Antiquaries President; BAAS Section President Clubs: Athenaeum; Ad Eundem; Royal Societies; Numismatics; Hellenic; Societe Antiq. de France;	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
John Evans (1823-1908)	Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead.	Market Bosworth Grammar School	Archaeologist	Born at Burnham, Buckinghamshire; died Berkhamsted Common. His mother’s brother was John Dickinson, the paper manufacturer, and Evans married his daughter. James Longman (FAI), a partner in Dickinson, married Evans’s daughter. Sebastian Evans (FAI), a journalist, was his brother. Arthur Evans (FAI) was his son and Joan Evans his daughter. Successful businessman and as well as being a member of numerous learned societies he was also a member of trade organizations, such as the Paper Makers’ Association, Institute of Chemical Industry, etc. Honorary degrees from Oxford, Dublin, Cambridge, Toronto and Trinity College, Toronto. Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. Knighted in 1892	AI: Joined (ESL) 1861. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Numismatic of London; Watford Natural History; East Hertfordshire Archaeological; St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Archaeological; Antiquaries; Royal 1864; Geological; British Association; Arts; Folklore. Served as Royal Society Vice-President and Treasurer; President at various times of Geological Society; Numismatic Society; Society of Antiquaries; BAAS Section Clubs: Athenaeum; Albemarle; Burlington Fine Arts	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
Robert William Felkin (1853-1926)	6 Crouch Hall Road, Crouch End, London N; 23 Henrietta Street, London W	Wolverhampton Grammar School / Edinburgh University; Marburg [Medicine]	Medical Missionary	Born Beeston, Nottinghamshire; died Havelock North, New Zealand whither he had emigrated circa 1916. Son of Robert Felkin, Nonconformist lace maker, and grandson of William Felkin, very well know lace maker who exhibited at Great Exhibition. The business failed and his father moved to Wolverhampton to work for Manders, varnish manufacturers. Robert William married Mary, daughter of his father’s employer. Missionary in Africa 1878-81. Deeply into Christian mysticism. Member of the Order of the Golden Dawn and leader of the Order of Stella Matutina. He was a Rosicrucean and a Freemason. Devoted most of his life to these causes and setting up churches.	AI: Joined 1880. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Society of Edinburgh; Theosophical 1886	No	Wikipedia
Henry Ogg Forbes (1851-1932)	The Museum, William Browne Street, Liverpool.	Aberdeen Grammar School / Aberdeen University; Edinburgh University [Medicine]	Scientific Traveller	Born Drumblade, Aberdeenshire; died Selsey. Son of the Rev. Alexander Forbes of Dunblade. Mother’s maiden was Ogg. Exploring in Indonesia 1878-83; in New Guinea 1885-6; later in Socotra and Peru. He mainly collected natural history specimens. Director of Canterbury Museum, New Zealand, 1890-3 and Liverpool Museum 1894 onwards	AI: Joined 1883. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: RGS; British Association; Zoological; British Ornithologists Union; Liverpool Biological. Served on RGS Council Clubs: Royal Societies;	Yes. Field Collector	Australian Dictionary of National Biography; Who was who; The Geographical Journal, 81 (1933)
Francis Galton (1822-1911)	42 Rutland Gate, London SW.	King Edward’s School, Birmingham / Birmingham General Hospital; King’s College Medical School; Trinity, Cambridge [Medicine; Mathematics]	Bio-statistician	Born Birmingham; died Haslemere. Father was Samuel T. Galton, a very successful banker from whom he inherited a large fortune. His mother, Frances, a daughter of Erasmus Darwin, made him a first cousin of Charles Darwin. Both his grandfathers were members of the Birmingham Lunar Society. Married in 1883, Louisa Butler, daughter of George Butler, Dean of Peterborough and Headmaster of Harrow, and sister of the Master of Trinity. Explored in Africa in 1850s. Knighthood 1909. Meteorological Council 1868-1901; Honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge	AI: Joined 1862 / Association. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Society 1856; Geological; British. Served on RGS Council and Offices; BAAS Sections President Clubs: Athenaeum; Alpine	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 11 (1911); Geographical Journal 37 (1911); The Times 19 January 1911
John George Garson (1855-1832)	14 Stratford Place, London W.	[Medicine]	Medicine	Born Scotland. Strong supporter of anthropometry, follower of Alphonse Bertillon. Head of Scotland Yard’s Anthropometry Office and adviser and instructor on the Metric System of Identification to the Home Office.	AI: Joined 1881 (still member 1931). Served on AI Council 1900. Published and co-editor with Charles H. Read of the 2nd (1892) and 3rd (1899) editions of Notes & queries on anthropology. Other learned societies: Associate of Corresponding Member of anthropological societies in Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and Rome; British Association	Yes. Field Collector?	Michele Triplett’s Fingerprint Terms. See here
George Laurence Gomme (1853-1916)	24 Dorset Square, London W.	City of London School	Public servant (London City Council)	Born London; died Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire. Knighted 1911. Joint originator of Victoria History of the Counties of England. Wife Alice Bertha, née Merck, folklorist-see ODNB	AI: Joined 1895. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Folklore 1878; Antiquaries; Royal Statistical. Served as Folklore Society founder member and President Clubs: Royal Societies; Municipal and Counties	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Man 16 (1916); Folklore 27 (1916)
William Gowland (1842-1922)	13 Russell Road, Kensington, London.	Royal College of Chemistry; Royal School of Mines [Metallurgy and Mining]	Mining engineer	Born Sunderland. In Japan (1872-88) as part of modernization programme. Known there as ‘the father of Japanese archaeology’. Chevalier of the Order of the Rising Sun. 1900 involved in repairs of Stonehenge. Professor of Metallurgy, Royal School of Mines, Kensington	AI: Joined 1887. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President Other learned societies: Royal; Antiquaries; Chemical; Institute of Chemistry; Royal Society of Arts; Royal Institution	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Wikipedia and other internet sites; Obit: Man 22 (1922).
Alfred Cort Haddon (1855-1940)	Inisfail, Hills Road, Cambridge.	City of London School; Mill Hill School; and others / King’s College, London; Christ’s College, Cambridge [Natural Sciences]	Museum curator	Born London; died Cambridge. Father was head of firm of type-founders and printers and mother was a children’s author under the name of Caroline Hadley. Torres Straits expedition 1898-9. Professor of Zoology, Dublin. Fellow Christ’s College, Cambridge; Lecturer and Reader in Ethnology. Honorary doctorates from Manchester and Perth (Australia). Freemason.	AI: Joined 1889. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Zoological; RGS; Royal Society 1899; British Association; Folklore; Cambridge Antiquarian; Eastern Counties Folklore. Served as President at various times of BAAS Section; Folklore Society; Cambridge Antiquarian Society.	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Folklore 51 (1940); Man 40 (1940)
Edwin Sidney Hartland (1848-1927)	Highgarth, Gloucester.	Unknown	Solicitor Folklorist	Born Islington; died Gloucester. Mayor of Gloucester 1902. Honorary degrees from St Andrews and University of Wales	AI: Joined 1897. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Folklore; Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological; Welsh; British Association; Law; Oxford University Anthropological. Served as President at various times of Folklore Society; Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society; BAAS Section	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obits: Folklore 37 (1926) [This issue of the journal was a year late]; Man 27 (1927)
Thomas Hungerford Holdich (1843-1929)	23 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, London.	Godolphin Grammar School, Hammersmith; Addiscombe College / Royal Military Academy, Woolwich	Military	Born Dingley, Northamptonshire; died Merrow, Guildford. Commissioned in Royal Engineers 1862. Served in India and Abyssinia, but best know for survey work on Northwest Frontier. Received RGS Founder’s Medal for latter (1887). KCIE (1897); KCMG (1902); CB. Argentine/Chile boundary settlement. Honorary degree from Cambridge.	AI: Joined 1899. Served on AI Council 1900. Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Society of Arts; Antiquaries. Served as RGS President Clubs: Royal Societies	No	ODNB; Who was who
Thomas Vincent Holmes (1840-1923)	28 Croom’s Hill, Greenwich London SE.	Privately. King’s College.	Geologist	Born and died London. Assistant Geologist with Geological Survey until he retired aged 39.	AI: Joined 1881. Served on AI Council 1900. Resigned 1923 Other learned societies: RGS; Folklore 1901; Essex Field Club, Geological. Served as President of the Essex Field Club, and Geologist’s Association, served on Geological Society council.	No	Folklore 35 (1923); Essex Rock and Mineral Society. See here and here
[Thomas] George Bond Howes (1853-1905)	Royal College of Science, South Kensington, London.	Privately / Normal School of Science; Royal School of Mines	Academic	Professor, Royal College of Science and earlier academic appointments.	AI: Joined 1887. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1897; Linnean; Zoological; Anatomical; Malacological; British Association. Served as President at various times of Linnean Society; BAAS Section; Malacological Society; Zoological Society Council; Anatomical Society founding member and treasurer Clubs: Savile	No	Obit: Proceedings of the Royal Society 79 (1907); Who was who
Henry Hoyle Howorth (1842-1923)	30 Collingham Place, Earl’s Court, London.	Rossall School / Middle Temple [Law]	Barrister	Born in Lisbon. Conservative MP for South Salford 1886-1900. KCIE 1892. Late geological diluvial catastrophist.	AI: Joined 1896. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1893; Antiquaries; Royal Archaeological; RGS; Geological?; Viking; Asiatic; Numismatic. Served as President at various times of Royal Archaeological Society; Viking Society; Asiatic Society (vice); Numismatic Society (vice) Clubs: Athenaeum; Carlton; Burlington Fine Arts	No	Obit: Man 23 (1923); Who was who
Arthur Keith (1866-1955)	40 Leigh Road, Highbury Park, London.	Gordon’s College, Aberdeen / Marischal College, Aberdeen; University College London; Leipzig [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Old Machar, Aberdeenshire; died Downe, Kent. GP in Mansfield and Medical Officer for mining company in Siam (Thailand) where he collected for Kew. Conservator at Royal College of Surgeons 1908-33. Doubted Piltdown skull. Knighted 1921. Honorary degrees from Aberdeen, Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, and Oxford	AI: Joined 1896. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons 1894; Royal Society 1913; British Association; Royal Institution; Anatomical Served as BAAS President; Anatomical Society Secretary Clubs: Athenaeum	No	ODNB; Who was who
Alfred Lionel Lewis (1842-1920)	54 Highbury Hill, London.	Unknown	Chartered Accountant	Born Lakenham, Norfolk; died Wallington. Mainly interested in standing stones and stone circles. Numerous publications	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866. Served on AI Council Other learned societies: British Association; London Anthropological;	Yes (probably) Field Collector or Other Owner	Obit: Man 20 (1920). See here, here and here
Alexander Macalister (1844-1919)	Torrisdale, Cambridge.	Trinity College Dublin [Medicine]	Anatomist	Born and died Dublin. Professor of Anatomy at Trinity College Dublin, then, from 1883, at Cambridge University. Honorary degrees from Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Montreal. Interests in archaeology, Egyptology and church history. Son was Sir Robert Macalister, the archaeologist.	AI: Joined 1884. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Royal Society 1881; Geological Society of Ireland; British Association / Geological Society of Ireland President; BAAS Section President; Royal Society Council	No	Obit: Man 19 (1919); Who was who
Richard Biddulph Martin (1838-1916)	10 Hill Street, London W. (Overbury Court was the family home, near Tewkesbury)	Harrow / Exeter College, Oxford	Banker	Born London; died Overbury. Father was London banker-Martin’s Bank. Married Mary Frances (née Crozier). No children. MP for Tewkesbury 1880-85; Droitwich 1892-1905. First Baronet 1905. Sat on the boards of numerous city companies. Noted philanthropist.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1868. Served on AI Council. Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Statistical; Childhood Society/Child Study. Served as Royal Statistical Society President 1896-7; Child Study Society President Clubs: Fishmongers’ Company; Athenaeum, Windham; Ranelagh; Travellers	Yes. Other Owner	Obits: Man 16 (1916); The Times 24 August 1916; Who was who
John Linton Myres (1869-1954)	Christ Church, Oxford.	Winchester / New College, Oxford [Lit. Hum.]	Academic	Born Preston, Lancashire; died Oxford. Knighted 1943. Honorary degrees from Wales, Manchester, Witwatersrand and Athens. Victoria Medal of RGS. Notable naval service in World War I. Important figure in Oxford academic politics and instrumental in setting up Diploma in Anthropology. Father of John Nowell Linton Myres, Bodley’s librarian	AI: Joined 1893. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Folklore; RGS; British Academy 1923; Hellenic; British Association. Served as Society of Antiquaries Vice-President; Hellenic Society President; BAAS Secretary; Folklore Society President	No	ODNB; Who was who
Cuthbert Edgar Peek (1855-1901)	22 Belgrave Square, London SW; Rousdon, Lyme Regis.	Eton / Pembroke College, Cambridge [Natural science?]	Astronomer	Born Wimbledon; died Brighton. Only child of Sir Henry William Peek (1825-98), 1st Baronet, who created a museum at Rousdon, Devon. Sir Henry was a partner in a firm of colonial merchants and MP for East Surrey (1868-84). Wife was Augusta Louisa (qv), also a Fellow of the AI. He took courses in astronomy and surveying after coming down from Cambridge. All his astronomical work, including trips to Iceland and Australasia were self-funded. He gave objects to his father’s museum. 2nd baronet	AI: Joined 1885. Served on AI Council and as Hon. Sec. Other learned societies: Royal Astronomical 1884-1901; RGS; Royal Meteorological; Antiquaries. Served on RGS Council; RMS Council Clubs: Carlton	Yes. Other Owner	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: JAI 32 (1902)
Randall H. Pye (circa 1846-1913	Selbourne, 15 Castle Bar Road, Ealing, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Born Exeter. In 1901 living by ‘own means’. Possibly in Shanghai in 1870s dealing in property, see here. This fits with the fact that in 1892 in one of the earliest references to him (JAI 21) he comments on a Chinese practice.	AI: Joined 1891. Served on AI Council 1900	No	1901 Census; Obit: Man 13 (1913)
Ernest Georg Ravenstein (1834-1913)	2 York Mansions, Battersea Park, London.	Frankfurt Gymnasium / Stadelsches Kunstinstitut	Cartographer	Born Frankfurt-am-Main; died Hofheim. Emigrated to London in 1852. Worked for War Office, then for RGS. Honorary degrees from Gottingen and Victoria, gold medal from RGS. Married an Englishwoman, Ada Sarah Parry, in 1858.	AI: Joined 1883. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Statistical; British Association. Served on RGS Council; Royal Statistical Society Council; BAAS Section President Clubs: Savage; German Gymnastic Society; London Swimming	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Geographical Journal 41 (1913)
Charles Hercules Read (1857-1929)	22 Carlyle Square, Chelsea, London.	Private	Academic	Born Gillingham, Kent; died Rapallo, Italy. Started working at South Kensington Museum at 16 and then under Franks at BM. Became Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities and Ethnography in 1896 in succession to Franks. Knighted 1912. Honorary degree from St Andrews	AI: Joined 1875. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Sussex Archaeological; British Academy 1913; British Association. Served as Society of Antiquaries President; BAAS Section President Clubs: Athenaeum; Garrick; Burlington Fine Arts; Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 29 (1929)
William Ridgeway (1853 or 1858-1926)	Caius College, Cambridge.	Portarlington School, Northern Ireland [N.I.] / Trinity College, Dublin; Pembroke College, Cambridge; Caius College, Cambridge [Classics and Modern Literature]	Academic	Born Ballydermot, N.I., (NB discrepancy in date between sources); died Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire. Professor of Greek, University College, Cork. Disney Professor of Archaeology and Fellow of Caius 1892. Brereton Reader in Classics 1907. Honorary degrees from Dublin, Manchester, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Knighted 1919. Important in the setting up of anthropology at Cambridge and creation of posts.	AI: Joined 1901. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Cambridge Philological; Classical Association; British Academy 1904; British Association; Zoological. Served as Classical Association President	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 26 (1926)
William Halse Rivers (1864-1922)	St John’s College, Cambridge.	Tonbridge School / London University; St Bartholomew’s [Medicine]	Psychologist	Born Chatham, Kent; died Cambridge. His maternal uncle was James Hunt, the racist anthropologist, whose library Rivers inherited. Lectureship in Psychology at Cambridge, 1897; Fellow St John’s, 1902. Torres Straits Expedition, 1898; Toda, 1901-2; Pacific, 1907-8, 1914-15. Work on shell shock during World War I. Honorary degrees from Manchester, St Andrews and Cambridge.	AI: Joined 1900. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Folklore; British Association; Royal Society 1908. Served as Folklore Society President; BAAS Section President	No	ODNB; Who was who
Frederick William Rudler (1840-1915)	25 Mornington Crescent, London NW.	Regent Street Polytechnic	Academic, Mineralogist	Born London; died Surrey. At various times held posts at the Museum of Practical Geology, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Royal School of Mines. Imperial Service Order 1902	AI: Joined (ESL) 1869. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Geological; British Association; S.E. Union of Scientific Societies; Mineralogical?; Essex Field Club. Served as BAAS Section President; Geological Society President	No	Who was who; Obit: Man 15 (1915); See here and here
Frank Charles Shrubsall (1874-1935)	34 Lime Grove, Uxbridge Road, London.	Merchant Taylors’ School / Clare College, Cambridge; St Bartholomew’s; Basle [Natural Sciences]	Medicine	Died Hampstead. Hunterian Professor of Royal College of Surgeons. Worked for London County Council and was senior medical officer in 1935. Main interest in mental deficiency and juvenile delinquency.	AI: Joined 1898. Served on AI Council 1900 Other learned societies: Royal College of Physicians 1912; British Association. Served as BAAS Section President	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times, 27 September 1935; see also 2 October 1935
Everard Ferdinand Im Thurn (1852-1932)	1 East India Avenue, London EC.	Marlborough / Exeter College, Oxford	Colonial Servant	Born Sydenham, London; died Prestonpans, Scotland. Father a merchant banker. His wife Hannah, née Lorimer, was also a PRM donor. District Magistrate in British Guiana; Lieutenant-Governor of Ceylon; Governor of Fiji. KCMG 1905; KBE 1918. Honorary degree from Edinburgh and Sydney. Honorary Fellow of Exeter College.	AI: Joined 1882. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President; Other learned societies: Royal Scottish Geographical; Folklore; British Association. Served as Royal Scottish Geographical Society Chairman; BAAS Section President Clubs: Athenaeum; Ad Eundem	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obits: The Times 11 October 1932; Man 33 (1933); Folklore 43 (1932).
Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917)	The Museum House, South Parks Road, Oxford.	Grove House, Tottenham (Society of Friends)	Museum Curator	Born Camberwell, Surrey; died Wellington, Somerset. Keeper, Oxford University Museum 1883; Reader in Anthropology 1884; Professor of Anthropology 1896. Knighted 1912. Honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. Wife Anna, née Fox, (qv) also donor to PRM.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1867. Served on AI Council 1900 and as President. Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Society 1871; British Association. Served as Folklore Society President; BAAS Section President Clubs: Athenaeum; Ad Eundem	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 17 (1917)
John Abercromby (1841-1924)	62 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh.	University of Edinburgh (honorary LL.D)	Army	Died Edinburgh. 5th Baron Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody. Honorary degree from Edinburgh. Endowed the Abercromby Chair of Archaeology at Edinburgh University	AI: Joined 1883. Other learned societies: Folklore; Antiquaries of Scotland; Royal Society of Edinburgh; British Association. Served as Folklore Society Vice-President; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland President; BAAS Section President Clubs: Athenaeum; New; Edinburgh	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; PRM website; Obit: Man 24 (1924). See here
William Adams (1820-1900)	7 Loudon Road, St John’s Wood, London NW.	W Simpson’s, Hackney; King’s College School, London / St Thomas’s Hospital [Medicine	Surgeon	Born London; died London. Held posts at various London hospitals. Best known as an orthopaedic surgeon. Wife was Mary Anne Mills, daughter of John Mills.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1858 Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Pathological Society of London; Harveian; Medical Society of London. Served as Pathological Society of London Vice-President; Harveian Society President; Medical Society of London President	No	ODNB
William Amhurst Tysssen-Amherst (1835-1909)	8 Grosvenor Square, London W; Didlington Hall, Brandon, Suffolk.	Eton / Christ Church, Oxford	Book collector	Born Swaffham, Norfolk; died London. Conservative MP West Norfolk (1880-5); South-west Norfolk (1885-92). 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney 1892. There are various changes of names in the family. His father’s surname was Daniel but added Tyssen in 1814. His mother’s maiden name was Amhurst. In 1852 he changed the name to Tyssen-Amhurst and in 1877 to Tyssen-Amherst. Daughter was Alicia Margaret Cecil, Lady Rockley, garden historian (ODNB).	AI: Joined (ESL) 1862. Other learned societies: Antiquaries Clubs: Athenaeum, Marlborough; Carlton; Travellers’; Royal Yacht Squadron; Roxburghe	Yes. Other Owner	ODNB; Who was who
William Aldam Backhouse (1846-1919)	St John’s, Wolsingham, Darlington.	Unknown	Banker	Landowner, banker and horticulturalist. Christopher Bowly’s [qv] wife’s father was Backhouse, he is described ‘began work in the Newcastle branch of the family banking business, but his first love was horticulture and in particular, daffodils.’	AI: Joined 1895.	No	See here
Mrs Ada Ballen (Unknown)	18 Somerset Street, Portman Square, London W.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901.	No	Unknown
Edwyn Barclay (?-circa 1916)	Urie Lodge, Ridgway, Wimbledon, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1894. Other learned societies: Psychical Research, RGS, Hellenic; Geological Clubs: Royal Societies	No	Unknown
Thomas Squire Barrett (?-post 1925)	Rose Cottage, Millfield Road, Appleton, Widnes	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined (ASL) 1865. Other learned societies: Zoological; Royal Statistical; Royal Botanic; Royal Historical	No	Unknown
E.J. Barron (?-1918)	10 Endsleigh Street, Tavistock Square, London WC.	Unknown	Unknown	Appears to have written on London architecture	AI: Joined 1876. Other learned societies: Antiquaries	No	Unknown
John Stothart* Bartrum (1816-1904)	13 Gay Street, Bath.	King Edward’s School, Bath	Medicine	Born and died Bath. Was an apprentice in and mainly worked at hospitals in Bath except for a period at Westminster Hospital in 1830s. JP. *Although spelt Stothart in list of AI fellows, he is elsewhere spelt Stothert	AI: Joined (ESL) 1865. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Numerous societies in Bath	No	Google: “John S Bartrum”
Joseph de Baye (1853-1931). Actually Amour-Auguste-Louis-Joseph Berthelot, Baron de Baye	58 Avenue de la Grande Armee, Paris. France.	With Jesuits in Paris	Private means Traveller	French archaeologist best known for his work in Russia. There are 12 of his publications listed on OLIS	AI: Joined 1882. He was still listed as a Fellow of the AI in 1937. Other learned societies: Société des Antiquaires de France (President)	No	There appears to be a biography by Rene Guyot, Joseph de Baye, libre savant. See here
Charles Marsh Beadnell (1872-1947)	Unknown	Cheltenham / Guy’s Hospital [Medicine]	Naval Surgeon	Born Rawalpindi; died Petersfield. Retired as Surgeon Rear-Admiral 1926. Hon Physician to King George V. Numerous publications including on evolution.	AI: Joined 1901. Other learned societies: Zoological; FBAS; Rationalist Press Association. Served as Rationalist Press Association President	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 3 October 1947
Albert L. Bennett (Unknown)	34 Denison Buildings, 14th Street, Denver, Colarado, U.S.A.	Unknown	Medicine	Worked among the Fang in 1890s. See article JAI, 29 (1899). Gave item to Denver Museum	AI: Joined 1899.	No	See here
Mrs G. Nevitt Bennett (Unknown)	15 Hanover Terrace, Regent’s Park, London NW.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown. The Nevitt Bennett family seem to originate in Cheshire. This site has a George Nevitt Bennett (fl. 1864-1877) who might be her husband who is either an art dealer at 48 Pall Mall or a lawyer of Lincoln Inn.	AI: Joined 1899.	No	Unknown
Richard James Arthur Berry (1867-1962)	Edinburgh School of Medicine, Royal College, Edinburgh; 4 Howard Place, Edinburgh.	Privately / Edinburgh, Dublin, London and Berlin Universities [Medicine	Medicine	An Australian who came to university at Edinburgh. He appears later to have retired to England as Who was who gives his address as Bristol. Lecturer in Anatomy at Edinburgh University. Professor of Anatomy at Melbourne University from 1905-1929.	AI: Joined 1899. Other learned societies: Royal of Edinburgh; Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh; Eugenics Clubs: Royal Commonwealth Society	No	Who was who
Spencer Collinson Blackett (1858-1920)	Paternoster House, Charing Cross Road, London.	Charterhouse	Publisher	Born Ealing, died Brookwood, Surrey. Hurst and Blackett were successful London publishers who published works by Conan Doyle and Rider Haggard amongst others. He began publishing in the 1880s, in 1895 he merged with Kegan Paul	AI: Joined 1896. Other learned Societies: Bibliographical Clubs: Royal Societies	No	See here and here
Herbert Joseph Weld Blundell (1852-1935)	Brooks’s Club, London SW. (His address in Who was who is given as Lulworth Castle, Wareham, Dorset.)	Stonyhurst / Queen’s College, Oxford	Private means	Son of Thomas Weld-Blundell who had assumed additional name of Blundell on the inheritance of the estates of Charles Blundell. Travelled widely in Far East and East Africa. Gave collections to British, Natural History and Ashmolean Museums. Honorary degree from Oxford; Honorary Fellow, Queen’s College, Oxford.	AI: Joined 1896. Other learned societies: RGS Clubs: Athenaeum; Brooks’s; Royal Yacht Squadron	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who
James Bonwick (1817-1906)	Yarra Yarra, South Vale, Upper Norwood, London SE.	Borough Road School, Southwark	Teacher	Born Lingfield, Surrey, died Southwick, near Brighton. Between 1841 and 1880s spent much of the time in Australia.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1869. Other learned societies: RGS 1865	No	ODNB; See also Australian Dictionary of Biography
Christopher Bowly (1837-1922)	Siddington House, Cirencester.	Unknown	Merchant	Quaker. Merchant and cheese monger according to 1881 census. Was very active around Cirencester where he was a JP, member of the Board of Guardians, chairman of Cirencester Highway Board and President of Cirencester Liberal party	AI: Joined 1872. Other learned societies: British and Foreign Bible; Friends Foreign Missionary; YMCA; Aborigines Protection Society	No	See here
Frederick Braby (?1829-1911)	Bushey Lodge, Teddington	Unknown	Ironmaker	Born Lambeth, London. Probably the F. Braby of Messrs F. Braby & Co., zinc and metal sheet manufacturers which existed from 1850-1976	AI: Joined 1865 (ESL). Other learned societies: Geological	No	See here
Adela Catherine Breton (1849-1923)	St Margaret’s House, Rochester. (This is probably her brother’s address; she had a home in Bath where she was brought up.)	Privately	Archaeologist	Died Bridgetown, Barbados. Travelled widely but her main interest was Mexico which she visited frequently to draw and paint archaeological sites. Published extensively and left her collections of artefacts, notes and drawings to Bristol Museum.	AI: Joined 1900. Other learned societies: British Association	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Obit: Man 23 (1923); See also Mary McVicker, Adela Breton: A Victorian Artist among Mexico’s Ruins. University of New Mexico Press, 2005
Robert Goldthorpe Brook (1838-1917)	Wolverhampton House, St Helens.	Unknown	Ironmonger	Born Brighouse, died St Helens. His initials are given wrongly by AI as R.C., he was actually R.G. Councillor and hobby photographer	AI: Joined 1894. Other learned societies: British Association	No	See here
Margaret Lili Alice Brooke (1849-1936)	Kuching, Borneo.	Unknown	Unknown	Née de Windt. Born Paris; died London. Daughter of Captain de Windt and married, in 1869, Charles Brooke, 2nd Rajah of Sarawak (see ODNB). Her marriage was not successful and she and her husband lived separate lives after the mid-1880s. She published a book My life in Sarawak (1913).	AI: Joined 1886. She donated some photographs to the AI photographic collection.	Yes. Field Collector. The Pitt Rivers Museum holds a large collection of items from Sarawak connected to Charles Brooke.	ODNB, see under Charles Brooke; Who was who; Obit: The Times 2 December 1936
John Allen Brown (1831-1903)	7 Kent Gardens, Ealing, London.	Unknown	Goldsmith	Father was John Brown (1797-1861). Started life as sailor but became gold and diamond merchant in London. Founding member of Ethnological Society of London (1843). Published widely on Palaeolithic period. His obituary mentions his following ‘General Pitt Rivers’. He coined the term ‘eolith’ according to one source. Chairman of Ealing Free Library. Magistrate	AI: Joined 1889. Other learned societies: Geological; Royal Scottish Geographical (Hon. Fellow 1895); RGS	Yes. Field Collector	Obit: Man 3 (1903)
James Roberts Brown (Unknown)	44 Tregunter Road, South Kensington, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Important figure in book-plate world. Father was possibly John Brown and brother of John Allen Brown (qv)	AI: Joined (ASL) 1864. Other learned societies: RGS; RSNA Copenhagen; Ex-Libris. Served as President Ex-Libris Society Clubs: Freemason.	No
William Brown (Unknown)	Hazelwood, Welling-borough.	Unknown	Unknown	JP. President, Fowler Phrenological Institute	AI: Joined 1895.	No
John Browne (1849-1929)	Chertsey House, Parkhill Rise, Croydon, Surrey.	Unknown	Own means	Unknown	AI: Joined 1885. Other learned societies: Folklore 1889	No	1901 Census; Folklore 41 (1930)
John Bruce (1865 or 1866-1924)	Larriston, Town Hall Square, Grimsby.	University of Edinburgh	Medicine	Born in Kelso, Scotland. GP in Grimsby, served in RAMC in World War 1. JP.	AI: Joined 1901. Other learned societies: BMA	No	1901 Census and here
Victor Felix Peter Bryce (1878-?1963)	Bystock, Exmouth; 7 Little St James’ Street, London SW.	Unknown	Unknown	Painter? Served in Royal Flying Corps in First World War. His father was a Scottish-Peruvian banker	AI: Joined 1901. Other learned societies: RGS	No	See here
William Bull (1828-1902)	536 King’s Road, Chelsea, London.	Unknown	Nurseryman; plantsman	Born King’s Somborne, Hampshire. Bought famous nursery garden in King’s Road, London, John Weeks and Co. in 1861, it was well known for its orchids.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1867. Other learned societies: Linnean Society	No	'Economic history: Farm-gardening and market gardening', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 150-55; 1901 Census; see here
Robert Burnard (1848-1920)	3 Hillsborough, Mutley, Plymouth.	Unknown	Chemical Manufacturer	Born Southdown, Cornwall; died Stokeinteignhead, Torquay. Best known as a photographer, especially of Dartmoor. Collections of his photographs have been published	AI: Joined 1895. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Devonshire Association; Dartmoor Preservation Association Clubs: Royal Societies	No	1901 Census; Dartmoor Trust on-line archive
Charles Kendal Bushe (circa 1827-1901?)	19 Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London.	Unknown	Military	Born Dublin. Served in 59th Foot and Royal Artillery.	AI: Joined 1894. He disappears from the list of Fellows of the AI in 1902 but there is no record in the JAI of his death. Other learned societies: Geological.	No	1901 Census
Stephen Wootton* Bushell (1844-1908) * Note that in AI 1900 list Wootton is spelt Wootten	Shirley, Harold Road, Upper Norwood, London.	Tunbridge Wells School; Grange Court, Chigwell / Guy’s Hospital [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Woodnesborough, Sandwich; died Northolt. Appointments at Guy’s Hospital and Bethlem Royal Hospital. Between 1868-1900 was physician to the British Legation, Beijing. CMG 1897. Leading authority on Chinese ceramics. Collections at Durham, British, and Victoria and Albert Museums.	AI: Joined 1901. Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Numismatic; Royal Asiatic; Zoological. Served on Royal Asiatic Society Council; Royal Numismatic Society Council Clubs: Royal Societies; Peking	No	ODNB; Who was who
William John Busteed (1836-1914)	None given, but 1901 Census lists him as living in Lambeth, London.	University of Edinburgh [Medicine]	Military / medicine.	Born Ireland. Brigade-Surgeon, Indian / Madras Medical Service.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1867.	No	1901 Census, see here
Percy Caldecott (Unknown)	Constitutional Club, Northumberland Avenue, London.	Unknown	Possibly an Engineer?	Unknown	AI: Joined 1893. He was not listed as a fellow of the AI after 1905. Other learned societies: Biblical Archaeology Clubs: Constitutional; Royal Societies	No	None known
Gilbert Henry Cammiade (1841-1911)	Madras, India	Unknown	Merchant	Described in a biographical history of his son as a merchant in Madras	AI: Joined 1872. He is no longer listed as a fellow of the AI after 1909.	No	See here
Charles William Campbell (1861-1927)	H.B.M. Consular Service, Shanghai, China.	Birkbeck College, London	Diplomat and interpreter	Born in Cork, Ireland. British diplomat, worked for the British Consular service in China 1884-1911. Travelled in China, Mongolia and Korea. Ornithologist Various publications on China.	AI: Joined 1892. He does not appear in the list of AI fellows after 1911. Other learned societies: RGS 1892; Zoological 1891. Served on RGS Council.	No	Obit: Geographical Journal 70 (1927). See here
William D. Carey (c. 1837-1917)	22 Archers Road, Southampton.	Unknown	Military	Born Guernsey. Served in Royal Artillery	AI: Joined (ASL) 1865.	No	1901 Census; JAI 48 (1918)
Albert John Chalmers (1870-1920)	Medical College, Colombo, Ceylon.	Manchester Grammar School / University College Liverpool; University College London [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Manchester; died Khartoum. Served as a doctor in West Africa and Ceylon. When he died he was Director of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories, Khartoum. Published on tropical medicine, hygiene and parasitology.	AI: Joined 1901. Other learned societies: Linnean; Zoological; RGS; Royal College of Surgeons Clubs: Savile; National; Sudan, Khartoum	No	Who was who
Frederick William Christian (1867-1934)	60 Clyde Road, Addiscombe, East Croydon.	Balliol College, Oxford	Oil and colourman? Traveller and lexicographer	Traveller and lexicographer. Wrote books and articles on Oceania. 1901 Census lists a Frederick W. Christian as living in Kensington, with the occupation of ‘Oil and colourman’. His age, however, is given as 37 which gives his birth year as 1864. On OLIS the birth date is given as 1867.	AI: Joined 1899. Fellowship of AI shortlived-name does not appear on list of fellows after 1902. Other learned societies: RGS.	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census; OLIS; see here
William Selby Church (1837-1928)	130 Harley Street, Cavendish Square, London.	Harrow / University College, Oxford; St Bartholomew’s [Natural Sciences; Medicine]	Medicine	Born Hatfield; died Hatfield. Dr Lee’s Reader in Anatomy and Senior Student of Christ Church 1860-9. Held various positions at St Bart’s 1866-1902. Influential in medical world and represented Oxford on General Medical Council. Baronet 1901; KCB 1902. Honorary degrees from Oxford, Manchester, Durham and Glasgow. JP and county councillor. Keen sportsman; racing, shooting, cricket, skating	AI: Joined 1874. Other learned societies: Royal College of Physicians; Royal Medical and Chirugical Society; Royal Society of Medicine. Served as RCP President; RMCS President; RSM President Clubs: Athenaeum; London Skating; Royal Societies	No	ODNB
William Crochley Sampson Clapham (?1848-1923)	The Grange, Rotherham, Yorkshire.	University of Cambridge & Guy’s Hospital	Medicine	Known as Crochley Clapham. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Ship’s surgeon in China and Far East later Assistant Medical Officer at Wakefield Asylum	AI: Joined 1877. Published in JAI (1878) on weight of bAIn.	No	See here
Charles F. Clarke (1862-?)	24 Park Road, Plumstead, London.	Unknown	Medicine	Unknown	AI: Joined 1885. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1907. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons.	No	1901 Census
Frederic Claudet (Unknown)	10 Oak Hill, Frognal, Hampstead, London,	Unknown	Metallurgist	He seems to have been involved in an infamous divorce case, his first name is sometimes spelt Frederick	AI: Joined 1875. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1907. Other learned societies: Chemical.	No	See here
H. Clerk (Unknown)	Mountfield, 5 Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards, Sussex.	Unknown	Military	Royal Artillery and 2nd Dragoon Guards.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1864, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903. Other learned societies: Royal.	No
Edward Clodd (1840-1930)	19 Carleton Road, Tufnell Park, London N.	Aldeburgh Grammar School	Banker	Born Margate, Kent; died Aldeburgh, Suffolk. His career was at London Joint Stock Bank. He published widely with many popular works to his name. His religious affiliation changed constantly over his lifetime, moving from Baptism to agnosticism-where his position was public and controversial.	AI: Joined 1895. Other learned societies: Royal Astronomical 1869-78; Folklore 1878. Served as Folklore Society President Clubs: Century; Savile; Johnson; Omar Khayyam	Yes. Donor	ODNB; Obits: Folklore 40 (1929); The Times 18 March 1930.
Robert Edward Codrington (1869-1908)	Government House, Fort Jameson, Rhodesia.	Marlborough College	Colonial Administrator	Died London. Publications in Geographical Journal. ‘Wikipedia’ claims he was knighted, but I have found no evidence of this and The Times obituary refers to ‘Mr’.	AI: Joined 1898. Other learned societies: RGS 1897	No	Who was who; Wikipedia; Obits: Geographical Journal 33 (1909); The Times 17 & 24 December 1908
Walter Harris Coffin (1853-1916)	94 Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington, London SW; Villa Passaic, Kew, Surrey	Royal College of Science; University College and St Thomas’ Hospital	Medicine	Medical specialisation was dentistry.	AI: Joined 1884. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906. Other learned societies: Linnean; Chemical; Royal Society of Medicine. Clubs: National Liberal	No	Who was who
John Frederick Collingwood (?1830-1923)	5 Irene Road, Parson’s Green, London SW.	Unknown	Author	Wrote Introduction to Anthropology with Theodor Waitz (1863)	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863. Served on AI Council. He was a founding member of the ASL and its Hon. Sec and Vice-President. He was very active on ASL and AI before 1900, but increasingly ceased to be involved. Other learned societies: Geological	No	Various volumes of JASL; JESL; JAI; JAI
Henry Cornelius Collyer (1849-1920)	Breakhurst, Beddington, Croydon.	Unknown	Blind manufacturer	Born in Middlesex, moved to Kent and then Surrey before dying in Devon.	AI: Joined 1888. He published two articles on excavations at Wallington in Man 11 (1911). Other learned societies: Kent Archaeological; Croydon Natural History and Scientific Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Other Owner	Various websites, Karen Honour pers. comm.
Richard Michael Connolly (Unknown, possibly died 1943)	Taiping, State of Perak, Malaysia.	University of Edinburgh	Medicine	He travelled in West Africa in 1894 and in 1897 published an article in JAI on the Fanti. He was District Surgeon in Perak, but then went into private practice and was also involved in mining and planting.	AI: Joined 1896; he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1907. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh.	No	See here
Frank Corner (1862-1939)	Manor House, Poplar, London.	London Hospital [Medicine]	Medicine	Main interest in prehistoric remains-bones and artefacts. JP.	AI: Joined 1895. Other learned societies: Member of Royal College of Surgeons; Licentiate of Royal College of Physicians	No	Obit: Man 39 (1939).
Oswald John Frederick Crawfurd (1834-1909)	Oporto, Portugal	Eton / Merton College, Oxford	Diplomat	Died Montreux. Longtime British Consul in Oporto 1867-81. C.M.G. 1890. Published novels, travel books, journal articles, etc., often under pseudonyms.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1861. Clubs: Athenaeum; Garrick; Sesame	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 1 February 1909
James Edward Crombie (1862-1932)	Inverdon, Aberdeen.	Aberdeen University	Mill-owner	Born Old Machar, Aberdeenshire; died Parkhill House, Dyce. Part of the cloth manufacturing firm Crombie & Crombie. The Royal Society of Edinburgh describe him as ‘meteorologist, seismologist’. Benefactor of Aberdeen University.	AI: Joined 1893. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919. Other learned societies: Folklore Society; Royal Society of Edinburgh 1916.	Yes. Field Collector	See here; and here
John Winter Crowfoot (1873-1959)	Mason University College, Birmingham.	Marlborough / Brasenose College, Oxford	Academic	C.B.E. 1919. Honorary degree Oxford. Mainly worked in Middle East and Sudan; e.g., Director of Education Sudan Government and Principal, Gordon College Khartoum 1917-26; Director, British School of Archaeology, Jerusalem 1927-36. Publications of archaeology and Middle East churches. One of his daughters became Dorothy Hodgkin FRS, Fellow of Somerville.	AI: Joined 1900 Other learned societies: Antiquaries. Served as Antiquaries Vice-President Clubs: Athenaeum	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obit: The Times 7 December 1959
Maria Eleanor Vere Cust (1862-1958)	127 Victoria Street, Westminster, London.	Unknown	Secretary to father	Father was orientalist, Robert Needham Cust, who was an active member of AI and RGS and strongly advocated the admission of women as fellows to the latter. Died Watford. The first woman to be admitted as a fellow of RGS.	AI: Joined 1896. Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1919. Other learned societies: RGS 1892; Royal Asiatic.	No	ODNB
J.R. Cuthbert (Unknown)	Chapel Street, Liverpool.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863. Disappears from list of AI fellows after 1900	No
Julius Caesar Czarnikow (1838-1909)	29 Mincing Lane, London EC.	Unknown	Sugar broker	Born Sonderhausen, Germany; probably of Polish-Jewish origins, died London. Arrived in London circa 1854. Extremely successful international sugar broker.	AI: Joined 1875 Other learned societies: RGS; Zoological Clubs: Royal Societies	No	ODNB
James Dallas (1853-1916)	Cantralees, Lympstone, Devon.	Unknown	Museum Curator	Assistant Curator and Librarian of the Geological Society. Curator of the Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.	AI: Joined 1892. Published a paper in JAI 15 (1886) on races of mankind. He does not appear in list of AI Fellows after 1903. Other learned societies: Linnean; Geological; Antiquaries.	No. 18 items were given to the PRM by his father James Sweetland Dallas.	See here
Ormond Maddock Dalton (1866-1945)	British Museum, Bloomsbury, London W.	Harrow School / New College, Oxford [Classics]	Museum curator	Born Cardiff; died Holford, Somerset. Entered British Museum in 1895, working under A.W. Franks. Initial interest in ethnology but changed to archaeology. Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities 1921-8. Numerous publications.	AI: Joined 1895 / AI Honorary Secretary and Editor of JAI. Other learned societies: Antiquaries 1899; British Academy 1922. Served on Society of Antiquaries Council Clubs: Royal Societies	No	ODNB; Who was who
William Erasmus Darwin (1839-1914)	Ridgemount, Basset, North Stoneham, Southampton.	Rugby School / Christ’s College, Cambridge	Banker	Eldest child of Charles Darwin. Born London; died Sedbergh, Cumbria. Led very uneventful life and his presence in the ODNB is entirely because he was the subject of his father’s study in child psychology. Partner in Grant & Maddison’s Union Banking Co., Southampton. Played a leading role in the founding of University College, Southampton.	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: Geological	No	ODNB.
Thomas Witton Davies (1851-1923)	Baptist College, Bangor, North Wales.	Baptist College, Pontypool; Baptist College, Regent’s Park / University College London; Berlin; Leipzig (Ph.D); Strasbourg.	Churchman	Born Nantyglo, Monmouthshire; died Bangor. Held academic posts at Haverfordwest, Nottingham and Bangor, being Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Literature at the University College of North Wales. Numerous publications on theological topics. Honorary degrees from Geneva and Durham. (His parents were illiterate and he received a primary education but then no further education until he was 21).	AI: Joined AI 1893 Other learned societies: Royal Asiatic Clubs: University	No	Who was who; Welsh Biography Online
William Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929)	Woodhurst, Fallowfield, Manchester.	Rossall School, Fleetwood / Jesus College, Oxford [Natural Science]	Geologist	Born Buttington near Welshpool; died Bowdon, Lancs. Geological Survey of Great Britain 1861-9. Professor of Geology & Palaeontology, Victoria University, Manchester 1874-1908. From 1870s onwards much involved in applied geology. Knighted 1919. Honorary degree from Manchester.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1869 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1867; Antiquaries; Geological 1861 Clubs: Athenaeum	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 16 January 1929
David Duncan (1839-1923)	Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London.	Aberdeen Grammar School / Edinburgh; Aberdeen; Berlin	Academic	Born and died Aberdeen. Secretary to Herbert Spencer under whose direction he compiled the four volumes of Descriptive Sociology dealing with uncivilized peoples 1867-70. Held various posts at Presidency College and Madras University 1870-99. Vice-Chancellor of Madras University 1899. Author of Life and Letters of Herbert Spencer.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1870. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1900. Clubs: Athenaeum	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 22 May 1923.
Cecil Duncombe (1832-1902)	The Grange, Nawton, Yorkshire.	Unknown	Unknown	Father was the 2nd Baron Faversham. JP. He was a captain in the Imperial Yeomanry, the Yorkshire Hussars. Member of Yorkshire County Council. Deputy Lieutenant	AI: Joined 1885; Article in JAI 28 (1899) on lake dwellings in Yorkshire. Other learned societies: Geological.	No	Assorted websites
Thomas Durnan (Unknown)	35 Harcourt Road, Sheffield.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1919.	No	Unknown
Joseph William Eastwood (1828-1916)	Dinsdale Park, Darlington.	University of Edinburgh MA	Physician	Born Chesterfield. Physician, proprietor of licensed house for the insane and farmer	AI: Joined (ESL) 1862. Founding member of Anthropological Institute.	No	1901 Census. see here
Arthur Ebbels (Unknown)	6 Lavender Gardens, Clapham Common, London SW.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1893. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1931.	No
Stanley Edwards (1864-1938)	Kidbrooke Lodge, Blackheath, London SE.	Privately	Tea-broker, Edwards & Edwards	Born in London and died in Harrogate. Tea-broker who was bachelor and spent his leisure time mostly pursuing natural history collecting and attending meetings of learned societies	AI: Joined 1890. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906. Other learned societies: Zoological; RGS; West Kent Natural History; West Kent Scientific secretary for 43 years; Royal Entomological; Literary; South London Entomological and Natural History; Ray; Linnean. Served on Council of Linnean, secretary and President of the South London E&NH.	No	See here
R. Elliott (Unknown)	161 Camberwell Road, London SE.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1896. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903.	No
Henry Havelock Ellis (1859-1939)	Carbis Water, Lelant, Cornwall.	French & German College, Merton; The Poplars, Mitcham / St Thomas’s Hospital [Medicine]	Writer	Born Croydon; died Hintlesham, Suffolk. His education was interrupted by periods away from UK with his father, a sea captain. Taught at schools in Australia 1875-9. He never became more than a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. Author of Studies in the Psychology of Sex (1897-1910). NB. According to Who was who Ellis was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, whereas the ODNB states that his medical qualification was as above, LSA. Wife was the writer Edith Mary Oldham Lees (1861-1916).	AI: Joined 1888 Other learned societies: Apothecaries; Progressive Association; Fellowship of the New Life	No	ODNB; Who was who
Sebastian Evans (1830-1909)	15 Waterloo Crescent, Dover.	Free Grammar School, Market Bosworth / Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1849); Lincoln’s Inn (1853)	Artist	Born Market Bosworth; died Abbot’s Barton, Canterbury. Manager, Art Department of Chance & Bros, glassmakers 1857-67. His elder brother was Sir John Evans. Journalist in Birmingham 1867-70 after which he pursued a legal career (LL.D Cantab 1868) and called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn 1873. On Oxford circuit but continued artistic and journalistic career.	AI: Joined 1887 Other learned societies: Indian Reform Association; National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations. Served as Indian Reform Association Secretary	No	ODNB.
Thomas Wentworth Falconer (1858-1956)	Foxholes, Christchurch, Hampshire.	Unnamed Bath public school	Retired coffee planter?	Born in Bath, died on Isle of Wight. Served as an officer in the British Army (2nd Somerset) around 1875, he resigned his commission in 1879. Played for Sydney College Club Rugby Football Club in 1874	AI: Joined 1896. He disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1901.	No	1901 Census, see here and possibly here
Lewis Richard Farnell (1856-1934)	Exeter College, Oxford.	City of London School / Exeter College, Oxford; Berlin; Munich [Classics]	Academic	Born Salisbury; died Parkstone, Dorset. Spent his whole life at Exeter College and was Rector 1913-28. He was Vice-chancellor of Oxford 1920-23. Numerous publications on classical, mainly Greek, matters. He received honorary degrees from Dublin, St Andrews and Geneva.	AI: Joined 1900 Other learned societies: British Academy 1916	No	ODNB; Who was who
Marian Sarah Farquharson (1846-1912)	Netherton, Meigle, Scotland.	Privately	Unknown	Born West Meon, Hants; died Nice. Née Ridley. Her husband was Robert Francis Ogilvie Farquharson. Published on ferns and mosses. Campaigned hard to obtain membership of learned societies for women. First female member of Royal Microscopical Society. Had a long battle with Linnean Society which she finally won although through ill health never signed admission to fellowship.	AI: Joined 1901. She disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1901. It may be wondered whether Mrs Farquharson, who was a Fellow of the AI for only two years, joined simply to see if she could. Other learned societies: Forest & Essex Naturalists’ Field Club; Alford Field Club; East Scotland Union of Naturalists’ Societies; Royal Microscopical; Linnean.	No	ODNB; Who was who
Margaret Catherine Ffennell (?-1912)	172 The Grove, Hammersmith, London.	Unknown	Unknown	More active in Folklore Society that AI; published in the former’s journal. Spinster.	AI: Joined 1897 Other learned societies: Folklore, served on Folklore Society Council	No	See here
John Abraham Finzi (1860-1909)	53 Hamilton Terrace, London NW.	University College, London	Shipbroker, Finzi, Layman, Clark & Co.	Father of Gerald Raphael Finzi (see ODNB). Known as Jack. He was of Italian Jewish descent, the family had settled in London by 1811 (he was not religious). He was very interested in natural history and ‘scientific ideas’. Jack had five children.	AI: Joined 1883. He disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1907.	No	1901 Census; see here. See also ODNB for Gerald Raphael Finzi, his son. See also wikipedia entry for son
Robert Fischer (?-1911?)	Madura, Madras, India.	[Bachelor of Law]	Unknown	He may have been a relative of Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer (1874-1950), forester who also worked in Madras. See here	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866. He died or resigned his fellowship 1910-11.	No	Unknown
Mary Lucy (Lala) Fisher (1872-1929)	Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia; Vectis Lodge, Bembridge, Isle of Wight.	Described by ADB as ‘limited’	Poet	Née Richardson. Born Rockhampton, Queensland; died Sydney, Australia. Spent time in England in 1892-3 & 1897-1901.	AI: Joined 1901. She disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906. Clubs: Writers’	No	Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Stanley Smyth Flower (1871-1946)	Ghizeh, Egypt.	Rottingdean and Wellington College. Brief time in King’s College, London	Military	In 1890 he took a commission in the Northumberland Fusiliers. Scientific adviser to the Siamese Government in 1896-8. Director of the Ghizeh [Giza] Zoological Gardens 1898-1924. From 1900 he was ‘Ranger of Central Africa’	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903. Other learned societies: Zoological, Literary	No	See here and here
James George Roche Forlong (1824-1904)	11 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh.	Unknown	Unknown	Engineer in Indian Army, and on Madras Staff Corps. Retired 1876. Published a number of books on the evolution of religion and comparative religion. In 1901 he gave a benefaction of £5,000 to the Royal Asiatic Society. It would appear that he was an honorary Major-General as The Army List records that he retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.	AI: Joined 1875 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Society of Edinburgh; Royal Asiatic; Folklore; Rationalist Press Association	No	See here and here
Alexander Fraser (1853-1910)	18 Northbrook Road, Dublin.	General Assembly’s School, Elgin; Privately / Glasgow; Leipzig; Wurzburg [Arts; Medicine]	Medicine	Born Lossiemouth; died Lossiemouth. Held Anatomical Chair of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin 1883 – 1909.	AI: Joined 1889 Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin	No	Cameron, C A, History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 1916; Dublin Journal of Medical Science, 128 (1909)
James George Frazer (1854-1941)	Trinity College, Cambridge.	Springfield Academy & Larchfield Academy, Helensburgh / Glasgow; Trinity College, Cambridge [Classics]	Academic	Born Glasgow; died Cambridge. Fellow of Trinity, Cambridge from 1879. First British Chair in Social Anthropology, Liverpool 1809. Knighted 1914. Order of Merit 1925. Honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, St Andrews, Manchester, Durham, Manchester, Athens, Paris, Strasbourg. See separate ODNB entry for his wife, Frazer, Lilly.	AI: Joined 1885. Served on AI Council Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Society 1920; British Academy Served as Folklore Society and Vice-President	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 42 (1942)
Danby Palmer Fry (1818-1903)	166 Haverstock Hill, London NW.	Hunter Street Academy, Brunswick Square, London	Lawyer	Born and died London. For most of his life he was legal adviser to the Local Government Board.	AI: Joined 1871 Other learned societies: Philological; Early English Text	No	ODNB.
Alan Henderson Gardiner (1879-1963)	Queen’s College, Oxford. (NB still an undergraduate)	Charterhouse / College de France; Ecole des Hautes Etudes; Queen’s College, Oxford [Egyptology; Hebrew & Arabic]	Egyptologist	Born Eltham, Kent; died Oxford. His father was chairman of the textile company Bradbury, Greatorex & Co and left him well off. His elder brother was the composer Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877-1950). Spent most of the years 1902-11 away from UK on the continent and in Egypt. Held academic posts at Worcester College, Oxford and Manchester University 1912-22, but being independently wealth, he avoided all academic posts thereafter. Moved to live in Court Place, Iffley, Oxford in 1947. Knighted 1948. Honorary degrees from Durham and Cambridge, and honorary fellow of Queen’s, Oxford	AI: Joined 1901 Other learned societies: British Academy 1929; Egyptian Exploration. Served as Egyptian Exploration Society President	No	ODNB; Who was who
Edward Claudius Scotney George (1865-?)	Meiktila, Burma.	Dulwich College, University College, London	Unknown	He was a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. He was Deputy Commissioner in Burma 1890-1900. He donated a collection of Burmese textiles to the Bankfield Museum, Halifax. He was author of Ruby Mines District Gazetteer (1915).	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1935.	No	June Hill, Newsletter (June 2003) of the Oxford Asian Textiles Group. See here
John Hall Gladstone (1827-1902)	17 Pembridge Square, London W.	Privately / University College London; Giessen [Chemistry]	Physical Chemist	Born Hackney Middlesex; died London. Lecturer in Chemistry, St Thomas’s Hospital. Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, Royal Institution. Honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin. Following the death of his wife’s father, Charles Tilt, in 1861 he became independently wealthy.	AI: Joined 1880 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1853; Chemical; Physical; Folklore. Served as Chemical Society President; Physical Society founding member and President Clubs: Athenaeum; Savile; Christian Evidence; Young Men’s Christian Association	No	ODNB; Who was who
Reginald John Gladstone (1865-1947)	1 Gloucester Gate, Regent’s Park, London NW.	Clapham Grammar School; Gymnasium, Aberdeen / Marischal College, Aberdeen; Middlesex Hospital Medical School [Medicine]	Medicine	Reader in Anatomy and Lecturer in Embryology, King’s College, London.	AI: Joined 1901. Contributed to JAI. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Royal Society of Embryology.	No	Who was who
Gertrude M. Godden (c.1869-?)	Ridgfield, Wimbledon, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Born Surbiton, Surrey She published extensively in Folklore and JAI. She resigned from the Folklore Society in 1903, nor does she appear on the list of Fellows of the AI after that year. Later in life she published a whole series of books on politics with reference to Poland, Spain and Germany. Spinster	AI: Joined 1896. 2 lengthy articles on the Naga JAI (Vols 26 & 27). She does not appear on the list of Fellows of the AI after 1903. Other learned societies: Folklore. Served on Folklore Society Council.	No	1901 Census. See here
Frederick Du Cane Godman (1834-1919)	South Lodge, Horsham, Sussex.	Unknown	Unknown	Trustee of British Museum. Published works on natural history, e.g., Natural History of the Azores (1870).	AI: Joined 1879 Other learned societies: Royal Society; Royal Institution Clubs: Athenaeum	No	Who was who
Thomas H. Gordon (c.1849-?)	Ivy Bank, Tarporley, Cheshire.	Yes. BA	Solicitor	Born Coventry.	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1911.	No	1901 Census
Hellier Robert Hadsley Gosselin (1849-1924)	Bengeo Hall, Hertford.	Haileybury College	Unknown	JP and High Sheriff of Hertfordshire 1906. Took the additional name of Grimshawe, his wife’s maiden name, by deed poll in 1902. 1886.1.1664 (a Portuguese cloak) was owned and presented to the Ashmolean by a Martin Le Marchant Hadsley Gosselin who was possibly a relative	AI: Joined 1885. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1905. Other learned societies: Royal Archaeological Institute (secretary);	No	Who was who and here and here
John Gray (1854-1912)	351 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW.	Grammar School, Aberdeen / Edinburgh; Royal School of Mines [Engineering]	Civil Servant	Born Strichen, Aberdeenshire; died London. His career was spent in the Patent Office. His main interest was in physical anthropology on which he published extensively.	AI: Joined 1894. Served as AI Treasurer; Other learned societies: Physical Society; Institute of Electrical Engineers; Buchan Field Club. Served as Buchan Field Club President	No	Obit: Man 12 (1912)
William J. Greatheed* (1847-1930) * Listed in 1901 Census and family website as Greathead.	67 Chancery Lane, London WC.	Tonbridge School, Blackheath Propriety School; London University; Mason’s Science College, London	Solicitor; later retired and living on own means	Born Norwood, Surrey; died London. First a solicitor, then a managing clerk, then photo-journalist, Naval Artillery volunteer. Finally he was a civil engineer from 1892 to 1909 at 67-69 Chancery Lane. (NB the website source is slightly confused).	AI: Joined 1888	No	1901 Census; see here
Frederick William Edridge-Green (1863-1953)	Hendon Grove, Hendon, London.	St Bartholomew’s; Durham University; St John’s, Cambridge [Medicine]	Physician	Born Holloway, London; died Worthing. He had hyphenated the Edridge and Green by 1893. An expert in colour perception. Member of the International Code of Signallers. Responsible for a new colour perception test. CBE 1920	AI: Joined 1901, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1902. Other learned societies: Royal College of Physicians; Royal College of Surgeons. Clubs: Savage	No	ODNB; Who was who
Upfield Green (1834-1917)	Tenter Street, Moorfields, London EC.	Brighton / Neuweid	Banker	Born London. Wrote on geological matters. Joined the family firm, Groom Wilkinson & Co, lithographers.	AI: Joined 1892. He disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1911. Other learned societies: Geological; Geologists Association	No	See here
Thomas Tylston Greg (1858-1920)	7 Campden Hill Square, Kensington, London W.	Rugby School / Oriel College, Oxford	Law	Born Styal, Cheshire. His family were textile mill owners and committed Unitarians. He is well known for his collection of pottery, now in the possession of the City Art Gallery, Manchester. Art critic for Manchester Guardian and Birmingham Post.	AI: Joined 1899. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1902. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Fishmongers’ Company.	No	M.R. Parkinson, ‘The incomparable art-the English pottery from the collection of Mr Thomas Tylston Greg’, The Burlington Magazine, 112 (1970); M.R. Parkinson, ‘Thomas Tylston Greg, 1858-1920’, Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society, 15 (1971), 13-24.
Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934)	Riversvale, Ashton-under-Lyne.	Brighton College; Sedbergh School; Highgate School / Queen’s College, Oxford	Academic	Born Brighton; died Oxford. Worked at British Museum and University College London. Honorary Lecturer in Egyptology, Manchester University 1896-1908. Reader, then Professor, in Egyptology at Oxford University 1901-32. His first wife was Kate Griffith (née Bradbury), who collaborated with him in his work. See ODNB. His second wife was Nora Christina Cobban Griffith (née Macdonald) who also collaborated with him in his work. See ODNB. Regarded as one of the fathers of British Egyptology. He put Egyptology at Oxford on a permanent basis both by his scholarly work and large financial endowments. Honorary degrees from Aberdeen and Leipzig Universities.	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: British Academy 1924; Antiquaries	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 15 March 1934
Charles George Hale (1832-1913)	Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent.	Unknown	Stockbroker	Born Camberwell, Surrey. Someone with the same name is listed as having died in the 1914-18 war on the local war memorial	AI: Joined 1893. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1911.	No	1901 Census. See here
Harry Reginald Holland Hall (1873-1930)	British Museum, Bloomsbury, London WC.	Merchant Taylors’ School / St John’s College, Oxford [Classics]	Museum curator	Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum. MBE (Political service in Mesopotamia in WWI). Honorary Fellow, St John’s, Oxford.	AI: Joined 1901. His fellowship of the AI lapsed between 1905 and 1925 when he rejoined. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Royal Asiatic; Hellenic; British Academy. Served on Society of Antiquaries Council; Royal Asiatic Society Council, Hellenic Society Council. Clubs: Athenaeum; Burlington Fine Arts	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who
Norman Heywood Hardy (c. 1867-1914)	294 King’s Road, Chelsea, London.	Unknown	Artist	Born Bristol. Anthropological artist, he illustrated many anthropological works.	AI: Joined 1890 Other learned societies: Literary (N.S.W.) Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census; Obit: Man 15 (1915)
Miss H.M. Hargreaves (Unknown)	Oakhurst, Waterloo Road, Birkdale, Lancashire.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1884. She disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1909. Other learned societies: Psychical Research	No
Frederick Augustus (Friedrich August) Haserick (1828-1902 or 1903)	35 Johann Georgen Allee, Dresden, Germany.	Unknown	Textile machinery merchant	Left the family home in Altenburg (German) and went to USA as a boy, and worked for Edwards & Stoddard (later Stodddard, Lovering & Co.) in Boston, he then established a branch of the firm of England. The firm imported German textile machinery to the UK and US. In 1880 he return to the US and in 1894 he returned to Dresden, Germany.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866 Clubs: Brasenose, Manchester	No	See here
George Handel Haswell (1847-1911)	Cornwall Works, Birmingham.	Unknown	Engineer	Born North Shields, Northumberland. Cornwall Works belong to an engineering firm, Tangyes Ltd. Listed in 1901 as Managing Director of Ltd Company and travelling steam engineer. Author of an account of an ancestor	AI: Joined 1893	No	1901 Census
Francis John Haverfield (1860-1919)	Christ Church, Oxford.	Winchester College / New College, Oxford [Classics]	Academic	Born Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire; died Oxford. Schoolmaster at Lancing College, then Senior Student and Tutor at Christ Church. Elected Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford in 1907 and became Fellow of Brasenose College. Main interest Roman Britain. Honorary degrees from Aberdeen and Leeds	AI: Joined 1889 Other learned societies: British Academy; Antiquaries; Promotion of Roman Studies; numerous local archaeological societies. Served as Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, President Clubs: Athenaeum; County, Carlisle	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 2 October 1919
Edward Charles Healey (1845-1906)	Wyphurst, Cranleigh, Guildford.	Unknown	Publisher	Born Liverpool. 1901 Census gives him as ‘Living on own means’. Founder and publisher of ‘The Engineer’. JP. Children changed names to Chadwyck-Healey.	AI: Joined ASL) 1864. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906. Other learned societies: Royal Historical	No	1901 Census. See here
Charles Heape (1848-1926)	Hartley, High Lane, Stockport.	Manchester Grammar School?	Businessman	Spent many years in Australia. Also travelled widely in countries bordering the Mediterranean for his health. Partner in Strines Calico Printing Company. Collector of Oceanic objects. Jointly published with Edge-Partington a three-volume work on the material culture of Oceania (1890-98). He gave a large collection of objects from Oceania, North America and Australia to the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester in 1923 and donated a collection of Egyptian objects to the Rochdale Museum. Much involved with United Methodist Church and Scout movement. Honorary MSc from Manchester University	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: RGS; Biblical Archaeology; Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian; Rochdale Literary & Scientific Clubs: Royal Societies’; Union, Manchester	No	See here; Obit: Rochdale Observer, 17 April 1926
Dudley Francis Amelius Hervey (1849-1911)	The Elms, Aldeburgh.	Marlborough	Colonial Servant	Born Chesterford, Essex. Grandson of 1st Marquess of Bristol. Resident Councillor, Malacca, Straits Settlements and various other offices. CMG (1892); JP in Suffolk. Published articles in various journals. Founded Singapore branch of RSPCA.	AI: Joined 1886 Other learned societies: RGS, Folklore; Royal Asiatic; Royal Colonial Institute; Hakluyt Clubs: Sesame; Authors’	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who
Reverend Canon Hewitt (Unknown)	c/o Blackdown House, Fernhurst, Sussex.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903.	No
Alfred Hewlett (1831-?)	Haseley Manor, Warwick.	Unknown	Coalmine owner, Mining agent	Born Oxford. Received freedom of Borough of Wigan 1901. There is a street in Wigan named after him. He retired from the Wigan Coal and Iron Company after 47 years’ service as managing director in 1912. MP.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863; Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1911. Other learned societies: Geological Society.	No	1910 Census. Assorted websites on Google.
Sydney John Hickson (1859-1940)	Owens College, Manchester.	University College School / Downing College, Cambridge	Academic	Born London. Assistant to Moseley in Oxford (1882); travelled in Malaya (1885-6); Deputy Professor of Zoology, Oxford (1888-9); Lecturer Cambridge (1890). Turned to chartered accountancy 1894. Emeritus Professor of Zoology, Manchester Honorary degrees from Oxford, Groningen, Edinburgh, Manchester. CBE.	AI: Joined 1895 Other learned societies: Royal Society; Institute of Chartered Accountants / Royal Society Council Clubs: Carlton	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who
Mary Ann Carey-Hobson (1832-1911)	5 Beaumont Crescent, West Kensington, London.	Unknown	Writer	Born in UK and taken to Cape (South Africa) aged 12. Returned to UK in 1873 and settled in London. Editor and Author of children’s books. Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1910. It seems rather old to have joined the AI, but it may have had something to do with the death of her close friend Anne Buckland (see JAI 28 (1899): 325).	AI: Joined 1899	No	1901 Census
Thomas Vere Hodgson (1864-1926)	147 Tachbrook Street, London SW.	Atherstone Grammar School; Switzerland / Mason College, Birmingham (part time) [Zoology]	Bank clerk	Born Birmingham; died Plympton, near Plymouth. Biologist on the National Antarctic Expedition 1901-4 & 1910-13. Curator of the Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery from 1898-1900, and 1907-26.	AI: Joined 1900. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1911; is re-elected in in 1918 and disappears again after 1923. Other learned societies: Zoological.	Yes. Donor	Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
Bernard Hollander (1864-1934)	62 Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, London.	King’s College London and various continental universities	Medicine	Born Vienna. Came to Britain in 1883 and naturalised 1899. Medical Officer for London under Mental Deficiency Act. Numerous publications on brain functions.	AI: Joined 1887 / Ethological Society Founder and President (1904-29). Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Royal College of Physicians Clubs: Royal Automobile	No	Who was who
Frederick John Horniman (1835-1906)	20 Hyde Park Terrace, London.	Friends’ School, Croydon	Tea Merchant	Born Bridgewater, Somerset; died London. W.H. & F.J. Horniman was, in 1891, the biggest tea firm in the world. The Horniman Museum grew out of his private collections which he opened to the public in 1890. He gave the building and the collections to the LCC in 1901. Born into a Quaker family, he then became a Congregationalist, and later joined the Church of England. His collections were partly the result of his own travels and partly obtained from missionaries and travellers he employed as agents. Liberal MP for Penryn, Falmouth & Flushing 1895	AI: Joined 1876 Other learned societies: RGS; Linnean; Zoological, Antiquaries (Scotland) Clubs: National Liberal; City Liberal	No. The PRM holds a few items from him exchanged with the Horniman Museum.	ODNB; Who was who
Victor Alexander Haden Horsley (1857-1916)	25 Cavendish Square, London.	Cranbrook Grammar School, Kent / University College Hospital [Medicine]	Medicine	Born London; died Amara, near Baghdad (while with the Mesopotamia Field Force). Worked at various medical institutions in London. Best known for his research on rabies and localization of function in the brain and spinal cord. Vivisectionist. Knighthood 1902. Medical Defence Union President and served on General Medical Council.	AI: Joined 1894 Other learned societies: Royal Society (1886); Royal College of Surgeons Clubs: Athenaeum; National Liberal	No	ODNB; Who was who
Charles Hose (1863-1929)	Baram Residencey, Sarawak, Borneo.	Felsted School, Essex / Jesus College, Cambridge [Did not complete his degree]	Colonial officer	Born Willian, Hertfordshire; died Burley Oaks, Surrey. Spent most of his career in Sarawak and then retired to Norfolk and spent his time writing and lecturing on Sarawak. Donated collections to British Museum and Museum of Ethnology, Cambridge. Honorary degree from Cambridge.	AI: Joined 1893 Other learned societies: RGS; Zoological; Royal Entomological Society; Royal Society of Arts; Mining & Metallurgical Clubs: Savage;	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
Osbert H. Howarth (Unknown)	209 Gresham House, Old Broad Street, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Appears to have dabbled in amateur archaeology.	AI: Joined 1891. Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1902. Other learned societies: Geological.	Yes. Field Collector
Robert Howden (1856-1940)	24 Burdon Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne.	Edinburgh; Dunelm [Medicine]	Medicine	Professor of Anatomy, Durham University at retirement. Held various medical posts	AI: Joined 1889 Other learned societies: Royal Society of Edinburgh	No	Who was who
Anatole von Hugel (1854-1928)	53 Barton Road, Cambridge.	Jesuit College, Kalksburgh (Vienna); Jesuit College, Stonyhurst	Museum curator	Born Florence; died Cambridge. Curator, University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge (1883-1921). He was mainly responsible for its foundation and building. Fieldwork in Australasia and Fiji where he made collections now at Cambridge. Honorary degrees from Cambridge	AI: Joined 1879 Other learned societies: RGS Clubs: Athenaeum	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obit: Man 28 (1928)
Walter Hurst (1858? -1908)	Kirkgate, Tadcaster, Yorkshire; 17 Doughty Street, London WC.	Unknown, BSc L.S.A. (Eng.), M.D. (U.S.A.).	Surgeon’s Assistant?	Born Littleborough, Lancashire.	AI: Joined 1885	No	1901 Census
Henry Neville Hutchinson (1856-1927)	39 Bedford Gardens, Campden Hill, Kensington, London. (In the list of members of the Folklore Society for 1900 the address is given as 37 Vincent Square, London).	Rugby / St John’s College, Cambridge	Churchman	Born Chester. After 1891 he devoted himself to literary work, publishing a large number of books of a geological and anthropological nature. He had an interest in photography and in 1899 proposed that the AI form a photographic collection.	AI: Joined 1898 Other learned societies: Folklore; Geological; Zoological; RGS Clubs: Royal Societies	No	Who was who
George Iles (1852-1942)	5 Brunswick Street, Montreal, Canada.	Unknown. LL.D (honorary) from McGill	Writer and hotel manager	Born in Gibraltar, died in New York. Went to Canada in 1857. Journalist and author of various books including Flame, Electricity and the Camera (1900) on technological evolution. He was also a hotel manager	AI: Joined 1898. Still on list of AI Fellows in 1937.	No	See here
Henry Jackson (1839-1921)	Trinity College, Cambridge.	Sheffield Collegiate School; Cheltenham College / Trinity College, Cambridge [Classics]	Academic	Born Sheffield; died Bournemouth. Spent his whole life at Trinity, becoming Vice-Master 1914. Became Regius Professor of Greek in 1906. Order of Merit 1908. Honorary degrees from St Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Oxford, Manchester & Sheffield	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863 Other learned societies: British Academy Clubs: Athenaeum	No. This does not appear to be the Henry Jackson whose South African collection was given to the PRM by his son.	ODNB; Who was who
Alexander Hay Japp (1836-1905)	National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW.	Edinburgh University [Metaphysics, Logic & Moral Philosophy-did not graduate]	Author	Born Dun, Forfarshire; died Coulsdon, Surrey. He had a mixed career, starting as clerk in various offices but moving into journalism, publishing and writing. Many of his works were published under a range of pseudonyms. Some of his work is apparently less than reliable. In the 1900 AI list of Fellows, he is down as having an LL.D. It is not clear where he received this.	AI: Joined 1900 Other learned societies: Royal Society of Edinburgh (1880) Clubs: National Liberal	No	ODNB
William? J. Jeaffreson (1834?-?)	Savage Club, Adelphi, London.	MA	Journalist?	Unknown	AI: Joined 1872; he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919, but no address is given for him from 1902. Clubs: Savage	No	1901 Census but no certainty the right William Jeaffreson.
Frederick J. Jeffrey (Unknown)	When he was elected to the ASL in 1869 his address was Woolton Hall, Liverpool. He was still in Liverpool in 1879, but after that no address for him appears in the list of Fellows.	Unknown	Unknown	In 1869 he gave the ASL his work ‘A Genealogical Chart of the House of Bourbon’.	AI: Joined 1869. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919.	No	Unknown
Frank Byron Jevons (1858-1936)	Hatfield Hall, Durham University.	Wadham College, Oxford [Classics]	Academic	Spent career at Durham University. Principal of Hatfield Hall, Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Philosophy.	AI: Joined 1898. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903. Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Entomological; Royal Society of Literature.	No	Who was who
Henry [Harry] Hamilton Johnston (1858-1927)	c/o Foreign Office, London.	Stockwell Grammar School / King’s College, London; Royal Academy Schools [Modern Languages; Painting]	Explorer	Born London; died Worksop. Started life as artist but decided, while in Tunis in 1880, to devote himself to African exploration. Between 1882-1900 spent most of the time in Africa on exploration and administration. Numerous publications and contributions to science. Collections to Kew, British Museum and London Zoo. KCB, 1896; GCMG, 1901. Gold Medals of RGS, RSGS, and Zoological Society. Honorary degree from Cambridge. JP. Stood unsuccessfully, as a Liberal, for Parliament in 1903 and 1906.	AI: Joined 1885. Served as AI Vice-President Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Scottish Geographical; Zoological; African. Served on RGS Council; African Society President Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 1 August 1927
Augustus Henry Keane (1833-1912)	79 Broadhurst Gardens, South Hampstead, London.	Dublin; Propaganda College, Rome [BA]	Academic	Born Cork; died London. Brought up for priesthood but declined to enter it. Professor of Hindustani, University College London. Honorary degree from St Andrews. Numerous anthropological publications, mainly on language and linguistics. In Who was who he describes his career as ‘uneventful’ and his education as having taken place in Jersey, Italy, Dublin and Hanover.	AI: Joined 1879. Served as AI Vice-President Other learned societies: RGS	No	Who was who; Obits: Man 12 (1912); The Times, 5 February 1912
George A. possibly Alexander Kennedy (Unknown)	76 Seedley Road, Pendleton, Manchester.	Unknown	Engineer	Unknown	AI: Joined 1891, disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1902.	No	See here
James Kennedy (?-1920)	14 Frognal Lane, Finchley Road, London.	High School, Edinburgh / University of Edinburgh	Indian Civil Service	Indian Civil Servant (United Provinces Civil Service) from 1863. Magistrate and Collector in 1884 and retired in 1890. This fits with his knowledge of Middle Eastern and Persian history as demonstrated in JAI. Contributed to the historical volume of the Imperial Gazeteer of India	AI: Joined 1894. Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1900. Other learned societies: Royal Asiatic (1891), Treasurer of Royal Asiatic from 1904-1917, and 1919.	No	1901 Census, and see here and here
William Kincaid (1831-1909)	c/o Messrs Alexander Fletcher & Co., St Helen’s Place, Bishopsgate, London.	Unknown	Military	Indian Army from 1849, returned to Europe 1887. BM database says 1849 (March) Ensign, Madras army 1864 (March) Appointed to adjust boundaries disputes, Bhopal agency 1866 Assistant political agent, Bundelkhand; small cause court judge and cantonment magistrate, Nowgong 1876 (August) Political Agent, Bhopal 1879 (October) Political Agent, Bhopawar, and commandant, Malwa Bhil Corps 1881 (June) Political Agent, Bhopal 1886 Returned to Europe 1889 (October) To US list (unemployed) 1890 Major-General 1891 Moved to Italy; (date of return from Italy not traced)  1909 Died, Bournemouth	AI: Joined (ASL) 1865. An article on the Bheels of Rajashtan in JAI 9 (1880).	No	Who was who and here
Eustace John Kitts (circa 1852-1925)	Gorakhpur, Northwest Province, India.	Unknown	Indian Civil Service	Died Hove. Served in India 1874-1902. There are four book by Kitts listed on OLIS-two on India and two on papal history	AI: Joined 1891 Other learned societies: Folklore Society	Yes. Field Collector	Obit: The Times, 4 June 1925
Louis Leopold Martial Baynard de Beaumont Klein (1849-1934)	Montford House, 26 Alexandra Drive, Liverpool.	DSc	Church	According to the DNB Klein was a French academic, and formerly a Jesuit priest, late Fellow and Examiner in Biology in the University of Ireland. he had been his wife’s former tutor.	AI: Joined 1895, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1905. Other learned societies: Literary	No	Unknown. See his son’s DNB entry
William James Knowles (1832-1927)	Floxton Place, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland (later changed to Flixton Place).	Privately	Teacher, land agent and antiquarian	Born Fernagh, Co Antrim. Published seventy papers in journals, mainly on Northern Ireland archaeology. His collection of 30,000 items was sold in London in 1924.	AI: Joined 1881. Disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1925. Other learned societies: Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club; Royal Irish Academy; Royal Society of Antiquaries for Ireland.	Yes. Field Collector	Dictionary of Ulster Biography.
Taw Sein Ko (1864-1930)	2 Latter Street, Rangoon, Burma.	Rangoon College, Inner Temple, Inns of Court;	Colonial service	Indian Civil Service. Held a variety of posts in British colonial government in Burma, relating to translation, archaeology, etc. Numerous publications. Lecturer at Cambridge, 1892-3. Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire; Imperial Service Order.	AI: Joined 1893, disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1907.	No	Who was who and wikipedia
John Samuel Krauss (circa 1842-?)	Smedley’s Establishment, Matlock.*	BA	Unknown	A.J.S. Krauss, if it is the same one, published a book on the practicableness of aerial navigation in 1901. Listed as ‘Living on own means’ and born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, in 1901 Census. *Smedley’s Establishment was for hydropathic treatment. The building is now the HQ of the Derbyshire County Council.	AI: Joined 1894, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903.	No	1901 Census
William White La Barte (circa 1824- 1904)	9 Creffield Road, Colchester.	MA	Reverend	Born Ireland. Curate of St. Leonard’s Parish Church in Lexden, Colchester in Essex, his stay in Ilkeston [in 1879] was very short-lived. In January 1880 he returned to Lexden	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863 / AI Local Secretary, Brighton Other learned societies: Essex Field Club	No	1901 Census, se here
George Granville Lancaster (1853 - 1907)	Marton Hall, Baschurch, Shrewsbury.	Magdalene, Cambridge	Landowner	If this was George Granville Lancaster, he later owned Kelmarsh Hall, Northampton from 1902	AI: Joined 1895	No	1901 Census
Andrew Lang (1844-1912)	1 Marloes Road, Kensington, London.	Selkirk Grammar School; Edinburgh Academy / St Andrew’s; Glasgow; Balliol College, Oxford [Classics]	Writer	Born Selkirk; died Banchory. Fellow of Merton College, Oxford 1868-75. Thereafter lived in London working as a writer. Prolific output in many fields including anthropology, history, classics and folklore. Honorary degrees from Oxford and St Andrews.	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Folklore; Society for Psychical Research; British Academy (1906). Served as Folklore Society President; Society for Psychical Research Chairman Clubs: Athenaeum	Yes. Other Owner	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Folkore 23 (1912). This volume contains 18 pp on Lang; Man (12) (1912); The Times 22 July 1912
Walter William Law (1837-1924)	Scarborough, New York, USA.	School in Kidderminster	Carpet Business-man	Born in England, emigrated to USA in 1859. He later worked for W. & J. Sloane, becoming a partner and board member. In 1890 he retired with TB and developed Briarcliff Manor (an area of New York). He was known for his classical interests, and left a large library	AI: Joined 1888, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1933 (it is not clear why his membership appears to have lasted longer than he did!).	No	Wikipedia
Edward Lawrence (-1953)	56 Blenheim Road, Walthamstow, Essex.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1885. He was a Fellow of the AI for 67 years.	No	Unknown
George Fabian* Lawrence (1861-1939)	7 West Hill, Wandsworth, London SW.	Unknown	Pawnbroker	‘Stoney Jack’, Born London; died London. Worked for Museum of London and responsible for large amount of material including Cheapside Hoard. *In the AI list of Fellows his second given name is spelt Fabeau.	AI: Joined 1899, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1911.	Yes. Other Owner	1901 Census; and here
Kate Lee aka Catherine Anna Lee nee Spooner (1860-1904)	8 Victoria Road, Kensington, London.	Royal Academy of Music	Vocalist	Relative of the famous Spooner. Keen professional singer and musician and collector of folk songs. Founder member of the Folk Song Society.	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Folklore; Folk-Song, Irish Literary. Served as Secretary, Lecture Committee Folklore Society	No	1901 Census and jstor
Charles John Letts (1839-1910)	8 Bartlett’s Buildings, Holborn Circus, London.	Unknown	Publisher and stationer	Born London. Founder of Charles Letts & Co, the publlsher of diaries.	AI: Joined 1901 Other learned societies: Folklore	No	1901 Census; see here. See also ODNB, under Thomas Letts, his father.
Charles James Longman (1852-1934)	27 Norfolk Square, London.	Harrow / University College, Oxford	Publisher	President of the Publishers’ Association. Oxford football blue and archery champion of England. Many of the items associated with him in the Pitt Rivers Museum have to do with archery. He co-authored the book on the subject for the Badminton Series. JP. His wife, Harriet Ann, was the daughter of Sir John Evans.	AI: Joined 1893	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB-his entry is incorporated in a long article on the Longman family; Who was who; Obit: The Times 18 April 1934
Hugh Low (1824-1905)	23 De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London.	Private	Colonial Officer	GCMG (1883). Served in Sarawak and Resident in Perak.	AI: Joined 1891 Other learned societies: Linnean; Geological; Zoological; Antiquaries	Field Collector	Who was who
William McDougall (1871-1938)	St John’s College, Cambridge.	Private; Realgymnasium, Weimar, Germany / Manchester University; St John’s College, Cambridge [Natural Science]	Academic	Born Chadderton, Lancs.; died Durham, North Carolina. Member of the Torres Straits Expedition. Reader in Psychology, UCL (1901-7); Wilde Reader in Natural Philosophy, Oxford (1904-20). Major in RAMC in World War I. William James Chair, Harvard (1920-7); Duke University (1927-38). Honorary degree from Manchester University	AI: Joined 1900 Other learned societies: British Psychological; Royal Society (1912). Co-founder British Psychological Society	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 29 November 1938
Arthur Cruttenden Mace (1874-1928)	All Saints’ Lodge, Hawley, Hampshire.	St Edwards School / Keble College, Oxford	Egyptologist	Worked with William Flinders Petrie in Egypt 1897-1901. From 1901 he was Assistant Curator at the Metropolitan Museum, New York	AI: Joined 1901	Yes. Field Collector	Numerous websites, some including photographs.
Robert Craig Maclagan (1839-1919)	5 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh.	Royal High School / University of Edinburgh	Medicine	He contributed regularly to Folklore, and was a leading light in the collection of Scottish folklore. His career as a physician ended with his deafness and interest in non-medical matters	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Societies; Scottish Antiquaries; Royal Society of Edinburgh Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Other Owner	See here
Nottidge Charles Macnamara (1832-1918)	13 Grosvenor Street. London W.	KIng’s College Hospital	Medicine	Surgeon at Westminster Hospital and Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. Professor of Ophthalmic Medicine, Calcutta. Vice-President of the British Medical Association. His initials are mistakenly given as W.C. in the 1900 list of Fellows. His eldest daughter, Nora, married Montagu Lubbock, brother of Sir John Lubbock.	AI: Joined 1900. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1902. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Royal College of Surgeons of India. Served as Royal College of Surgeons Vice-President. Clubs: Athenaeum	No	Who was who; 1901 Census, see here
David MacRitchie (1851-1925)	4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh.	Edinburgh Southern Academy; Edinburgh Institution / Edinburgh University	Chartered Accountant	Born Edinburgh. His membership of the Folklore Society had ceased by 1900.	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: Antiquaries of Ireland; Gypsy Lore; St Andrew; Folklore; Antiquaries of Scotland; Scottish Anthropological and Folklore Society Served as Gypsy Lore Society founding member and Treasurer, SAFS Clubs: Scottish Arts, Edinburgh	No	Who was who and wikipedia
William Elphinstone Malcolm (1817-1907)	Burnfoot, Langholm, Dumfries.	Trinity College, Cambridge [M.A.]	Landowner	JP, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Dumfriesshire Volunteers	AI: Joined (ESL) 1855. When he died he had been a Fellow of the AI for 57 years. Other learned societies: RGS Clubs: Royal Societies	No	See here and here
Edward Horace Man (1846-1929)	2 Palace Road, Kingston-on-Thames.	Unknown	Colonial officer	Born Singapore. Served on Andaman and Nicobar Islands, publishing on both. Commander of the Indian Empire.	AI: Joined 1881 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Asiatic Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	Obit: Man 30 (1930); See here
Henry Colley March (circa 1838-1916)	Portesham, Dorchester.	St Thomas’ Hospital, M.D. [Medicine]	Medicine	Member of the AI Ethnographical Survey Committee during the 1890s. Published a number of works on archaeology, folklore and other matters.	AI: Joined 1892 Other learned societies: Folklore; Antiquaries; Rochdale Library and Scientific; Archaeological Institute; Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club	No	1901 Census; See here
Robert Ranulph Marett (1866 – 1843)	Exeter College, Oxford.	St Aubin’s School, Jersey; Victoria College, Jersey / Balliol College, Oxford [Classics]	Academic	Born Jersey; died Oxford. Tutor, and then Rector, Exeter College, Oxford. Reader, and then Professor, in Social Anthropology, Oxford. Honorary degrees from St Andrews and Oxford	AI: Joined 1896. Served on AI Council; Other learned societies: Folklore; British Academy (1931); Sociological Institute; British Speleological Association. Served as Folklore Society President; Sociological Institute President	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 44 (1944)
Alfred Percival Maudslay (1850-1931)	32 Montpelier Square, Knightsbridge, London.	Harrow School / Trinity Hall, Cambridge [Natural Sciences]	Colonial Officer	Born Lower Norwood, Surrey; died Fownhope, Herefordshire. Held various colonial posts in Caribbean and Pacific. His collections from them led to founding of the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge. Best known for his work in Central America. His Mayan collections are mainly in the British Museum. Honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge	AI: Joined 1894. Served as AI President Other learned societies: RGS; Antiquaries; American Anthropological Association; American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Served as RGS Hon. Secretary Clubs: Travellers’; St James’s	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 32 (1932)
Raphael Meldola (1849-1915)	6 Brunswick Square, London.	Privately / Royal College of Chemistry; Royal School of Mines	Industrial Chemist	Born London; died London. Worked for manufacturers of dyestuffs on which subject he became an expert. Professor of Chemistry, Finsbury Technical College (1885-1915). Had an interest in photography and published photographs of Nicobarese. Honorary degrees from Oxford, where he delivered Herbert Spencer lecture, and St Andrews.	AI: Joined 1881 Other learned societies: Royal (1886); Royal Astronomical; Institute of Chemistry; Entomological; Chemical; Essex Field Club. Served as Institute of Chemistry President; Entomological Society President & Secretary; Royal Society Council Clubs: Athenaeum; Society of Maccabaeans	No	ODNB; Who was who
Adam Brunton Messer (?1837-1919)	Kinclune, Carlisle Road, Eastbourne.	Edinburgh Academy / Edinburgh University; Paris University [Medicine]	Royal Navy / Medicine	Long & distinguished naval career. Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets. Hon. Physician to Queen Victoria, King Edward VII & King George V.	AI: Joined 1877 Clubs: Caledonian United Services, Edinburgh	No	Who was who; 1901 Census; Obit: The Times 14 October 1919
Herbert Vincent Mills (circa 1857-?)	Riverside, Kendal.	Unknown	Church	Born Accrington, Lancashire; Unitarian Minister, social reformer and founder of short-lived utopian community at Starnthwaite.	AI: Joined 1901, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903.	No	1901 Census; see wikipedia
A. Mitchell (Unknown)	87 Regent Street, London.	M.D.	Medicine	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1910.	No
Frederic David Mocatta (1828-1905)	9 Connaught Place, London.	Privately	Banker	Born and died London. Member of the banking family. His grandfather founded the firm Mocatta and Goldsmid, bullion brokers to the Bank of England. Wide-ranging philanthropic interests, especially for Jewish causes. Keen supporter of RSPCA	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: Folklore; Jewish Historical. Served as Jewish Historical Society President	No	ODNB
Cornelius Alfred Moloney (1848-1913)	Government House, St George’s, Grenada, West Indies.	Royal Military College, Sandhurst	Military	Born Ireland?; died near Florence. Served in 1st West India Regiment before moving into colonial administration in West Africa, British Honduras (governor), Windward Islands (governor), and Trinidad and Tobago (governor). CMG 1882; KCMG 1890. Strong interest in botany, forestry and agriculture. Founded botanic gardens in Lagos and Belize. Close contacts with Kew Gardens.	AI: Joined 1883 Other learned societies: RGS Clubs: Naval & Military	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 14 August 1913
Walter Morrison (1836-1921)	77 Cromwell Road, London.	Eton / Balliol College, Oxford [Classics]	Business	Born London; died Sidmouth Devon. Family firm was Morrison, Dillon & Co., a wholesale textiles, drapery and haberdashery business. Very successful businessman, and expanded his interests outside the family firm into banking and railways. Liberal MP for Plymouth 1861-74; Liberal Unionist MP for Skipton, Yorks 1886-92, 1895-1900. Gave numerous large benefactions including to Oxford: funded a Readership in Egyptology and is one of the Bodleian Library’s chief benefactors. Honorary degree from Oxford. JP.	: Joined 1870 Other learned societies: Palestine Exploration Fund Clubs: United University	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 20 December 1921; See also 23 & 27 December and 3 February 1922.
John Robert Mortimer (1825-1911)	Driffield, Yorkshire.	Fridaythorpe village school	Corn merchant	Born Fimber, Yorkshire; died Driffield. Scientific interests aroused by 1851 Great Exhibition. Work confined almost exclusively to Yorkshire Wolds on whose archaeology and geology he published extensively. Created museum in Driffield which closed and his collections are in Hull.	AI: Joined 1894	No	ODNB; Obit: Man 12 (1912)
Benjamin Henry Mullen (1862-1925)	Royal Museum, Peel Park, Salford.	Bective College, Dublin; Foyle College, Londonderry / Trinity College, Dublin [MA]	Museum curator	Born Dublin. Director of Museums and Libraries, Salford from 1892. See J.L. Myres, ‘Notes on the ethnographical collections of the Royal Museum, Peel Park, Salford’, Man 2 (1902), pp. 37-8.	AI: Joined 1897. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1901. Other learned societies: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.	No	Who was who
Robert Munro (1835-1920)	48 Manor Place, Edinburgh.	Tain Royal Academy / Edinburgh University [Medicine] M.A., M.D.	Medicine	Born Ross-shire; died Largs, Scotland. Practised medicine until 1886 when he retired to devote himself to his anthropological and archaeological interests. Numerous publications	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: Royal Society of Edinburgh; Antiquaries of Scotland. Served as Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Secretary Clubs: Authors’	No	Who was who; Obit: Man 20 (1920)
Adam Murray (Unknown)	No address is given but when he was elected a Fellow in 1871 it was 4 Westbourne Crescent, Hyde Park, London.	Unknown	Possibly Chartered Accountant?	Unknown	AI: Joined 1871. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919. Other learned societies: Geological, Statistical? Clubs: Royal Societies?	No	See here
Edmund Knowles Muspratt (1833-1923)	Seaforth Hall, Seaforth, Liverpool.	Pestalozzian Institute, Worksop / University of Giessen, Hesse; University of Munich [Chemistry]	Industrial chemist	Born Bootle; died Seaforth. His father, James Muspratt, founded the alkali industry in Lancashire. The firm he founded was eventually absorbed by ICI. Helped found University College Liverpool, which was later to become Liverpool University of which he was elected Pro-Chancellor in 1903. Honorary degree. Wide-ranging interests including politics, education, foreign travel, music and theatre. JP.	AI: Joined 1875 Other learned societies: Chemical; Chemical Industry; Institute of Chemistry. Served as Society of Chemical Industry founding member and President.	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 3 September 1923.
Charles Samuel Myers (1873-1946)	62 Holland Park, London.	City of London School / Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge; St Bartholomew’s, London [Natural Science]	Psychologist	Born London; died Minehead. Member of Torres Straits expedition. Held posts in psychology at Cambridge, King’s College, London and National Institute of Industrial Psychology which he helped found. Commissioned in RAMC in First World War; worked on shell shock. Numerous publications, including some on ethnomusicology. Honorary degrees from Manchester, Calcutta and Pennsylvania. CBE 1919	AI: Joined 1896 / AI Council. Other learned societies: British Psychological; Royal Society 1915; Folklore. Served as British Psychological Society President Clubs: Athenaeum; Alpine	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 14 & 16 October 1946.
Mansukhlal Hiralal Nazar (1862-1906)	P.O. Box 182, Durban, Natal, South Africa.	Unknown	Unknown	Self-styled Representative of Indians in South Africa. Editor, Indian Opinion.	AI: Joined 1898, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903.	No	See here and here and various other websites through Google;
William Malcolm Newton (1845-1930)	96 Wood Street, London EC.	Unknown	Printer	Born Newcastle-on-Tyne; died Dartford. Interested in archaeology of the stone age. Published on the subject.	AI: Joined 1898	No	Obit: Man 30 (1930)
Charles Nicholson (1808-1903)	The Grange, Totteridge, Hertfordshire.	Edinburgh University [Medicine]	Politician	Born Cockermouth, Cumberland; died Totteridge. Was in Australia 1834-62. Much involved in politics and in the founding of Sydney University of which he was Chancellor 1854-62. Knighted 1852-first Australian baronet 1859 Honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh. Interested in Egyptian and classical antiquities.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1858 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Asiatic; Royal Colonial Institute; Royal Society of Arts; Royal Society of Literature Clubs: Athenaeum	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times, 10 November 1903
Gustav Solomon Oppert (1836-1908)	Bulowstrasse 55, Berlin, Germany.	Universities of Bonn, Leipsig, Berlin and Halle	Unknown	Born Hamburg. Authority on Hebrew, Sanskrit and Indian languages. Held chairs at universities of Berlin and Madras. Numerous publications. When he joined the Ethnological Society of London his address was Windsor. In 1860 he was assistant librarian at the Bodleian Library and then the assistant librarian to Queen Victoria at Windsor. He left the UK in 1872	AI: Joined (ESL) 1869	No	JAI 39 (1909); Agnes Stache-Rosen, German Indologists: Biographies of Scholars in Indian Studies Writing in Germany and wikipedia and here
Walter Mantell Parker (Unknown)	None given, although in 1870 he was living in Farnham, Surrey and in 1879 in Alton, Hants.	Unknown	Engineeer and Ironworker	He got a Board of Trade licence for a ‘Cleopatra’ locket, and was declared bankrupt in 1887. ?Owner of the Wey Ironworks, Alton	AI: Joined 1870, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919.	No	Unknown
William Parkin (c 1841?-?)	The Mount, Sheffield.	Unknown	Cutler?	Possibly the scissor manufacturer listed in 1901 Census elsewhere described as ‘dealing in cutlery’ for 2 firms ‘William Parkin & Son; and Parkin & Marshall. There is a Sheffield tool manufacturer called William Parkin & Co Ltd	AI: Joined 1898, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1915.	No	See here and here
Richard Heinrich Robert Parkinson (1844-1909)	Ralum, Bismarck Archipelago.	Unknown	Ethno-graphic collector and Plantation manager	Born Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark; died Herbertshohe, Neu Pommern (New Britain). Worked for Godeffroy & Sohn collecting ethnographic objects for Godeffroy museum. In Samoa from 1875-1882, and then moved to New Britain. He produced numerous publications in German and English.	AI: Joined 1897	No	Wikipedia Man 8 (1908); JAI 40 (1910); See Jim Specht sketch in Thirty years in the South Seas (Crawford House, Bathhurst, 1999).
James Edge Partington (1854-1930)	Park Hall, Great Bardfield, Essex.	Rugby	Solicitor, lived on own means	Born Rusholme, Lancashire. Trained as lawyer but never practised and listed as ‘living on own means’ in 1901 Census. Supernumerary association with British Museum. Made two extensive trips to the Pacific. Very numerous publications.	AI: Joined 1891 / AI Council	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census; Obit: Man 31 (1931), wikipedia
Andrew Melville Paterson (1862-1919)	Anatomy Department, University College, Liverpool.	Manchester Grammar School / Owen’s College; Edinburgh [Medicine]	Medicine	Whole career in anatomy becoming Professor of Anatomy, Liverpool University in 1894. Major in RAMC in World War 1.	AI: Joined 1891 Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Anatomical; Royal Academy of Music? Served as Anatomical Society, President Clubs: Royal Societies; Royal Liverpool Golf; Royal and Ancient Golf, St Andrew’s	No	Who was who
John Dennis Paul (Unknown)	Town End Close, Ratcliffe Road, Knighton, Leicester.	Unknown	Ironmonger	Author of paper on the origin of the Corporation of Leicester	AI: Joined 1899. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906 by which year his address is in Italy. Other learned societies: Geological Society; Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeology; Leicester Literary and Philosophical	No	See here
Augusta Louisa Peek nee Brodrick (1854-1934)	22 Belgrave Square, London.	Unknown	Unknown	Wife of Sir Cuthbert Peek (q.v) and daughter of William Brodrick, eighth Viscount Midleton.	AI: Joined 1891, she disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919.	Yes. Donor. The item was donated by Sir Cuthbert via Lady Peek after the former’s death.	ODNB (see Cuthbert Peek,); 1901 Census; see here and here
Hester Pengelly (1865? -1934)	c/o Rev. Professor Harley, 15 Westbourne Road, Forest Hill, London. In 1899 and 1901 her address is also given as Lamorna, Torquay (her father’s home).	Cheltenham Ladies’ College	Unknown	Writer. She was daughter of William Pengelly FRS, FGS, FAI, the geologist and married Henry Forbes Julian who died on the Titanic. She disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1901. Travelled widely with her husband. Had an interest in geology and wrote a biography of her father. See Robert Harley, mathematician and Congregational minister (ODNB)	AI: Joined 1894 Other learned societies: Torquay Natural History Society; Devonshire Association	No	See here; and The biographical dictionary of women is science; see also here
William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942)	University College London, Gower Street, London.	Privately	Egyptologist	Born Charlton, near Greenwich; died Jerusalem. His maternal grandfather was Captain Matthew Flinders, the explorer of Australia. Early work in Egypt funded by Egypt Exploration Fund, wealthy patrons and the Palestine Exploration Fund. Very numerous publications. Edwards Professor of Egyptology, UCL, 1892-1933. Honorary degrees from Oxford, Edinburgh, Strasbourg and Cambridge. Knighted 1923.	AI: Joined 1900. Served on AI Council Other learned societies: Royal Society 1902; British Academy 1904; Royal Irish Academy; American Philosophical Society	Yes. Field Collector, Other Owner and Donor	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 43 (1943)
Henry Meredyth Plowden (1840-1920)	Leintwardine, Herefordshire.	Harrow / Trinity College, Cambridge	Indian Civil Service	Barrister Lincoln’s Inn, and then government advocate and Judge in India 1870-94. Knighted 1887.	AI: Joined 1898 Clubs: Royal Societies	No	Who was who
Maurice Vidal Portman (1860-1935)	West Stratton House, Micheldever Station, Hampshire.	Unknown	Colonial Officer	Describes himself in an article in JAI as both working for the Ethnographic Department of the British Museum and Officer in command of the Andamanese in Port Blair. He wrote two books on the Andaman Islanders. He retired in 1901 after which there is little information about him. He had a falling out with Tylor, writing: ‘Oxford will get nothing more from me so long as Dr. Tylor remains in charge at the Museum.’	AI: Joined 1895, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1902.	Yes. Field Collector.	JAI 25 (1896); see here; Obit: The Times 22 February 1935
Charles William James [known as C.J.] Praetorius (?1868-1956)	Pomona House, New King’s Road, Fulham, London.	Unknown	Artist	Artist, RA, ‘an accomplished painter and illustrator who exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1888 and 1914’. He seems to have produced halftone prints of Maori wood carvings, and also a set of facsimile watercolour postcards of Selsey and Pagham in Sussex.	AI: Joined 1896. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1900 although there are two pieces by him in Man 3 (1904) & 6 (1906). Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Royal Academy	No	See here
Ernest Arthur Preen (1868-1942)	Conellan House, Malvern Link.	Unknown	Estate Agent clerk among other jobs	Born Ilfracombe, Devonshire. ‘Ernest tried his hand at many things. For a while he worked in Birmingham. He was also apprenticed to Warwick House, Malvern in the furniture department. Around 1900, he joined Cox and Painter Lear and son of Church Street, Malvern Wells, auctioneers and estate agents. He provided valuations and catalogues for their antiques and also collected them himself. He lived in Worcester, Kidderminster and Hereford among other places and finally settled in Malvern.’	AI: Joined 1901, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1902.	No	1901 Census; see here
Frederick George Hilton Price (1842-1909)	17 Collingham Gardens, London SW.	Crawford College, Maidenhead	Banker	Died Cannes. Career spent with Child’s Bank. Interest in Egyptology and was President of Egyptian Exploration Fund. Collector of antiquities and published various papers.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1868. Served as AI Hon. Treasurer. Other learned societies: Antiquaries; Geological; RGS; Royal Numismatic; Zoological; Biblical Archaeology. Served as Society of Antiquaries Director; Society of Biblical Archaeology Vice-President Clubs: Athenaeum; Burlington Fine Arts Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obit: The Times 18 March 1909
Sidney Edward Bouverie Bouverie [sic] Pusey (?1839-1911)	18 Bryanston Sreet, Portgman Square, London; Pusey House, Farringdon, Berkshire	Unknown	Writer	Interested in evolution according to the papers he wrote. His father, Philip, was the elder brother of Edward Bouverie Pusey, the churchman associated with the Oxford Movement. Publications, including in JASL.	AI: Joined (ASL & ESL) 1862. Served on ASL & AI Councils. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1909. Other learned societies: RGS; Folklore	No	See here here and here
Arthur Stanley Quick (circa 1870-?)	33 Brixton Hill, London SW.	Unknown	Law	Born London. He appears to have become a Fellow of the AI in 1899, then to have elapsed and been re-elected in 1904. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1931.	AI: Joined 1899 (see below). Served on AI Council and as legal adviser	No	1901 Census
David Randall-MacIver (1873-1945)	Wolverton House, Clifton, near Bristol.	Radley College / Queen’s College, Oxford [Classics]	Archaeologist	Born London; died New York. Laycock Student of Egyptology, Worcester College, Oxford 1900-6. Carried out research in Mexico, Egypt, Rhodesia and in the Mediterranean region. Numerous publications.	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Antiquaries; British Academy 1938; Egypt Exploration; Antiquaries of Scotland; American Geographical Clubs: Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
Edwin Ransom (1841-1927)	24 Ashburnham Road, Bedford.	Private	Mill owner	Born Hitchin; died Bedford. Owner of The Bedfordshire Times and Independent. Quaker. Travelled widely and supported Palestine Exploration Fund. Mayor of Bedford 1885. There is a Edwin Ransome, a retired miller, listed in the 1901 Census as living in Bedford. However, this site notes a miller, Edwin Ransom, at Kempston Mill at the right time. When earlier volumes of the JAI give Ransom’s address as Kempstone.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1868 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Asiatic; Royal Agricultural	No	Obit: The Bedfordshire Times and Independent 6 May 1927
Goday Naraen Gajapati Rao (?1828-1903)	Vizagapatam, India.	Private / Hindu College, Calcutta	Politician	He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903. If the match is the right one then he was an Indian aristocrat and politician.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866	No	See wikipedia
Sidney Herbert Ray (1858-1939)	218 Balfour Road, Ilford, Essex.	British School, Bethnal Green / St Mark’s College, Chelsea (teacher training college)	School teacher	Born London; died Southend. Spent career as teacher at Olga Street School Bethnal Green. Authority on Melanesian languages. Numerous publications on subject. Accompanied Cambridge expedition to Fly River, New Guinea, 1898-9. Honorary MA from Cambridge.	AI: Joined 1890. Served on AI Council & as Vice-President. Other learned societies: British & Foreign Bible; RGS. Served as British & Foreign Bible Society Hon. Life Governor; RGS Hon. Fellow	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Man 39 (1939) The Times 4 January 1939; 10 January 1939
Robert William Reid (1851-1939)	37 Albyn Place, Aberdeen.	Aberdeen University; Leipzig University; St Thomas’s Hospital [Medicine	Medicine	Born Auchindoir, Aberdeenshire; died Aberdeen. Regius Professor of Anatomy, Aberdeen University 1889-1925. Founder & Honorary Curator, Anthropological Museum, Aberdeen University. Reid Lectureship in Anthropology named after him.	AI: Joined 1886 Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Anatomical. Served as Anatomical Society President	No	Who was who; Obits: Man 39 (1939); The Times 29 July 1939; 1 August 1939
Charles Jeremiah [NB not James] Renshaw (1841-1916 or 1917)	Ashton-on-Mersey, Manchester.	St Andrews Glasgow MD FRCS	Medicine	Born Ashton-on-Mersey. Wrote pamphlets on the memorials of his home parish and its history published in 1889 and 1914. In 1900 he published a book about his train journey to Moscow to attend the 12th International Medical Congress in 1897.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863. Life member of the AI but does not appear to have participated in the Institute in any way. Other learned societies: British Medical Association Clubs: Royal Societies	No	1901 Census; see here and here
Herbert Addington Rigg (1845-1924)	13 Queen’s Gate Place, London; Wallhurst Manor, Cowfold, Horsham, Sussex	Tonbridge School / Trinity College, Cambridge [another source gives London University]; Inner Temple	Barrister	Northern Circuit; and practised at Parliamentary Bar. JP. KC 1906.	AI: Joined 1893. He does not appear to have played an active part in AI. Other learned societies: Antiquaries. Clubs: Athenaeum; New University	No	Who was who; 1901 Census; see here and here
Herbert Hope Risley (1851-1911)	Bengal Secretariat, Calcutta, India.	Winchester College / New College, Oxford [Law & Modern History]	Indian Civil Service	Born Akeley, Buckinghamshire; died Wimbledon, Surrey. Served in India in various capacities 1873-1910. CIE 1892; CSI 1904; KCIE 1907. Honorary Director of Ethnography for India. Numerous major publications on India.	AI: Joined 1889 / AI President Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Asiatic. Served as RAS President Clubs: East India; United Service	Yes. Other Owner?	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 12 (1912); The Times 3 October 1911
George Frederick Samuel Robinson (1827-1909)	9 Chelsea Embankment, London SW; Studley Royal, Ripon, Yorkshire.	Privately at home	Politician	Born London; died Ripon. His father was Earl of Ripon who was briefly Prime Minister (1827-8) at the time his son was born at 10 Downing Street. MP (Liberal) for Hull (1852-3), Huddersfield (1853-7) and West Riding (1857-9), after that sat in House of Lords. Served in Cabinet under Palmerston and Gladstone. Secretary of State for India; Viceroy of India 1880-1884; First Lord of the Admiralty; Colonial Secretary. Honorary degree from Oxford. His title changes during his life-Viscount Goderich; Earl De Grey and Ripon; Marquess of Ripon.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1850 Other learned societies: Royal Society Clubs: Brooks's; Reform; Traveller's; Athenæum; United Service; Cosmopolitan; Eighty	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 10 July 1909
Louis Robinson (circa 1858-?)	61 Killieser Avenue, Streatham Hill, London SW.	M.D.	Medicine	Possibly the author of various works on Darwinism and evolution.	AI: Joined 1892. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1900. He appears to have been quite active in AI affairs in early 1890s.	No	1901 Census
Horace Arthur Rose (1867-1933)	Simla, India.	St Paul’s / Emmanuel College, Cambridge	Indian Civil Service	Indian Civil Service 1888-1917. Superintendent of Ethnography, Punjab 1901-6. Numerous publications including monographs and articles in JAI & Man.	AI: Joined 1901. Monographs and articles in JAI & Man.	No	Who was who
Henry Ling Roth (1855-1925)	32 Prescott Street, Halifax.	University College School / Germany? [Natural Science & Philosophy]	Museum director	Born London; died Halifax. Brother of Walter E. Roth. Travelled widely in Australia, West Indies and elsewhere. Numerous publications. From 1900 associated with Bankfield Museum and later became its Keeper.	AI: Joined 1882	Yes. Field Collector	Obit: Man 25 (1925)
Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (1877-1923)	Tring Park, Tring, Hertfordshire.	Harrow School / Trinity College, Cambridge [Natural Science]	Banker	Born London; died Aston Wold, near Oundle, Northamptonshire (suicide). Second son of the first Baron Rothschild. One of his daughters was Miriam Rothschild DBE, FRS. Founder of Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves (today Royal Society for Nature Conservation). Published extensively on entomological and botanical matters. Held numerous public and commercial positions.	AI: Joined 1882. Although the list of AI Fellows gives his election date as 1882, the JAI, Vol. 24 (1895) records it as 1894. Other learned societies: Entomological; Linnean. Served as Entomological Society President. Clubs: Bachelors; Savile; Union; Beefsteak.	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 15 October 1923
Sarah Caroline Rucker (circa 1844-1908)	4 Vanbrugh Terrace, Blackheath, London SE.	Unknown	Unknown	Relative of John Anthony Rucker also of that address, who may have originally been a merchant from Hamburg. Note that in the list of fellows the ‘u’ is spelt with an umlaut. The 1901 Census lists two Ruckers living in Greenwich: Sarah Caroline, 57 years old, and Sarah Caroline, 86 years old. It is assumed that the Fellow of the AI was the former.	AI: Joined 1899	No	1901 Census; see here
William Severin Salting (1837-1905)	40 Berkeley Square, London.	Brighton College / Sydney University [Arts]	Lawyer	Born in Sydney, Australia. His father, Severin Kanute Salting, was immensely rich. His daughter married into the peerage. His brother, George’ is described in his obituary (The Times 14 December 1909) as ‘The greatest English art collector of this age, perhaps of any age’. Lived most of his life in London. Inherited half of his father’s great wealth. The 1901 Census gives his age as 51, which is a mistake.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863. Despite his death in 1905, his name continues to appear among the list of AI Fellows until 1919. Other learned societies: RGS.	No	Australian Dictionary of Biography, see Salting, Severin Kanute; 1901 Census
Alfred Sanders (circa 1835-1905)	The Hawthorns, Caterham Valley, Surrey.	Unknown ?M.R.C.S	?Surgeon	Born Gravesend, Kent. Living by private means in 1901.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1864. Published on Darwinism in JAI (1870). Other learned societies: Linnean; Zoological; Royal Microscopical	No	1901 Census see here
Archibald Henry Sayce (1845-1933)	Queen’s College, Oxford.	Grosvenor College, Bath / Queen’s College, Oxford [Classics]	Academic	Born Bath; died Bath. During his lifetime held various posts at Oxford including Professorship of Assyriology. Very large number of publications. Gave his collections of Middle and far Eastern Antiquities to the Ashmolean. Travelled widely and often lived abroad for periods of time. Honorary degrees from Oxford, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dublin and Oslo	AI: Joined 1876 Other learned societies: Hellenic; Royal Asiatic; British Academy; Biblical Archaeology. Served as Society of Biblical Archaeology President; Hellenic Society Vice-President Clubs: Athenaeum	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Man 33 (1933); The Times 6 February 1933
William Robert? Scanlan (circa 1832?-?)	Crickfield, Hayward’s Heath, Sussex.	Unknown	Civil Engineer?	The 1901 Census shows a William Robert Scanlan, a civil engineer, with an address in London. It is not certain whether this is the same person.	AI: Joined 1899. His connection with the AI was very short-lived and he disappears from the list of Fellows after 1900.	No	1901 Census
Charles Gabriel Seligman (1873-1940)	23 Vincent Square, London.	St Paul’s School, London / St Thomas’s Hospital [Medicine]	Medicine	Born London; died Oxford. Member of Torres Straits Expedition. Fieldwork in Pacific, Sri Lanka, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Numerous publications. Part-time Professor of Ethnology, LSE 1913-34. Initially spelt Seligmann, the second ‘n’ was dropped in 1914. His wife was Brenda Zara Seligman (1883-1965), see ODNB under Seligman	AI: Joined 1900 / AI President Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Society 1919; International African Institute; Royal College of Surgeons; Royal College of Physicians Clubs: Savile	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: Man 41 (1941)
Heywood Walter Seton-Karr (1859-1938)	31 Lingfield Road, Wimbledon, Surrey.	Eton College / Oriel College, Oxford; Sandhurst	Military	Born Bombay (Mumbai); died London. He only stayed in the army for two years, 1882-4. Numerous big game hunting trips to Africa, India and European and American Arctic. Numerous publications, and his books often illustrated by his own sketches. Collected stone implements in Africa and India and presented them to various museums	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: RGS; International Institute of Psychical Research; Eugenics Clubs: Naval and Military; Flyfishers’	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 14 January 1938
Frederick George Shaw (?-1918)	Heathburn Hall, Carrigaline, Co. Cork, Ireland.	Unknown	Army Veterinary Surgeon	Indian Army veterinary surgeon. When he joined Anthropological Society of London he was at Madras (Chennai), India. Possibly the author of several books on various subjects including fly-fishing, life after death, and the empire.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866	No	JASL, 5 (1867)
Robert Walter Campbell Shelford (1872-1912)	Sarawak Museum, Kuching, Sarawak; Hill House, Guildford.	Privately / King’s College, London; Emmanuel College, Cambridge	Museum Curator	Born Singapore; died Margate. Curator of Sarawak Museum (1897-1904) and then worked in Hope Department, University Museum, Oxford. Expert on cockroaches.	AI: Joined 1901 Other learned societies: Linnean	Yes. Field Collector	See here
Walter William Skeat (1866-1953)	2 Salisbury Villas, Cambridge.	Christ’s College, Cambridge [Classics]	Colonial service	His father, also Walter William, Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge, has ODNB entry. Joined Malay Civil Service 1891. Skeat Expedition to Malay Peninsula 1900. Numerous publications; best known for Malay Magic (1900).	AI: Joined 1901 / AI Council Other learned societies: Folklore; British Academy	Yes. Field Collector	Encyclopaedia Britannica
Frederick Mackenzie? Skues (circa 1834-1910/1)	51 Kingstead Road, Catford.	Unknown	Military Surgeon	Brigade Surgeon-Major, 26th Cameronians and also First West India Regiment. A Dr W. Mackenzie Skues was also a Fellow of the ASL / AI until his death in 1892.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1866	No	1901 Census
James Willoughby Small (?-1923)	Victoria College, Jaffna, Ceylon.	Unknown	Unknown	College Principal, Victoria College, Jaffna	AI: Joined 1898, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906.	No	See here
Worthington George Smith (1835-1917)	121 High Street, Dunstable.	Unknown	Architectural illustrator	Born London; died Dunstable. Apprenticed as an architect but gave this up to become illustrator. Worked for Natural History Museum and combined botanical and archaeological searches. Important publications in botany and archaeology-the latter with particular reference to the Lower Palaeolithic	AI: Joined (ASL) 1865 Other learned societies: Linnean Society	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; His death was reported as ‘New in brief’, The Times 31 October 1917; Obit: Man 17 (1917)
(Henry) Boyle Townshend Somerville (1863-1936)	HMS Triton, Chatham, Kent.	Royal Academy, Gosport / HMS Britannia	Navy	Born Castletownshend, Co. Cork, Ireland; murdered Castletownshend. Lieutenant 1900; later Vice-Admiral. Retired 1919. Very active naval career. Published on anthropology and archaeology. Member of Percy Sladen Reseach Expedition 1904-7.	AI: Joined 1893 Clubs: Cork County	Yes. Field Collector	Who was who; Obit and information about his murder: The Times 25, 26, 27, 28 March; 1 April; 9 June 1836
Philip Southby (1843-1908)	Bampton, Faringdon, Oxfordshire.	Westminster School / Christ Church, Oxford BA MA; Middle Temple	Barrister	JP. Second son of Richard Worlledge Southby, Bampton, Oxfordshire ; b. 3 Jan 1843 ; adm. [Westminster] 24 Jan 1856 (G) ; left Whitsun 1861 (with Dean Thomas) ; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 22 May 1861 ; BA 1865 ; MA 1868 ; adm. Middle Temple 1 May 1863, called to bar 17 Nov 1866 ; Oxford Circuit ; of Bampton, Oxfordshire ; JP Oxfordshire 1872 ; [unm. in 1881] ; d. 2 Jan 1908.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1867, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906. Other learned societies: Zoological; Geological	No	1901 Census, see here
James Carnegie, Sixth Earl of Southesk (1827-1905)	Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, Forfarshire.	Edinburgh Academy / Sandhurst	Army	Born Edinburgh; died Brechin. In Who was who he is listed as 9th Earl. Military career was very brief 1845-9. Published works of travel (Canada), poetry and archaeology. Honorary degrees from St Andrews and Aberdeen.	AI: Joined 1889 Other learned societies: RGS; Antiquaries of Scotland Clubs: Carlton; Travellers’; Caledonian	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 22 February 1905
William Ford Robinson Stanley (1829-1909)	Cumberlow, South Norwood, London SE.	London Mechanics Institute [Birbeck]	Instrument maker, inventor	Born Islington; died South Norwood. Built up own successful scientific instrument making firm (W F Stanley & Co). Was a generous donor to charities, especially for technical education.	AI: Joined 1886 Other learned societies: Geological; Physical; Royal Meteorological; Royal Astronomical; British Astronomical Association; Geologists Association Clubs: Royal Societies	No	ODNB; Obit: The Times 16 August 1909
Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, Baron Stanmore (1829-1912)	Red House Ascot, Berkshire.	Privately / Trinity College, Cambridge	Colonial governor	Born London; died London. Youngest son of fourth Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister 1852-5. MP for Beverley 1854-7. Governor of various colonies including New Brunswick, Trinidad, Mauritius, Fiji, New Zealand, and Ceylon. CMG 1859; KCMG 1871; GCMG 1878; created Baron Stanmore 1893. Honorary degree from Oxford.	AI: Joined 1873 Clubs: Athenaeum; Bath	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 31 January 1912
Henry Charles Stephens (1841-1918)	Avenue House, Church End, Finchley, London N; 4 Carlton Gardens, London SW.	In France and University College School	Business-man and MP	Known as Inky. His father invented ‘blue-black’ ink. He developed his father’s ink business and built a factory at Finchley. He was Conservative MP for Hornsey 1887-1900. He later lived in Cholderton, Wiltshire where he set up the Cholderton & District Water Co. Stephens’ home, Avenue House, now houses his collections and is open to the public	AI: Joined 1880 Other learned societies: Linnean; Geological; Chemical; Literary, RGS Clubs: Royal Societies	No	See here; and here The Times 12 July 1918 and wikipedia
(?Emily) Rose Stephenson (1862-?)	The Hermitage, Duppas Hill, Croydon.	Unknown	Unknown	Daughter of Henry Palfry Stephenson, a civil engineer born in Edinburgh.	AI: Joined 1892, she disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1904. Does not appear to have played an active part in AI.	No	ODNB entry for father, also see here
Henry Stopes (1852-1902)	11 Queen Victoria Street, London EC.	Unknown	Brewer and architect	The family owned the Eagle Brewery, Colchester, Essex. Interested in flint tools of which he gave a huge collection to the National Museum of Wales. His wife was the literary scholar, Charlotte Brown Carmichael, and their daughter was Marie Stopes, doctor and birth control advocate	AI: Joined 1881 Other learned societies: Geological; Royal Historical; BAAS; Geologists Association	Yes. Field Collector	See wikipedia Also see ODNB under Charlotte Stopes.
Joseph Straker (?1851-after 1918)	Dipton House, Riding Mill, Sandhoe, Northumberland.	Jesus College, Cambridge, LL.B; Inner Temple	Lawyer	Lawyer	AI: Joined 1887, he disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1911. Clubs: Royal Societies	No	1901 Census and here
Edwin William Streeter (1834-1923)	2 Park Crescent, London W.	Unknown	Diamond merchant and goldsmith	Author of various books on precious stones and gems. From BM database: ‘worked for Harry Emanuel before setting up on his own account in 1867/8 in Conduit Street. He moved in 1873 to Harry Emanuel's old premises in New Bond Street where he described himself as 'Diamond merchant, Goldsmith, Jeweller, Watchmaker'. He took a particular interest in precious stones. Although he announced his retirement in 1884 and sold off much of his stock, he did not retire but admitted partners into his business which was now restyled Streeter & Co and became a limited liability company in 1895 as Streeter & Co Ltd. By 1904 E W Streeter finally retired and the premises and goodwill were transferred to the United Investment Corporation and the remaining stock was sold at Christie's.’	AI: Joined 1883. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1925. Does not appear to have played an active part in AI. Other learned societies: RGS; Zoological.	No	1901 Census. John Culme, 'The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths 1838-1914', Woodbridge 1987 Patrick Streeter, 'Streeter of Bond Street', Harlow 1993
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909)	The Pines, Putney Hill, London SW.	Eton / Balliol College, Oxford [Law; Modern History (did not take his degree)]	Poet	Born London; died Putney.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1865 Clubs: Cannibal	No	ODNB; Who was who; See The Times 12 April 1909
Frederick Swynnerton (1858-1918)	Oakwood Place, Simla, India.	Unknown	Artist	Brother of the sculptor Joseph Swynnerton. From the Isle of Man on the history of which he published various papers.	AI: Unknown joining date. He disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1903. He published one paper in JAI on stone implements from Central India.	No	Unknown
Charles James Tabor (circa 1850-1928)	White House, Knott’s Green, Leyton, Essex.	Unknown	Game Salesman	Unknown	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Folklore, served on Folklore Society Council and Auditor. He appears to have been involved more heavily with the Folklore Society than the AI although he did attend meetings of the latter and contribute to discussions.	No	1901 Census
Frederick Winslow Taylor (?1856-1915)	250 West 76th Street, New York City, USA.	Unknown	Unknown	He is possibly the Frederick Winslow Taylor who was an early management consultant, the author of The Principles of Scientific Management (1911) and the origin of ‘Taylorism’, the scientific analysis of labour.	AI: Joined 1892. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1919 (although no address is provided for him in the list after 1907).	No	Wikipedia,
Richard Carnac Temple (1850-1931)	Government House, Port Blair, Andaman Island, India.	Harrow / Trinity Hall, Cambridge	Army	Born India; died Switzerland. Served in various capacities in India 1877-1904, the last 9 years as Chief Commissioner, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Numerous publications on India. Donated collections to many museums. He was an enthusiastic supporter of applied anthropology. CIE 1894; CB 1916. Honorary Fellow, Trinity Hall 1908.	AI: Joined 1879 Other learned societies: Folklore; British Academy 1925; Royal Asiatic; Royal Arts; RGS; Philological; Asiatic Society Bengal; Antiquaries; Numismatic of Philadelphia; Philosophy of America; Oriental Society of Italy; Anthropological of Bombay. Served on the Council of most of the above societies and sometime as Director of Royal Asiatic. Clubs: Athenaeum; Carlton; Marlborough; Royal Societies	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 5 March 1931
George Dancer Thane (1850-1930)	University College London, Gower Street, London WC.	University College London	Medicine	Born Berkhamsted; died Harrow. Professor of Anatomy, UCL 1877-1919. Knighthood 1919. Honorary degrees from Dublin and Edinburgh.	AI: Joined 1881 Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons; Zoological; Anatomy Society. Served as Anatomy Society President Clubs: Athenaeum	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 16 January 1930
Oldfield Thomas (1858-1929)	9 St Petersburg Place, Bayswater Hill, London W.	Haileybury College	Museum Curator	Born Millbrook, Bedfordshire; died London. Curator of Mammalia at British Museum (Natural History). Numerous publications.	AI: Joined 1884 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1901; RGS; Zoological. Served on Zoological Society Council Clubs: Arts; Roehampton	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 18 June 1929
John Barclay Thompson (1845-1936)	30 St Margaret’s Road, Oxford.	Privately / University College Toronto; Queen’s College, Oxford [Natural Science]	Academic	Born Stoneybrook, Co. Kildare, Ireland; died Oxford. Lee’s Reader in Anatomy, Oxford 1869-1920 and Student (i.e., Fellow) and Tutor of Christ Church, Oxford.	AI: Joined 1873	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 28 April 1936
Arthur Thomson (1858-1935)	The Museum, Oxford.	Edinburgh Collegiate School / Edinburgh University [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Edinburgh; died Oxford. Professor of Human Anatomy, Oxford 1893-1933 and Student (i.e., Fellow) of Christ Church. Professor of Anatomy, Royal Academy. Numerous publications. Honorary degrees from Edinburgh, Durham and Oxford.	AI: Joined 1890. Served on AI Council. Other learned societies: Royal College of Surgeons 1915; Anatomical Society. Served as Anatomical Society President Clubs: Arts	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 8 & 9 February 1935
Henry William Marett Tims (1863-1954)	19 Lyndewood Road, Cambridge.	Reading School / Edinburgh; King’s College, Cambridge; St Thomas’s; Strasbourg [Medicine]	Medicine	Born Calcutta; died Farnham Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Army Medical Corps. Held teaching posts at various universities including Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bedford College, London, and various London hospitals. Professor of Biology at Royal Veterinary College. OBE. Numerous publications.	AI: Joined 1896. Served on AI Council	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 6 March 1954
James Fowler Tocher (1864-1945)	Chapel Street, Peterhead, Scotland.	Mason College, Birmingham / University College London; Aberdeen [Chemistry]	Academic	Lecturer in Statistics, Aberdeen 1911-41 and acted as consultant for Scottish agricultural matters. Numerous publications on statistical and chemical topics.	AI: Joined 1899 Other learned societies: Institute of Chemistry Clubs: Athenaeum	No	Who was who
Richard Mentz Tolley (1862-?) In some sources the surname is hyphenated	Darlaston Steel & Iron Works, Walsall, South Staffordshire.	Unknown	Iron master	JP. Address given in website sources as Moseley Court, Wolverhampton. Tolley Sons & Bostock dissolved business in 1923.	AI: Joined 1895. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1933. There is only one record of his attendance at AI meeting in 1908 and he appears to have been on Council for a single year. Other learned societies: Heraldry Society; Hugenot; Historical Clubs: National Liberal	No	See here and here
John A. Travers (1848?-1916)	Field Place, Horsham, Surrey.	Unknown	Army	Served in Devonshire Regiment.	AI: Joined 1901. Played no active part in AI.	No	1901 Census
Edward Robert Tregear (1846-1931)	Department of Labour, Tinakon Road, Wellington, New Zealand.	Private schools	Civil engineer and Colonial service	Born Southampton; died New Zealand. Went to New Zealand in 1863. Soldier and later occupied various administrative roles including Secretary for Labour 1891-1911. Imperial Service Order 1911. Various publications on New Zealand and Oceania including in JAI.	AI: Joined 1885 Other learned societies: RGS; Royal Historical Society; Polynesian; Wellington Philosophical	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 29 October 1931; wikipedia; Te Ara
Coutts Trotter (1831-1906)	10 Randolf Crescent, Edinburgh.	Rugby; Haileybury / Balliol College, Oxford	Author	Born Edinburgh. Destined for East India Company but prevented by ill-health. Life mainly occupied in literary work. Travelled extensively in Polynesia and New Guinea.	AI: Joined 1879. Numerous articles including in JAI. Served on AI Council; Other learned societies: Geological; RGS; Royal Scottish Geographical; Hakluyt; Royal Asiatic. Served on Royal Scottish Geographical and Hakluyt Councils Clubs: Royal Societies; Athenaeum	Yes. Field Collector	Obit: The Geographical Journal 27 (1906). See here
Shogoro Tsuboi (1863-1913)	Science College, Imperial Institute, Tokyo, Japan.	Tokyo University	Anthropologist and Archaeologist	One of the earliest Japanese anthropologists. See JAI 27 (1898): 383. Born in Edo, after a degree in geology at Tokyo, he studied ethnology in France and UK from 1889 to 1892, then introduced ethnology course at the University of Tokyo in 1893.	AI: Joined 1891. When elected Fellow in 1891 he was living in London. He was elected Honorary Fellow in 1905. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1915. Other learned societies: Anthropological of Tokyo (later of Japan). Founding member of Anthropological Society of Tokyo.	No	S. Yamashita, ‘Somewhere in between: towards an interactive anthropology in a World Anthropologies Project’, in J. Hendry & Heung Wah Wong, Dismantling the East-West dichotomy. Routledge, 2006. See here
William Turner (1832-1916)	6 Eton Terrace, Edinburgh.	St Bartholomew’s; London	Medicine	Born Lancaster; died Edinburgh. Virtually whole career from 1854 at Edinburgh University; Professor of Anatomy from 1867-1903, Principal from 1903-16 Knighted 1886; KCB 1901. Honorary degrees from Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen, Montreal, Western University, Pennsylvania, Oxford, Durham, Toronto, Dublin and Cambridge Interested in classification & evolutionary genealogy of human races.	AI: Joined 1889 Other learned societies: Royal Society 1877; Royal Society of Edinburgh 1861; Royal College of Surgeons. Served on Royal Society Council; BAAS President; Royal Society of Edinburgh President Clubs: Athenaeum	No	ODNB; Who was who; Obits: Man 16 (1916); The Times 16 February 1916
Anna Rebecca Tylor (1831-1921)	The Museum House, South Parks Road, Oxford.	Private	Wife of EB Tylor	Born Wellington, Somerset; wife of E B Tylor (qv), née Fox.	AI: Joined 1891	Yes. Field Collector	Unknown
Lawrence Augustine Waddell (1854-1938)	35 Dartmouth Park Road, Highgate Road, London NW.	Privately / University of Glasgow [Medicine]	Army Medical Officer	Born Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire; died Craigmore, Rothesay. Served in Indian Medical Service 1880-1905. Saw service in India, Burma and China. A member of the 1904 expedition to Tibet. Professor of Chemistry and Pathology, Calcutta Medical College 1896-1902. Professor of Tibetan, UCL 1906-8. Numerous publications on Tibet, Buddhism, and later on Mesopotamia. Honorary degree from Glasgow. CIE 1901, CB 1904. At some point changed his name from Augustine to Austine.	AI: Joined 1891 / AI Council. Articles in JAI. Other learned societies: Royal Asiatic; Linnean	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who
Samuel Waddington (1844-1923)	47 Connaught Square, Hyde Park, London W.	St Peter's School, York; St John's, Huntingdon / Brasenose College, Oxford	Civil Servant	Born Boston Spa, Yorkshire; died London. Worked at Board of Trade. Travelled widely in Europe and published numerous articles on literature and of poetry.	AI: Joined 1901. He does not appear to have played an active part in AI. Clubs: Junior Constitutional	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 8 November 1923
Charles Staniland Wake (1835-1910)	411 East 45th Street, Chicago, Illinois, USA.	Hull College	Solicitor	Born Kingston-upon-Hull; died Chicago. Migrated to USA circa 1890 where, from 1895, worked in various capacities for the Chicago Museum of Natural History.	AI: Joined (ASL) 1863. Served on AI Council. Published numerous articles in JASL and JAI. Other learned societies: Physical Research Served as ASL Vice-President;	No	R Needham ‘Charles Staniland Wake, 1835-1910: a biographical record’ in Studies in social anthropology : essays in memory of E. E. Evans-Pritchard, J H M Beattie & R G Lienhardt. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1975
Moreton John Walhouse (circa 1822-?)	28 Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood, London NW.	Unknown	Indian Civil Service	Born Warwick, where he also lived. BM database says: ‘Walhouse was a well known amateur scholar of things Indian in the second half of the 19th century. In 1874, he was referred to in the 'Indian Antiquary' as 'late M.C.S.' (ie Madras Civil Service), an indication that he had retired from public service in India by at least that date. In another reference he is referred to as 'Major' Walhouse, an indication a military background. He is known for publications on lepidoptera (some of his specimens are in the BMNH), the Todas and the archaeology of the Nilgiri Hills ... a study of the Tanjore Armouries ... folk lore of India, etc, etc. That he was active in fieldwork in the Nilgiri Hills by 1848 is clear from his publications. He gave a collection of metal objects from the Nilgiri Hills to the BM in 1868 and a body of S Indian Iron Age artefacts, etc in 1873. He is frequently quoted as a definitive authority in the 19th century dictionary of Anglo-Indian terminology, 'Hobson-Jobson'. He continued to publish in the Indian Antiquary until at least 1880.’	AI: Joined 1874. Served on AI Council. Disappears from list of AI Fellows after 1909, but remains on that of the Folklore Society until 1912. Various articles in JAI, mainly relating to India. Other learned societies: Folklore; Royal Asiatic. Served on Folklore Society Council.	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)	Corfe View, Parkeston, Dorset.	Hertford Grammar School	Natural historian	Born Usk, Monmouthshire; died Broadstone, Dorset. Basically self-taught in a whole range of subjects, including natural history. Worked for brother as architect and land surveyor 1838-44. Amazon expedition 1848-52; Malay archipelago 1854-62. Co-discoverer of natural selection and in later life published on almost every aspect of natural history. Honorary degrees from Dublin and Oxford and declined any more. Numerous medals from learned societies. OM 1910.	AI: Joined (ASL/ESL) 1866. Served on AI Council. Other learned societies: Royal Society 1893; Linnean; RGS; Zoological; Entomological. Served as Entomological Society President	Yes. Field Collector	ODNB; Who was who; Obit: The Times 8 November 1913
Herbert Ward (1863-1919)	53 Chester Square, London SW.	Mill Hill	Adventurer	Died Paris. Member of H.M. Stanley’s Emin Pasha Relief Expedition 1886-9. Published three books on the expedition. Croix de Guerre	AI: Joined 1891. One article in JAI 24 (1895) on the tribes of the Congo Other learned societies: RGS; British Sculptors. Clubs: St James’; Union Artistique, Paris	No	Who was who; Obit: The Times 8 August 1919. For photograph, see here
John Aplin Webster (Unknown)	Castle Street East, Oxford Street, London W.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1897. Served as AI Assistant Secretary 1896-1900. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906.	No	Unknown
William Downing Webster (1868-1913)	Home Court, Palace Road, Streatham Hill, London.	Unknown	Dealer	Collector and dealer in ethnographic objects based in London and Oxford, initially worked as stained glass designer in Lancaster	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1904.	Yes. Field Collector	1901 Census and Provenance Waterfield and King 2006
Samuel Wells (c.1864-?)	Richmond, Yorkshire.	Unknown	Bank manager	Born Scarborough.	AI: Joined 1895, disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1910. Other learned societies: RGS.	No	1901 Census
Franklin White (Unknown)	PO Box 669, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia.	Unknown	Surveyor or Engineer	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901. Publications in JAI and Man on Rhodesian ruins. Disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1913. Other learned societies: Rhodesia Scientific Association.	Yes. Field Collector	Unknown
Rashleigh Holt White (1850-?1926) In some sources the surname is hyphenated	Warren Wood, Bexleyheath, Kent.	University of Oxford, MA	Editor	Descendant of Gilbert White of Selborne. He published an edited version of Gilbert White’s Selborne Diaries in 1901. Born Sawbridgeworth, Essex in 1881 & 1891 he was working as a HM Inspector of Schools in the Education Department in Bexley	AI: Joined 1897. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1900	No	1851, 1881 Census His correspondence is here
John Whitridge? Williams (1866-1931?)	128 Mansfield Road, Gospel Oak, London NW.	Unknown	Medicine	This may be the American obstetrician though there is no record of him being resident in London	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1903. Other learned societies: Linnean; Royal College of Surgeons; Royal College of Physicians.	No	Unknown
Henry Hoyte Winwood (1831-1920)	11 Cavendish Crescent, Bath.	Winchester / Exeter College, Oxford MA	Church	Held a curacy for three years (circa 1855-1858) and then retired through ill-health. He lived the rest of his life in Bath engaged in scientific and literary pursuits.	AI: Joined (ESL) 1869 Other learned societies: Geological; Somerset Archaeological and Natural History; Bath Natural History; Bath Royal Institution, vice president of Geological.	No	1901 Census; Obits: The Times 31 December 1920; Man 21 (1921) and here
A. Delisle Withers (Unknown)	Ewhurst, 21 Lichfield Road, Kew.	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	AI: Joined 1901. He disappears from the list of AI Fellows after 1906.	No	Unknown
Emma Sarah Wolfe (1834-1909)	High Broom, Crowborough, Sussex.	Unknown	Unknown	Daughter of stockbroking father so presumably had independent means?	AI: Joined 1881. Although she does not appear to have played an active part in the AI she left it a bequest of £1000.	No	See here

AI members 1900-1901

2014-08-27T14:29:24+00:00

The following introduction was written between 2006-2009 as the introduction to a database, prepared by Peter, giving biographical data about all the members of the Anthropological Institute. Due to technical reasons in 2014 it was discovered that it was no longer possible to continue to give web access to the database via the 'Other Within' website. An opportunity was taken to update the information within the database. The revised database, prepared by Peter Rivière and Alison Petch, is attached in tabular form.

Short biographies of the Fellows of the Anthropological Institute in 1900-1901

Peter Rivière ('Other Within' research associate)

As part of the Pitt Rivers Museum’s Other Within project it was thought valuable to have a look at the Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute [RAI] to see how it was constituted and to what extent its Fellows were associated with the Pitt Rivers Museum collections, in particular the English objects. Rather than undertake a general survey of the RAI Fellowship it was decided to concentrate on a single year and 1900 was selected, when it was still the plain Anthropological Institute. The total number of Ordinary Fellows in that year was 297, of whom 76 were collectors, owners or donors of objects to the Pitt Rivers, of whom, in turn, 22 are associated with English objects. There are only two of these 22 who are solely connected with English objects.

The year 1900-1 was chosen for various reasons. First, a full list of the fellowship was published in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute (30: 3-12) that year, although the database is restricted to Ordinary Fellows, excluding Honorary and Corresponding Fellows. Second, sufficient time had elapsed since the merger of the Anthropological Society of London and the Ethnological Society of London for the ructions relating to that event mainly to have been forgotten and the fellowship to have settled down. Third, the Pitt Rivers Museum, founded in 1884, had by that year become a firmly established and recognized institution. Fourth, it was just prior to anthropology becoming a university subject and the increasing professionalization that followed on from that – in other words, it was still was what Gosden, Larson and Petch have called a ‘participatory anthropology’, a subject of interested amateurs.

There are certain points about the database of which any user should be made aware. First, the amount of information about individuals is highly variable in quantity and quality. In some cases, nothing other than the information contained in the List of Fellows has been discovered, that is to say; name, initials and address, and in one case not even the last. In other cases, there is far more information available than can be fitted into the database, the Fellow in question being the subject of one or more biographies, or even an autobiographer. Second, there is no doubt that additional information is likely to emerge on many of the individuals which will be added to the database as it becomes available. For example, it is almost certain that more people were connected to the British Association of the Advancement of Science than the database records. The reason for this was that it was so normal for anyone in or on the periphery of the scientific world to attend its annual meetings that many did not bother to record the fact in what is now Who was who.

There is also huge variation in the involvement by individual Fellows with the Institute. Some were Fellows for a very short time, a few for only one or two years; others became Life Fellows but never seemed to have played any active part in the Institute; others, and not merely those well known in anthropological circles, like Tylor and Balfour, were deeply engaged, attending monthly meetings and publishing in its journals. There is no necessary fit between that last class of Fellows and the amount we know about them. The RAI has been very inconsistent in its publication of obituaries and the deaths of many who were much involved with it have passed with none or the barest of record.

Table showing all AI Fellows 1900.

Anthony a Wood Ashmolean

2013-06-06T11:43:12+00:00

Taken from Vernon, 1909

Pages 16-17

'The building consisted of ten rooms, whereof the principal and largest are public. The upper is the Museum Ashmoleanum, the middle is the School of Natural History, where the Professor of Chemistry, Dr Plott, [sic] reads three times a week. The lower, a cellar, is the Laboratory, furnished with all sorts of furnaces, &c., for use and practice, which is performed by Mr. Christian White, the skilful and dexterous operator of the University, who, by the direction of the Professor, shows all sorts of experiments relating to that course, according to the limitation established by the order of the Vice-Chancellor. Near [p. 17] adjoining the Laboratory, under the same roof, are two faire [sic] rooms, whereof one is designed for a Chemical Library, to which several books of that argument have already been presented; the other is made use of as a storeroom for Chemical preparations, where such as stand in need of them are furnished at easy rates. Near the Museum (under the same roof) is a room fitted for a Library of Natural History and Philosophy. The other remaining rooms are the lodgings, chambers, and studies of the Keeper of the Museum, whereof one, which is most convenient, is sometimes employed for private courses of Anatomy.' [No source is given for this quote other than it was written by Anthony à Wood.]

Transcribed by AP June 2013

Anthropology Diploma Students 1907 on

2015-11-03T11:33:39+00:00

This is a table showing all the known Diploma students who studied between 1907 and 1920. Note that the names were taken from the Register of the Diploma Students held by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. This table was first prepared by Chris Wingfield during the ESRC funded Relational Museum project, and has had additional biographical information (and some corrections to names) added by Alison Petch during September 2012 and further updated in November 1915. If you have any more information about these students please send it to us at sma@prm.ox.ac.uk.

Please note that in the table below Michaelmas Term has been abbreviated to MT, Hilary Term to HT and Trinity Term to TT. See here for a glossary of University of Oxford student related terms.

Name	College	Start date	Qualifications	Biographical notes & subsequent career	Award	Donor to Pitt Rivers Museum?
Barbara Whitchurch Freire-Marreco	Lady Margaret Hall then Somerville College	MT 1907	Hons. Mods (1st Class) HT	Later Aitken. 1879-1967. See here	Diploma with distinction TT 1908	Yes
Francis Howe Seymour Knowles (Sir)	Oriel, as Commoner	MT 1907	Completed BA course 1904-1907 (3rd)	1886-1953. See here	Not known	Yes
James Arthur Harley	Jesus	MT 1907	LL.B. 1902, BA 1906, Harvard University. Admitted B. Litt. Student in Theology, Oxford, October 1907	1873-1943 or after 1950. See here	Diploma TT 1909	Yes
Frédéric Charles Joseph Marius Barbeau	Oriel	MT 1907	Degrees in Lit. Hum., Science and Law, Laval University Quebec, Canada.	1883-1968 or 1969. See here. Rhodes Scholar	Diploma TT 1910	No
Wilson Dallam Wallis	Wadham	1908	BA with distinction in Philosophy, Psychology, Law from Dickinson College, Maryland, USA	1886-1970. Rhodes Scholar. The title of his BSc. thesis was: ‘The conditions psychological and sociological of the development of the individual amongst peoples of rudimentary culture’ (Gazette 1908–9: 687–8). [PR] Geological Survey of Canada, Anthropological Dept. Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota. Author of numerous books about North American peoples.	Diploma TT 1910	No
Diamond Jenness	Balliol	MT 1908	MA (1st), University of New Zealand	1886-1969. Chief Anthropological Division, Canadian National Museum, Ottawa. Numerous works on Inuit. Fieldwork in New Guinea, & among Inuit. Jenness material in the University of Oxford archives (DC 1/3/1-2).	Diploma TT 1910	Yes
Solomon Lee Van Meter	Exeter	HT 1909	Not known	1888-1937. See here. Transylvania and Iowa University Inventor of the pack parachute and ejector seat	Not known	No
Robert Sutherland Rattray	Exeter	1909	1. Leaving Certificate, Scottish Education Dept. 2. Government certificates for proficiency in Nyanja and Hausa languages. 3. His book Chi-Nyanja Tales. BSc. DSc.	1881-1938. Assistant Commissioner and District Commissioner, Gold Coast. Government Anthropologist in Ashanti. Publications: Ashanti Proverbs; Ashanti; Ashanti Art & Religion; Ashanti Laws and Constitution. Killed in gliding accident.	Diploma June 1914	Yes
Edward Gabriel Piotrowski	None. Collection.	MT 1909	Not known	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Henry Percival James	St Johns	1910	Not known	?-1912. Assistant Commissioner, Southern Nigeria. Killed by locals in the execution of his duty in Nigeria on 12 August 1912, see "The Murders in Southern Nigeria", Glasgow Herald, 14 August 1911, p. 9	Not known	No
Oscar Ferris Watkins	All Souls	1910	MA.	1877-1943. Research work submitted at time of examination – ‘Report on Land Tenure in British East Africa’. Worked in Transvaal Civil Service and British East Africa Protectorate Service. Deputy Chief Native Commissioner. Assistant District Commissioner, British East Africa.	Diploma with distinction 1913	Yes
Paul Dominic Wilmot	Lincoln	MT 1910	Oxford Sen. Latin + Greek (in March) = Responsions.	?-1918. Rhodes Scholar. On St. George's College War Memorial, Harare, Zimbabwe. ref. South African Roll of Honour 1914-1918, see here. Killed in action 25 April 1918.	Certificate Physical Anthropology TT 1911, Diploma TT 1912	No
Grover Cleveland Huckaby	Wadham	MT 1910	Status of Junior Student	Possibly 1884-1971. 1908 Rhodes Scholar. Director Welfare Department, Magistrates' Court, New York	Not known	No
Earnest Albert Hooton	University	MT 1910	Status of Junior Student	1887-1954. 1910 Rhodes Scholar. Professor of Physical Anthropology, University of Harvard. Wrote Up from the Ape. Hooton gave instruction in physical anthropology in the year he was working for his Diploma and B.Litt.	Diploma with Distinction TT 1912	No
Phillip Higham	Queen's, as Commoner	MT 1910	BA (2nd) History	Dates and biography unknown	Diploma TT 1911	No
Dorothea Adelaide Lawry Pugh[e] Jones	Somerville	MT 1910	BA (2nd Class Hons. History, 1900	1875-1955. Worked in South Africa as teacher, may also have written handbook on history of Wales. Awarded a prize at the Royal National Eisteddfod in Merthyr Tydfil in 1901. [Thanks to John Jenkins for this information]	Not known	No
Paul Hunter Doré Dodge	Not a member of University	HT 1911	LL.D., B.Phil. University of Chicago, USA	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate Cultural Anthropology (Social). TT 1911	No
Martha Fleming	Not known	HT 1911	Not known	?-1925. Assistant Professor of Education, University of Chicago, USA.	Not known	No
Edward Kirkby	Not a member of University, at Ruskin College	HT 1911	Specially recommended as of industry and ability	Dates unknown. Failed in Certification. Examination Cultural Anthropology (Social) TT 1911	Not known	No
Albert Guy Pawson	Christ Church	HT 1911	BA (2nd) History. Was taking the special course in Anthropology arranged for Sudan Probationers.	1888-1986. Sudan Probationer. Administrator, Sudan Political Service see here. Cricketer, see here	Certificate I Cultural Anthropology (Social.) HT 1911	No
George Lewis Monk	Corpus Christi	HT 1911	MA (3rd) Lit. Hum.	Dates unknown. Assistant Commissioner, Northern Nigeria. [Took Course by permission of Colonial Office in lieu of Course at Imperial Institute]	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology (Social), HT 1911	Yes
Leonard Halford Dudley Buxton	Exeter, as Open Class Scholar)	HT 1911	BA Hon. Class. Mods. (3rd)	1889-1939. See here	Certificate Cultural Anthropology. (Social) TT 1911. Diploma with Distinction	Yes
Melville William Hilton-Simpson	Exeter, as Commoner	MT 1911	Responsions etc. Also for his exploration in Africa	1881-1938. Between 1903 and 1906 he travelled in the 'Barbary States' and the Sahara, and accompanied Emil Torday on his expedition to the Kasai Basin in then Belgian Congo to collect ethnographic objects for the British Museum. In November 1913 he was 'granted status of research-student carrying out scientific work under the auspices of the Committee for Anthropology'. From 1912 with his wife he carried out prolonged fieldwork among the Berber in southern Algeria. He served in the British Army in the first world war retiring with the rank of captain. [Taken from his Who was Who entry and the Diploma register]	Not known	Yes
Mary Czaplicka also known as Marie Antoinette or Marya Antonina	Somerville	MT 1911	Teacher's Certificate for geography, Librarian; Secretary of Geographical Section Warsaw	1884-1921. See here	Diploma TT 1912	Yes
Anna Fischer	Not known	MT 1911	Ph.D, University of Prague	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology. June 1914.
Katherine Scoresby-Routledge	Somerville	MT 1911	BA (2nd) History (1895)	1866-1935. Author of The Mystery of Easter Island, With a Prehistoric People, The Akikuyu (with husband) Died 18 December 1936. Entered for, but did not take, examination TT 1912	Not known	Yes
Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford	Keble	MT 1911	BA	1886-1957. See here. Ordinance Survey, Southampton, Archaeology Officer. Wellcome Expedition to Sudan. Author of The Andover District, Essex from the Air	Diploma TT 1912	Yes
Charles William Berry Littlejohn	New	MT 1911	BA (1st), Physiology 1911	1889-1960. Rhodes Scholar. Born in New Zealand. Rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1912 Olympics. See here Served in the first world war. Eventually ranked temporary Brigadier in the Australian forces [Theodore Williams Scholar in Human Anatomy, 1912]	Diploma with Distinction TT 1912	No
Henry Kenneth Fry	Balliol	MT 1911	BSc Melbourne, BSc Oxford 1912	1886-1959. Rhodes Scholar. See here	Diploma with Distinction TT 1912	Yes
Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe	Jesus	HT 1912	Hon. MA, University	1865-1937. Archaeologist. Lecturer in Tamil & Telgu, Ceylon. See here	Not known	No
Vasile George Ispir	Not known	HT 1912	Licentiate in Theology, University of Bucharest.	1886-1947. Professor of Theology. Educated at Bucharest, Berlin and Oxford. Research work submitted at time of examination Notes & Essays relating to comparative religion. Varatec, Neamtu, Roumania. Professor of Theology	Diploma, 1913	No
Margaret Brackenbury Crook	Oxford Home Students	HT 1912	London Intermediate with Latin Prize	1886-1972. University of London B.A. Later Minister of the Unitarian and Liberal Christian Churches Associate professor, Smith College, USA. See here	Certificate in Social Anthropology, 1913. Diploma with distinction June 1914	No
Mary Poyntz	Oxford Home Students	HT 1912	Research Scholar, Columbia University, USA	[Entered for, but did not take, examination TT 1912] Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Leonard Fielding Nalder	Corpus Christi	HT 1912	BA (2nd), History 1910	1888-1958. Sudan Probationer. Colonial Governor, Sudan	Certificate with Distinction in Cultural Anthropology. (Social) TT 1912	No
Llewellyn Arthur Hugh-Jones	St John's	HT 1912	BA (2nd) Lit. Hum. 1911	1888-1970. Egyptian Probationer. Worked in the British administration of Egypt, Ministry of Finance, Cairo, Egypt, Governor of Faiyum	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology (Social), TT 1912	No
Donald Victor Newhall	Lincoln	HT 1912	Responsions. L Pass Mods.	1889 or 1890- ?. Research work submitted at time of examination 'Maps, notes, essays.' Portrait Painter based in USA	Diploma 1913	No
Hubert Frank Mathews	Jesus	HT 1912	BA (2nd) Math. Mods, 1907, 3rd Physics 1909	1885-1964. Assistant Commissioner, Northern Nigeria. [Took course by permission of Colonial Office in lieu of Government Course] See here	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology (Social) TT 1912. Diploma with Distinction June 18, 1925	Yes
Cyril Henry Fiennes Clinton Davenport	Not known	1912	P. Mods	c1888-1912, died during the Long Vacation.	Not known	Yes
Hannah Byrne	Somerville	MT 1912	BA (1st). Geology. 1909	Dates unknown. Gazetteer of Native Tribes of Australia (not published)	Diploma with Distinction 1913	No
Winifred Susan Blackman	Not known	MT 1912	Recommended as industrious and intelligent student by Dr Seligman	1872-1950. See here	Diploma. June 1915.	Yes
Hugh Kingsley Ward	New	MT 1912	Unknown	1887-1972. Rhodes Scholar Bacteriologist. Educated University of Sydney [MB] taught at Oxford, Harvard and Sydney	Diploma 1913.	No
Wilfred Dyson Hambly	Jesus	MT 1912	BA (1st)	1886-1962. Research work submitted at time of examination 'Various notebooks in physical, technological, and social anthropology' Special Essay on tattooing. Curator of African Ethnology and Archaeology, Field Museum of Natural history, Chicago. The History of Tattooing & its Significance. African Anthropology, Ethnology of Africa, Ovimbundu (Angola).	Diploma 1913	No
Alan Herbert Coltart	Exeter	MT 1912	MA	1885-? by 1937. Biography unknown. There is the Coltart Scholarship in Anthropology at Exeter College in his memory that is dated to 1937. He matriculated in 1903.	Diploma June 1914	Yes
George Reginald Carline	Exeter	MT 1912	Strongly recommended as promising student by Dr. Bradley, etc.	See here	Diploma June 1914	Yes
Alexander Traies Schofield	Exeter	MT 1912	P. Mods	?1892-1918. Served in Kent Cyclist Battalion. Died 10 November 1918, of wounds from France	Not known	No
Donald Hugh Wippell	Exeter	HT 1913	BA 1909	1887-1969. After graduating he served in the first world war for a time and then he helped to run the family firm, J. Wippell & Co Ltd of Exeter and London, Manufacturers of Church Furniture and Clerical outfitters.	Not known	No
Joseph Henry Powell	Hertford	HT 1913	P. Mods	Dates unknown. Research work submitted at time of examination 'Paper om Hookswinging in India.' Clergyman, Vicar of Christ Church, Nailsea, Bristol	Certificate in Social Anthropology, 1913.	No
Bernard Tomkin Holden	Not known	HT 1913	BA	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Horace Bidwell English	Pembroke, as Rhodes Scholar	HT 1913	Status of Junior Student	1892-1961. Psychologist and author	Certificate in Social Anthropology, 1913	No
Llewellyn or Llewelyn Slingsby Bethell	University	HT 1913	BA (3rd). Lit. Hum.	1889-1971. Possibly Lt. in Nigeria Regiment and served in first world war. Author of a book about living and working in Tasmania. Published a book of poems in 1920 and lived in Hove, Sussex at some point	Not known	No
Percy Ball	Magdalen	HT 1913	BA	Dates and biography unknown. Exhibitioner at Magdalen 1909-1913.	Certificate in Social Anthropology, 1913	No
Robert Vickers Bardsley	Merton	HT 1913	BA	1890-1952. Sudan Probationer. Entered but did not take examination, 1913. Served in the Sudan Political Service from 1913 to 1932 latterly as Governor Blue Nile Province 1928-1932. English cricketer who played a total of 31 first-class matches for Oxford University Lancashire County Cricket Club and Free Foresters between 1910 and 1922. See here. See Images of Empire, Photographic Sources for the British in Sudan Daly and Hogan 2005	Not known	No
Alexander Evelyn Cardew	Balliol	HT 1913	BA	1889-1972. Biography unknown. Educated at Repton School, he was a cricketer at school and has a Wisden obituary	Not known	No
William Inkersale Cheesman	Wadham	HT 1913	BA	1889-1969. Educated at Merchant Taylor's school. Played rugby in Varsity matches in 1910-1911. Played rugby for England in four matches in 1913. A schoolmaster, served in the Sudan Civil Service. Linked to Seligman, ?archaeologist. Taught at Marlborough College and Pembroke House School in Kenya. [Thanks to John Jenkins for this information]	Not known	Yes
Henry David Crook Craig	Lincoln	HT 1913	Not known	?-1924? Biography unknown. Reported to have died 1924	Certificate in Social Anthropology, 1913.	No
James Elmslie Henderson	Magdalen	HT 1913	Not known	Dates and biography unknown. Served in the Royal Field Artillery during the first world war	Not known	No
George Colby Hawkins Borley	Balliol	HT 1913	Not known	1891 or 1893-?after 1939. Educated University College, Reading. Awarded Stanhope History Essay 1912.	Not known	No
Samuel George Hans Bürger	New	HT 1913	Not known	Dates and biography unknown. Possibly 1891-1959, born Old Trafford, Manchester.	Not known	No
Angus Graham	New	HT 1913	Not known	1892-1979. Royal Commission Ancient Historic Monuments (Scotland). Forester	Not known	Yes
Percy Robert Diggle	University	1913	BA	1887-1977. Educated at Marlborough College and University College. Played rugby in Varsity matches against Cambridge in 1908-1909. Entered but did not take examination, 1913. In Nigerian Civil Service from 1911-1928 and during First World War served with Nigerian Land Contingent. Assistant District Commissioner, West Africa. He was later Managing Director of Stead McAlpine & Co, in Carlisle. JP for Carlisle and Commissioner of Income Tax. [Thanks to John Jenkis for this information]	Not known	No
Edgar Stanley Pembleton	Christ Church	1913	BA	1888-? Entered but did not take examination, 1913. Served in Colonial Administrative Service, Nigeria	Not known	Yes
Edward Elvell Potter	Christ Church	1913	BA	Dates unknown. Assistant District Commissioner, West Africa.	Not known	No
Edwin Cross	Not known	1913	Not known	Dates unknown. Treasury Dept., Southern Nigeria.	Not known	No
Mura Frances Bayly	Oxford Home Students	1913	Leaving certificate, Scottish Education Department, recommended by Cornell University as intelligent student who has done field work in the Pacific	Dates unknown. Member of American Geographical Society. Worked in New Zealand. Born in South Africa and educated in England, France, Germany, and Austria. In the 1910s Bayly traveled throughout Indonesia and the Pacific islands. She became well known in New York as a lecturer on Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands, and in 1911 she was elected as a fellow of the American Geographical Society. Bayly published stories of her travels in American, European, and other periodicals, and she designed her own silk clothing. During her travels she focused on clothing design and the acquisition of textiles. See here	Diploma 1914	No
Frederick John Richards	Exeter	TT 1913	MA	Dates unknown. Educated at Merchant Taylors School worked for Indian Civil Service from 1898 served in Madras as magistrate. Author of various publications on Dravidians. Collected archaeological specimens in India. Later appointed Honorary Lecturer in Indian archaeology at University College, London (Allchin 1957: 322).	Not known	Yes
Paul Shuffrey	Lincoln	TT 1913	BA	1889-1955. Assistant District Commissioner, Sierra Leone. Editor and publisher	Not known	No
harles Kingsley Meek	Brasenose	1913, rejoined course in TT 1920 after war	BA	1885-1965. Anthropologist and colonial administrator. Assistant District Commissioner, West Africa. District Officer Census Commissioner, Nigeria, 1921. The Northern Tribes of Nigeria, 1925 A Sudanese Kingdom, 1931, Law & Authority in a Nigerian Tribe, 1937. D.Sc. Nigerian Administrative Service 1912-33, Resident. 1925-1933 was Government Anthropologist. He was appointed to a lectureship at Oxford in 1947 to teach colonial cadets. He did not stay long and was replaced by Mary Douglas in 1950.	Not known	Yes
Boris de Chrustchoff	Lincoln	MT 1913	Not known	1892-1969. Worked as bookseller, dealer and collector	Not known	Yes
Vivian Spencer Lord	Not known	MT 1913	Responsions: seeking appointment in West Africa	1890- ?. biography unknown	Not known	No
Joseph William Horne	Magdalen	MT 1913	BA	Dates and biography unknown. Seeking appointment in West Africa	Not known	No
Arthur Edward Sanders	Exeter	MT 1913	Qualified for BA degree	?-1916, died whilst on active service, biography unknown. See here	Not known	No
Oliver Cromwell Carmichael	Wadham	MT 1913	Rhodes Scholar. Responsions. MA Alabama University	1891-1966. Rhodes Scholar. High School Principal and later Chanceller of Vanderbilt University, USA. See here	Diploma 1917	No
Tracy Barrett Kittredge	Exeter	MT 1913	BA and Fellow, University of California, USA	1891-1957. American. Served in both world wars in the American navy. Passed by Committee of Anthropology 17 October 1913. US Relief Commissioner in Europe. International Red Cross in Paris. See here	Diploma with Distinction. June 1914	Yes
Richard Harvey Simpson	Brasenose	MT 1913	BA Indiana and MA Harvard University, USA	1913 Rhodes Scholar. American. Passed by Committee of Anthropology 17 October 1913. Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Michael William Maxwell Windle	Exeter	MT 1913	2nd Class Honour Class. Mods	1892-1915. Lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment during first world war. He was killed and his body was never found. See here	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology. June 1914.	No
Alexander Bainbridge Craddock	Exeter	MT 1913	3rd class Hons Mods	1893-1962. Served in the Indian Army, Army Equipment Branch	Not known	No
Jervoise Graham Tayler	New	MT 1913	1st Class Hons. Mods.	1892-1915. Killed in action 15 May 1915 during first world war, served in 2nd battalion Leicestershire Regiment see here	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology 1914	No
Robert Ewart Fausset	Corpus Christi	MT 1913	Not known	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
James Guthrie Monteath	Wadham	MT 1913	Not known	1890-?. Born Edinburgh see here. Sudan Probationer. Possibly working for Unemployment Assistance Board in 1938 and Governor of Greenock Prison by 1947	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology. June 1914.	No
John Alexander Reid	Brasenose	MT 1913	Not known	Sudan Probationer. Dates and biography unknown. In 1933 Governor, White Nile Province, Sudan. In 1947 he may have been Principal Information Officer, Benghazi.	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology. June 1914.	No
Edgar Richard Burgess	Magdalen	MT 1913	Not known	1891-1952. Sudan Probationer. Educated at Eton, rower and represented Great Britain at 1912 Olympics (winning a gold medal). Member of the Inner Temple and served with Sudan Political Service. Fellow of the Zoological Society. See here	Not known	No
William Jacob Bryan	Christ Church	MT 1913	Not known	1889-1916. Sudan Probationer. Born in Ireland. He served with the 15th Royal Fusiliers, he never served overseas, the regiment appears to have been a reserve one. He died in Colorado from an illness, possibly TB. See here	Not known	No
Arthur Selborne Jelf	Exeter	MT 1913	MA (Malay States)	1876-1947. Colonial Secretary, Jamaica, Malaysia and Singapore. See here	Not known	No
Clement A. Miles	Exeter	MT 1913	Not known	Dates and biography unknown. Probably author of Christmas in Ritual and Tradition (1923)	Not known	No
Percy Otto St Clair Wilbraham Perryman	Balliol	MT 1913	BA Status	1885 or 1886-1932. Assistant Commissioner Uganda Protectorate from 1908.	Not known	Yes
Henry Noel Kempthorne	Not known	MT 1913	Not known	?circa 1872-1923. Captain in the Army reserve of officers in 1911 [London Gazette 3.11.11]. Special Service in British East Africa. In 1914 he became Deputy Director of Surveys, Trig. And Topo. in Kenya [The official gazette, 27.5.14.	Not known	Yes
John Turnbull Kemp	Exeter	HT 1914	P. Mods	Colonial Office Candidate. Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Graham Fletcher Hodgson	Not known	HT 1914	Not known	District Officer, (Southern) Nigeria. In 1910 he was Assistant District Commissioner Abak, southern Nigeria. Dates unknown	Not known	No
Arthur Hudson Stocks	Oriel	HT 1914	3rd class, Lit. Hum.	1889-1940, died on a ship hit by a U-boat, described as a civilian living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. In 1914 he went to Sierra Leone, and served in East Africa during the first world war. He served with the Colonial Services for 26 years and was Secretary for Protectorate Affairs in Sierra Leone.	Not known	No
Humphrey John Thewks Johnson	Christ Church	HT 1914	Matriculated October 1909, Pass mods A1, B3, B6	Dates and biography uncertain. It is possible he is author of the book ‘Anthropology and the Fall’ published in 1923 by Basil Blackwell. He may be this 'Mgr. Humphrey Johnson 1880-1958. Born in Derbyshire, educated at Eton and Christ Church. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1912 and studied for the priesthood at the Beds College in Rome. He wrote several books and reviews and was Women’s chaplain at Cambridge University college.'	Certificate in Physical Anthropology with Distinction June 1915, Certificate in Ethnology & Sociology June 1915, Diploma with distinction. June 1916.	No
David Hedog Jones	Jesus	1914	MA	c1875-1942. He served in the Grenadier Guards volunteer force in the first world war. The Register of Diploma students records he was Headmaster of the Boy's Secondary School, Granada, West Indies (Government Service). See here	Not known	No
Harry William Thomas Armstrong	Jesus	1914	2nd class Hons. Mods.	?1892-1915. Served in the East Surrey Regiment died July 1915 on active service	Not known	No
Charles Sanford Ward	Christ Church	1914	Responsions	1893-1916. Educated Eton and Christ Church, killed in active service in France.	Not known	No
Waclaw de Rostkowski	Marcon's Hall	1914	Chemistry, Zoology, Botany Prelims	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Arthur Maurice Hocart	Exeter	1914	BA	1884-1939. Fieldwork in Fiji stayed on as headmaster. Curator of Antiquities, Ceylon; Professor of Sociology, Cairo. Kingship 1927, Progress of Man, Kings and Councillors. Hocart read Greats at Exeter, where presumably Marett was his tutor, and studied psychology with Wilde’s Reader in Mental Philosophy, William McDougall who had been a member of the Torres Straits expedition. On coming down, Hocart joined the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Pacific, and when he enrolled on the Diploma course in 1914 he had completed six years of fieldwork. As a Diploma student, not only did he deliver a course of lectures on ‘Problems in Anthropology’ but also served as deputy Wilde’s Reader for a term while McDougall was away.	Not known	Yes
Charles Alexander Henderson	Exeter	1914	BA	1882-1956. Indian Civil Service. In 1938 he was a member of the Board of Revenue, Madras.	Not known	No
John George Stevenson (Reverend)	Exeter	MT 1914	Queen's University of Belfast, BA (2nd), History, Law	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
William Hubbs Mechling	Not known	MT 1914	MA Harvard University, BS MA University of Pennsylvania	1888-1953. Anthropologist and archaeologist. Worked at Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Received his doctorate from Harvard in 1917	Diploma, June 1916	Yes
Walter Carl Barnes	Lincoln	MT 1914	Pass Mods A & B	American Rhodes Scholar from 1913. Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Edwin Oliver James (Reverend)	Exeter	MT 1914	Priest's Orders (with Preliminary Exam including Latin and Greek), F.C.S.	1886-1972. Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion, University of London and Leeds Primitive Ritual & Belief 1916. Introduction to Anthropology 1919. The Stone Age 1927. The Beginnings of Man 1928. The Origins of Sacrifice 1933. The Old Testament in the light of Anthropology 1935. The Origins of Religion 1937 etc. At the end of his life he was Chaplain at All Souls.	Certificate in physical Anthropology. June 1915. Diploma. June 1916.	Yes
Thomas Humfrey Vines	Jesus	HT 1915	MA. (allowed for anthropological work done at Harvard University)	Possibly 1864-1922. Also educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and Harvard. Headmaster in Sind, See here	Diploma. June 1915.	Yes
Constance Jenkinson (Mrs)	Not known	HT 1915	Admitted by committee on strength of modern languages etc.	Dates and biography unknown. Died while preparing for B.Sc. In Magic and Medicine	Diploma. June 1916	No
Philip Henry Brodie	Worcester	1915	Qualified for BA (Pass) from University of Arkansas	1891-1975. 1913 Rhodes Scholar. He served in World War I and later taught classics at the Canterbury (preparatory) School in Connecticut to, among others, John Kennedy	Diploma. June 1916.	No
Joseph Fawcett	Exeter (NB did not join course)	TT 1915	MA, University of Durham	Dates unknown. Clergyman	Not known	No
Madeleine Elise or Eliza Emily Holland (Mrs)	Oxford Home Students	MT 1915	South African University Intermediate Arts.	1874-1922. Nee Orpen. Died while working for B.Sc. on the Bantu. Poet. Married to Arthur Herbert Holland, she had one son. Her husband was personal secretary to Cecil Rhodes	Certificate in Physical Anthropology, 1916. Diploma with Distinction, 1917.	Yes
Madeleine [de] La Vie Platts (Mrs)	Not known	MT 1915	BA Trinity College, Dublin. Honours English Oxford.	1883-?. Born in Ireland, went to live in Oxford to live with an uncle on her mother’s death. She was educated at Dublin. In 1909 she met her husband W.A.F. Platts, an assistant District Commissioner in British East Africa. They married in 1910 and returned to Africa. [See ‘The Rulers of British Africa, 1870-1914’ by Lewis H. Gann, Peter Duignan	Not known	No
Marion Alice Nona Marshall	St. Hugh’s	MT 1915	Final Honours School of English	Dates and biography unknown. Author of a book, ‘Hastings Saga’ (A history of the Wenham family) 1953.	Not known	No
Rosalind Louisa Beaufort Moss	Oxford Home Students	HT 1916	Oxford Senior Locals, Honours; Higher Cert. French (distinction) & German	1890-1990. Egyptologist and bibliographer. Excavated in Jersey with R.R. Marett. See here	Diploma with Distinction, 1917.	Yes
Cecilia Mostyn Field	Somerville	1916	Cambridge Previous - Equivalent to Responsions	1896-after 1982. Probably daughter of Admiral Sir Arthur Mostyn Field, who commanded HMS Penguin, Dart and Egeria. Biography unknown	Not known	No
Edward Humphrey Lane Poole	Balliol	1916	BA	1888- ? Educated, Rugby; Magdalen College School; Balliol 1908-12 (A.W.P.C., A.L.S.); 3rd Class Mods. 1910; 2nd Mod. History and B.A. 1912; Torpid; Eight. B.S.A. Co.’s service 1913; Colonial Civil Service from 1924; North Rhodesia, District Magistrate, 1926. (Rhodesian Service). Provincial Commissioner, Barotse Province, Northern Rhodesia November 1937. Commissioner Livingstone. Keeper of the Archives, Fellow of Magdalen College, and Lecturer in Diplomatic in the University of Oxford.	Not known	Yes
Vigo Auguste Demant	Exeter	1916	(Manchester College), BSc. Durham University	1893-1983 Priest in London and Oxford, also social philosopher and theologian. Also educated at the Sorbonne and Armstrong College, Eventually Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University Oxford. See here.	Certificate in Physical Anthropology with Distinction 1917, Certificate in Cultural Anthropology 1917, Diploma in Technology (to complete Diploma Exam), 1920.	Yes
Marguerite Muriel Culpeper Pollard	Oxford Home Students	1916	Honour School of English, Diploma of Education	1879-1939. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, died in Oxford. Daughter of William Branch Pollard, Colonial Civil Engineer for British Guiana until he retired in 1880. Unmarried, author. B.A. B.Litt	Diploma in 1917	Yes
Félicie Marshall (Mrs)	Lady Margaret Hall	1916	Honour School of English.	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Margery Christina Huckett	Lady Margaret Hall	1916	Hon. Class. Mods.	1894-? Born in Apia, Upolu, Samoa. Daughter of Walter Huckett, a missionary.	Diploma in Anthropology, 1918	No
Beatrice Mary Blackwood	Somerville	MT 1916	Hon. Sch. Eng. Lit. 1912	1889-1975. See here	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology. 1917. Diploma with Distinction 1918	Yes
Velizar Vladimivovitch Godjevatz	New	1917	Serbian Govt. "Vishi Tetchajuis Ispit" Maturitatspuafung	?1898-1986 Later developed a duodecimal musical notation.	Not known	No
Helen de Guerry de Lauret Simpson	Oxford Home Students	TT 1917	B2 etc.	1897-1940. Australian writer. See here According to ADB she came to Oxford in September 1915 and read French 1916-7. In 1918 she joined the WRNS and decoded. She then returned to Oxford to study music in 1920, but she did not complete her degree. It seems likely that she did not stay on the Diploma course for long.	Not known	No
Robert de Jersey Fleming-Struthers	Exeter	MT 1917	MA, BSc.	Dates and biography unknown. In 1909 he seems to have published a chemistry paper in the Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions 1909, 95 1777-1789. Joined Cavalry in 1913	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology (Social Anthropology) 1918	No
Kavalam Mathava Panikkar	Christ Church	MT 1917	Mod. Hist. Honours (1st Class), Oxford	1895-1963. First Editor of the Hindustan Times and worked in various States administrations, after independence worked as diplomat. After retiring he became Vice-Chancellor of several universities in India	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology with Distinction, 1918.	No
Basanta Kumar Mallik	Exeter	MT 1917	Law, Honours, Oxford.	1879-1958. Philosopher. Academic at Oxford, interested in conflict	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology 1918. Certificate in Physical Anthropology, 1918. Diploma, 1919.	No
Helen Juliet Rachel Fox	Oxford Home Students	MT 1917	Read Modern History School. Admitted by committee, 19 October 1917	1890-1980. Daughter of Samuel Middleton Fox. Married Roger Ernie Money-Kyrie, a noted psychoanalyst, in 1922.	Diploma, 1918	No
Margaret Agnes Westlake	St Hugh's	MT 1917	Pass. Mods.	1896-? Daughter of Ernest Westlake, donor to Pitt Rivers Museum. Biography unknown	Certificate in Physical Anthropology, 1918. Diploma, 1919.	No
Dragutin Subotic	St John's	MT 1917	Ph.D. Munich. Serbian Refugee Student. Admitted October 1917.	1887-1952. Educated at the Universities of Belgrade & Munich. In 1916 came to live in Britain as the result of World War One. From 1916-1919 worked as a supervisor of Serbian students at Oxford University. In 1919 appointed lecturer in Serbo-Croat at School of Slavonic Studies, King's College London, remained in this post until retirement in 1942. He also worked for the Yugoslav Legation as a cultural attaché.	Not known	No
Marjory Sophie West	St Hilda's	MT 1917	Pan B.D., Lond.	Dates unknown. Studied at Bedford College in 1905 in Classics [2nd class], possibly the first woman to gain the London BD, and a former Birkbeck Continuing Education lecturer in Biblical Studies	Not known	No
Vadaka Kurupath Raman Menon	Hertford	HT 1918	BA	Dates unknown. From Cochin State, India. Listed in the Admissions Register for Lincoln Inn 1912, called 1917.	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, 1918	Yes
Wulfstan ?Natham	Exeter	HT 1918	Hon. Moderations (Classics)	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, 1918	No
John Eric Langdon-Davies	St John's	HT 1918	Responsions I excused Mods.	1897-1971 born in South Africa. He was called up in 1917 but refused to wear uniform, was jailed and discharged. He intended to continue studying at St John’s but he lost 2 scholarships due to his military views and his marriage in 1918. He therefore turned to the diploma in anthropology. He was a journalist, author and war correspondent. See here.	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology 1918. Certificate in Physical Anthropology, 1918.	No
Sidney Herbert Scott	St John's	TT 1918	B.Litt. Oxon, MA of Durham	Dates unknown. Clergyman and author	Not known	No
Nina Margaret Ruffer	Somerville	TT 1918	Responsions French ?group	1897-1919. Died of Influenza August 1919	Not known	Yes
Rachel Spenser Tidderman	Oxford Home Students	MT 1918	Higher Cert. (French). Cambridge Senior	c 1897-?. Born in Glamorgan, living in Oxford in 1911. biography unknown	Not known	No
Constance Rina Langdon-Davies [Mrs]	Somerville	HT 1919	History Prelims	1898-1954 married to John Eric Langdon-Davies in 1918? Possibly artist, believer in Bahai faith.	Not known	No
Donald Swain Wintersgill	Exeter	HT 1919	Military Service	?1897-1982. Company director, Yorkshire	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, 1919	No
Louis Colville Gray Clarke	Exeter	HT 1919	BA, Cambridge	(1881-1960). Educated privately and went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge to read the history tripos, graduating in 1903. His wealthy family ensured that he could travel widely in Europe, Central and South America and Ethiopia whilst he was an undergraduate. He served during the first World War. He matriculated in the Diploma in Anthropology in 1919 at Exeter College. He also served as a volunteer in the Museum. In 1922 he was appointed Curator at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. In 1937 he was appointed as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. He retired in 1946 but remained the honorary curator of prints. He had amassed a large art collection which he donated to the University of Cambridge.	Not known	Yes
Arthur James Willis	Exeter	HT 1919	Military Service	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, 1919	No
Henry Mullinor Morris	Exeter	HT 1919	Military Service	Dates and biography unknown		No
Clifford Henry Benn Kitchin	Exeter	HT 1919	Military Service	1895-1967. Barrister and Novelist. See here	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, 1919	No
Eric John Horatio Edenborough	Lincoln	TT 1919	BA	1893-1965. Clerk, House of Commons 1921-1958.	Not known	No
Thomas Downing Kendrick	Oriel	TT 1919	Prel. Sci.	1895-1979. Keeper, Dept. British Mediaeval Antiquities, Director, British Museum. See here and here	Diploma with Distinction TT 1920	No
Barry Lappage Garrard	Exeter	TT 1919	BA, London University	Dates and biography unknown Research work submitted at time of examination :- (1) An Exercise in the Comparative Method: The principles of blood-letting among the English from the Earliest Times. (2) An Exercise in Ethnological Method: Distribution of race and culture in Melanesia. (3) An Analysis of the materials relating to the Distribution of Palaeolithic Man. Dates and biography unknown. In Royal Garrison Artillery in 1914 (Essex and Suffolk)	Diploma in Anthropology, 1920	No
Edward Laurence Hyde	Exeter	TT 1919	Military Service	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate in Physical Anthropology, TT 1920, Diploma, 1921.	No
William Walter Negley	Merton	HT 1919	Captain, Federal Artillery, US Army	1895-1932. Attended Phillips Exeter, and graduated from Yale in 1916. He joined the army in 1917 and enrolled in the first officers training camp at Camp Bullis, San Antonio. He spent time in France as a captain and staff munitions officer. Married Roxana Gage in 1924 and lived on a ranch in Fort Davis, Texas. He died of a burst appendix in 1932. See here	Not known	No
George Duncan Kirkpatrick	Mansfield	HT 1919	Chaplain, US Army	Dates and biography unknown, presumably clergyman	Not known	No
Margaret Morgan Powell	Oxford Home Students	HT 1919	Diploma in Geography	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Alfred Clair Underwood	Mansfield	HT 1919	MA, Oxon. And B.D. London	1885-1948. Clergyman. Published book on Shintoism, India and religious matters	Not known	No
Gerald Legh Malins McElligott	Hertford	1919	Military Service (Captain Special Reserve)	1897-1972. Born in Derbyshire, educated at Stoneyhurst, served in the Munster Fusiliers. After his service in France he was seconded to the Gold Coast Regiment (West African Frontier Force) and served in West Africa until the war ended when he joined the Colonial Service as a District Commissioner for about a year. In 1920 [sic] he went up to Oxford (Hertford College) and graduated B.A. in 1923 and then St Thomas’s where he qualified in 1926. Eventually Consultant venereologist at St Mary’s Hospital, London. Brit. J. vener. Dis. (1972) 48, 553	Not known	No
Francis Edgar Williams	Balliol	MT 1919	BA (1st), Adelaide University	1893-1943. Government Anthropologist. Port Moresby, Papua. Orokaiva Magic, Orokaiva, Papuans of the Trans-Fly, many shorter reports. Killed in aeroplane accident, New Guinea. See here	Diploma in Anthropology with Distinction, TT 1920	Yes
William Edward Morris	Exeter	MT 1919	Military Service in lieu of Responsions	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Louis Marie Riviére	Not known	MT 1919	Admitted under stat. Viii. Sect. Xvi. 3. Over 25 and of good character.	Licencé a lettres, Université de Paris. Souvets Evangelique 1913. Dates and biography unknown	Diploma in Anthropology TT 1920	No
José Maria Batista y Roca	Exeter	MT 1919	Licenciado en Filosofie, Universitad de Barcelona	1895-1978. Professor at Barcelona University interested in the anthropology of Catalonia. See here	Diploma in Anthropology TT 1920	No
Robert Douglas Downes	Corpus Christi	MT 1919	MA	1878-1957. Known as Douglas. In 1896 he went to Corpus Christi to study classics and then history, after a year at Wycliffe Hall in 1900-1 he was ordained. From 1904-1914 he worked in India. He served as a chaplain in the war, and immediately after the war he worked as a student chaplain. IN 1931 he became a Franciscan friar. See here	Not known	No
Charles Woodehouse Williams	Oriel	MT 1919	Not known	Sudan Probationer. Possibly 1899-1957. Joined staff of Gordon College in 1920. Assistant Director of Education 1937-1944 and Director 1944-1949. Sudan Political Service. See here	Not known	No
Ian Meredith Bruce-Gardyne	Balliol	MT 1919	BA	1895-1964. Sudan Probationer. Soldier and Sudan Political Officer, see here.	Not known	No
Brian Kennedy Cook	Worcester	MT 1919	Not known	1894-1945. Sudan Probationer. Served in the Sudan Political Service from 1920-1943. From 1943 worked for the British Council in UK and Italy see here	Not known	No
Gerard Bruce Crole	University	MT 1919	BA	1894-1965. Sudan Probationer. Studied for BA before 1914, joined Dragoon Guards in 1914 and later served in Royal Flying Corps where he was considered a flying ace. He played rugby for Scotland. He served in Sudan Political Service from 1920 to 1944, ending up as Deputy Governor, El Fasher, Darfur. He may also have been a solicitor or a schoolteacher! See here also see here and here	Not known	No
Douglas Newboldt	Oriel	MT 1919	Not known	1894-1945 Sudan Probationer. Entered Sudan Political Service in 1920, from 1932-28 he was Governor of Kordofan. From 1939 till death he was Civil Secretary of Sudan. See here	Not known	No
George Howells	Jesus	HT 1920	MA Christ's College, Cambridge; B.Litt., Oxford.	It is probable that this is 1871-1955, Welsh academic and writer, principal of Serampore College from 1907-1932, see here, who studied at Jesus college and also at Ch.Ch. Cambridge	Not known	No
George Henry Green	Exeter	HT 1920	BSc. London	Dates and biography unknown	Certificate in Cultural Anthropology (Social Anthropology with Distinction, TT 1920)	No
Brahmadeo Prasad Jamnar	Jesus	HT 1920	Responsions with added subject.	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
John Wilfrid Walker	Pembroke	HT 1920	Hon. Mods. 2nd class.	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
John Seaforth Marten-Harvey	Christ Church	HT 1920	Military Service (4.5 years)	Possibly 1897-1975, if his full name was John (?Selwyn) Seaforth Elton Martin Harvey. Actor, stage name of Michael Martin-Harvey, he was the son of Sir John Martin-Harvey [also an actor, see here].	Certificate in Cultural (Social) Anthropology, June 1921. Certificate in Cultural (Technology) Anthropology, June 1922.	Yes
Mario Pinto Levy	Trinity	HT 1920	Responsions Mods. Military Service	According to here he served in the British Mission Portuguese Corps (British Army) during the first world war. Dates and other biography unknown but probably this person: … C'était un homme charmant, imperturbable et généreux. Descendant d'une famille anglaise enracinée au Portugal de longue date, il était un grand mutilé de la guerre de 1914-1918, ayant subi une fracture au crâne, sauvé par son ordonnance qui l'avait traîné à l'abri. Guéri, il s'occupa des plantations de cacao familiales à Madère et de la maison ancestrale à Lisbonne, au coeur de la capitale. ... À la deuxième guerre, il refusa de vendre son cacao aux Allemands, malgré des offres alléchantes. Après la débâcle de 1940 il mit sa maison à la disposition du consulat anglais pour y héberger ceux qui étaient en route pour reprendre le combat. ...’ [Note that website from which information was obtained has now disappeared]	Not known	No
Mary Angela Mond	Lady Margaret Hall	HT 1920	Responsions	1901-1937. Full name Mary Angela Willoughby Mond (later Hordern). Daughter of the Minister of Health, Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett. Married Neville Arthur Pearson in 1922 and then Clifford Willoughby Peter Hordern in 1928.	Not known	No
William Montgomery McGovern	Christ Church	HT 1920	Ph.D. Tokyo (Anthropological Research Scholar to Japanese Government)	1897-1964. School of Oriental Studies, London Institution. Original work sent in at Examination - Native Tribes of Formosa, To Lhasa in Disguise Travelled extensively in Asia. Returned to USA as Assistant Curator of the Anthropology Department at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. In 1929 appointed Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University; promoted to full professor 1936 held position until death. Described in Wikipedia as the inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones	Not known	No
Eion Pelly Donaldson	Oriel	TT 1920	Lit. Hum (Shortened Course)	1896-1963. Soldier, colonial administrator and civil servant, India Office. See here	Not known	No
Aylam Subramanier Panchabagesa Ayyar	Not known	MT 1920	Hist. Previous	Dates and biography unknown	Not known	No
Kumara Padma Sivasankara Menon	Christ Church	MT 1920	Hist. Previous	1898-1982. Diplomat in Indian Civil Service. See here	Not known	No
Francis Bacon Lothrop	Trinity	MT 1920	3 years course at Harvard, including Anthropology	1898-1986. Seems to have lived in Massachusetts, USA. He rowed for Oxford in the 1921 Boat Race. See here for a biography of his brother (Samuel, a Latin American archaeologist).	Diploma in anthropology, June 1921.	No
Ruth Wedgwood Doggett	Lady Margaret Hall	MT 1920	BA, Harvard USA	1896-1968. She studied at Berkeley, and then graduated from Radcliffe, she taught economics. Her obituary in Renaissance Quarterly says she studied for a Diploma in Economics during her year at Oxford. Married Clarence Kennedy in 1921 in London. She became Professor at Smith College and distinguished historian of Italian renaissance art.	Not known	No
Janet Blair McGovern	Oxford Home Students	MT 1920	B. Litt. Shorten College, Georgia, USA	Janet Blair Montgomery McGovern 1879-1938. Mother of William Montgomery McGovern and wife of Felix Daniel McGovern, an army officer. They travelled a great deal. Author of two books. See here	Diploma in Anthropology, June 1921	Yes
Isabel Marjorie Russell	Oxford Home Students	MT 1920	War service plus good school report. Admitted by Committee, October 1920	?1896-1978 Possibly celebrated horticulturalist, rare plant specialist and second wife of Ellery Sedgwick see here	Diploma in Anthropology, June 1921	No
Edward Joseph Anthony Richardson Loughrey	Queen's	MT 1920	Military Service excusing Responsions.	Dates and biography unknown. Served with Royal Innis Fusiliers and Royal Garrison Artillery during first world war. He is possibly the Edward Loughrey mentioned here.	Not known	No
Alice Margaret Stevenson	Somerville	MT 1920	MA Oxon. MA D.Sc. Dublin	1875-1957. Author of several books including four about India. Alice Margaret Sinclair Stevenson MA Oxon SED Dublin buried at Dean's Grange Cemetery, Co. Dublin. Wife? of Reverend John Sinclair Stevenson (Irish Presbyterian Mission to Western India). See here	Not known	No

Articles

2012-07-09T17:34:03+00:00

This is a list of articles on matters of interest to those studying the development of museum anthropology at the University of Oxford

Pre 1880

An early Oxford Anthropological Society

Prehistory of the Pitt Rivers Museum (up to the establishment of the Museum)[draft produced during the ESRC funded Relational Museum research project 2002-2006]

History of the Zoological Collections [OUMNH]: Acland and Rolleston

Natural Science School Notice 1872

Displays of ethnographic objects at the Oxford University Museum before 1884:

1887.1.589 and Cranial displays

E.H. Man Nicobar Island figure

Christ Church College collection of artefacts from Cook's first voyage

Series of letters about missionary ethnographic collections in OUMNH

Early anthropological donations to the University of Oxford

1880-1920 articles

The early years of the Pitt Rivers Museum (roughly 1890-1920)[draft produced during the ESRC funded Relational Museum research project 2002-2006]

Notes and Queries and the Pitt Rivers Museum

The University of Oxford's Archaeological (and other) Collections [Ovenell]

Walter Baldwin Spencer and the Natural Science education at the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford Diploma in Anthropology

Students who registered for the Diploma in Anthropology from 1907 to 1920

Members of the Oxford University Anthropological Society 1909-1920

Anthropological Institute Members 1900-1901

Post 1920 articles

History of the Pitt Rivers Museum (post 1920 to 1945)[draft produced during the ESRC funded Relational Museum research project 2002-2006]

Diploma Students from 1921-1945 [Chris Wingfield]

General articles

General:

The Royal Anthropological Institute in 1900-1901 [Peter Rivière]

Oxford University in the Nineteenth Century

The Pitt Rivers Museum building, a conservation report

Anthropology, Ethnography, Ethnology:

An early Oxford Anthropological Society

Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers' take on Anthropology and Ethnology

The Pitt Rivers Museum and Ethnology, Ethnography and Anthropology

Balfour's views on the founding collection of Pitt-Rivers, in the light of Ethnology and Anthropology

Marett on Oxford Anthropology

Blackwood, Ethnology and Folklore

Penniman's 100 years of anthropology

Frances Larson: Anthropological Landscaping: General Pitt Rivers, the Ashmolean, the University Museum and the shaping of an Oxford discipline (of anthropology)

Physical Anthropology at Oxford: Beatrice Blackwood, Dudley Buxton and Otmoor

Teaching at the Pitt Rivers Museum:

Teaching at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Beatrice Blackwood and Teaching Anthropology [Frances Larson]

Technology and the Pitt Rivers Museum:

The study of technologies and materials at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Occasional Papers on Technologies

Teaching technological techniques at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Tylor and Technology

Balfour and Technology

Balfour and Stone Tool Technology; Balfour and Australian stone technology; Balfour, Westlake and Tasmanian stone technology

Weapons Technology: Pitt-Rivers and Balfour

Balfour and fire-making technologies

Beatrice Blackwood (1889-1975)

2012-08-09T12:51:29+00:00

Frances Larson

This document was written during the ESRC funded Relational Museum project between 2002 and 2006 by Frances Larson (one of the researchers on the project). The project looked at the networkers of collectors and museum staff who had formed the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum up to 1945 and the history of the Museum up to 1945. This document reflects those interests.

This document contains:

chronological account of Blackwood’s career
very brief notes on her friendships with other notable anthropologists
notes on some people’s memories of Blackwood
bibliography for books and articles on Blackwood
list of Blackwood’s main publications

1889-1907

Beatrice Mary Blackwood was born on 3 May 1889 at her parents’ home, 3 Marlborough Hill, Marylebone, London. She was the eldest of three children of James Blackwood (1822-1911), a publisher and descendant (although not a direct descendant – see entry for 1953, below) from the founder of Blackwell’s Magazine, and his wife, Mary (1859-1953), who was a nurse. Beatrice had one sister, Mary, and one brother, James. She was educated in London at Wycombe House School, and Paddington and Maida Vale High School (Knowles 2004; PRM biogs). The family holidayed on the Isle of Wight, and Blackwood remembered seeing Queen Victoria there every year as a child (Penniman 1976a: 321). Blackwood was sent to finishing school in Germany. She became fluent in German and studied Greek and Latin while there (Penniman 1976a: 321). Years later, while in Bougainville in 1930, and faced with the problem of transforming one of her skirts into a more practical pair of breeches, she regretted her ‘mis-spent youth, when I ran away and hid, in order to read ‘Robinson Crusoe’ or ‘The Swiss Family Robinson’, instead of attending the dressmaking lessons my mother was so anxious to give me’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 23, 8 June 1930).

1908

Blackwood won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford, in 1908 and read the Honours School of English, including the etymology of the Scandinavian and German languages. (Some of her notes on European linguistics survive in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 17.)

1912

She was awarded a second-class honours degree in English language and literature in 1912. She also met Marya Czaplicka during the academic year 1911-12. Czaplicka was at Somerville College working on her Diploma in Anthropology at the time. She was mentored by R.R. Marett, and she was to prove instrumental in opening Blackwood’s eyes to anthropological research (see below; PRM ms collections Blackwood papers, box 33, letter to Antoni Kuczynskiy, 15 March 1971)

1915-16

Blackwood met Czaplicka again, at the house of a mutual friend, shortly after the Polish woman’s return from a year’s anthropological fieldwork in Siberia in 1915. Blackwood later remembered: ‘In course of conversation I learned that she was having difficulty in preparing her material for publication. I offered to help her in my spare time, and we worked in London until the Autumn of 1916 when she took up the post of Mary Ewart Lecturer in Ethnology at Oxford, with residence at Lady Margaret Hall. She persuaded me to come to Oxford, which I was the more willing to do as it gave me the opportunity of taking a course in anthropology, in which I had become interested while working with her. Our collaboration continued until she left for the U.S.A. in 1919.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers, box 33, letter to Antoni Kuczynskiy, 15 March 1971)

1916-18

Blackwood had enrolled on Oxford’s Diploma in Anthropology in Michaelmas Term 1916, as a member of Somerville College. She received her Certificate in Cultural Anthropology in 1917 and gained distinction in her Diploma in 1918. As a Diploma student, Blackwood was taught by Arthur Thomson, Robert Ranulph Marett and Henry Balfour. Some of her lecture notes survive (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers, box 1 and box 1A), including notes on Balfour’s lectures on aesthetic arts, industrial arts and prehistory; Marett’s seminars on social origins, world-wide ethnology and prehistoric Europe; Thomson’s lessons on human anatomy; and Dudley-Buxton’s lectures on geographic conditions and racial types.

While working on the diploma course, Blackwood spent her vacations excavating in France, and knew the Abbé Breuil and other prominent French prehistorians. From this time onwards, ‘For over ten years, she spent all available time in excavating, often just ahead of the bull-dozer, sites wanted for building in Oxford and in places within ten miles from it in every direction, working for the Department of Anatomy and for the Ashmolean Museum, and collected antiquities from the Late Iron Age, Saxon and Romano-British periods.’ (Penniman 1976a: 321) Apparently, being small and adventurous, she would often be the first to explore difficult or narrow caves and would make sure that it was safe for the others to follow (ibid).

In 1918, having graduated with distinction from the Diploma course, Blackwood started work as a research assistant to Arthur Thomson in the Department of Human Anatomy, in the University Museum (Penniman 1976b: 235). She also continued to work with Czaplicka during this period.

1919

Arthur Thomson became Dr Lees Professor of Anatomy at Oxford in 1919 (he had joined the Department in 1885 as Lecturer in Human Anatomy, and had become Extraordinary Professor in 1893, and Reader in 1901).

1920

Blackwood was promoted to Departmental Demonstrator in the Human Anatomy Department in 1920 (Knowles 2004). She took her B.A. and her M.A. on the same day, in 1920, the first year that women were allowed to graduate from Oxford (Penniman 1976a: 321). In January 1920 she visited Germany, because there are notes in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21 on ‘Talk with Professor von Luschan at the Völkerkunde Museum, Berlin. Jan 11 1920’. She studied the Berlin Museum’s cranial collections – containing over 15,000 skulls – and various casts of skulls made by von Luschan. He promised to send Blackwood some hair from Tasmania, and they also discussed the possibility of an exchange of photographs (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21).

1921-22

Blackwood was first listed as Demonstrator in Physical Anthropology in the Department’s Annual Report for 1921 (University Gazette,14 June 1922), alongside Dudley-Buxton. Together they ran the Diploma students’ practical classes and lectures. Dudley-Buxton left in September for a world tour, as Albert Kahn Travelling Fellow for 1921-22, and Blackwood undertook his duties in his absence, as Lecturer in Physical Anthropology. During this period, Blackwood was doing anthropometric work on women in Oxfordshire villages (University Gazette 13 June 1923, p668).

In May 1921, Blackwood’s friend Marya Czaplicka killed herself, at the age of 36, while living and lecturing in Bristol. The two women had worked together in London and then Oxford between 1915 and 1919. Years later, Blackwood remembered hearing about the incident: ‘I heard of her death, and the manner of it, at the time from a friend, although I did not know any details of the circumstances which led to it. I was, of course, deeply grieved, but not greatly surprised as I knew from experience that she was a very temperamental person, and was apt to become depressed when things went wrong. If no one was at hand to help her through some difficult period, she would see no other way out.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers, box 33, letter to Antoni Kuczynskiy, 7 April 1971)

Blackwood was made Fellow of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland on 15 November 1921 (PRM biogs). She also made her first donation to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1922: a small selection of 28 emergency banknotes, mostly from Germany, but also from France, Denmark and Belgium.

1923

Dudley-Buxton resumed his work as Lecturer in Physical Anthropology when he got back to Oxford from his world tour, with Blackwood as his assistant. Blackwood continued her research on women in Oxfordshire villages and on women students. She also did research on ‘The Grosser Histological Changes occurring in Normal Tissues after Death’ (University Gazette 13 June 1924, p 700). This work focussed on rabbits (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to Sir Bernard Spilsbury, 8 March 1928). Blackwood took her B.Sc. in Anatomy in 1923, with a thesis on embryology (Penniman 1976a: 321).

In the summer of 1923 she travelled to Turkey, and donated a small group of amulets and currency she had collected there to the Pitt Rivers Museum when she got back.

1924

In 1924 Blackwood was awarded a Laura Spelman Rockefeller Fellowship and travelled to North America. She worked under the guidance of Clark Wissler. Wissler was a psychologist who, under the influence of Boas at Columbia in the early 1900s, had become a leading anthropologist and authority on American Indians. He was an expert in mental and sensory testing, and was therefore interested in culture and personality. He became an important mentor for Blackwood in the early part of her career, and he also mentored Margaret Mead at the American Museum of Natural History, where he was a curator from 1902-1942. In 1924 (the year Blackwood arrived in America) he started doing psychological research at Yale University, and he became a Professor of Anthropology there in 1931 (see http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/wissler.shtml). He developed the notion of the ‘culture area’, as a way of exploring the regional distribution of culture, which he applied to Native American groups. Blackwood later used this work as a key text in her lectures at the PRM on North American cultures.

According to Schuyler Jones, Marett had put her in touch with Wissler initially (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood, Beatrice Blackwood Lecture, 20 May 1998). While in America she worked gathering anthropometric data from African-American, Native American, Asian and white communities. Her work contributed to a survey being carried out by the National Research Council, and was to be correlated with mental and sensory tests also under way. Although she was interested in mental testing, Blackwood preferred to concentrate on taking physical measurements because she knew that the mental tests were constantly being reviewed and changed and she was unsure how useful they would be. She worked in schools, universities and training institutions for African-American and Native American communities.

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Race Relations: In the American South in particular Blackwood was confronted with an extremely segregated and racially prejudiced society, which at best made her uncomfortable and at worst made her passionately angry. On 7 April 1925, while based in Nashville, she noted in her diary,

‘The Ku Klux Klan was out last night – they took a negro woman out + beat her till she fell unconscious - + not a doctor in the place dared go near her – just because when out walking with her dog she met a white woman with her dog + the two dogs fought + the white woman beat the negro woman’s dog + the negro woman tried to stop her. This is the Southern United States in the Twentieth Century. And nothing will be done about it.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 12)

There was so much suspicion and fear on both sides that Blackwood found it very difficult to build up the confidence of the African-American community, and on 5 June she celebrated the fact that she had been able to visit a black woman in her home for the first time and had even helped her to bath her baby. Her efforts to build up a more intimate relationship with the black community were met with disbelief and incomprehension by whites. When she told the choir mistress at Tuskegee Institute, Mrs Lee, about her friendship with the young mother, Blackwood found her temper tested:

‘Told her how I had at last obtained the entry I had been wanting into the homes of the community - + how difficult it had been. She said that in the first place people couldn’t believe I really would come - + in the second they were afraid – if the white people of the district knew that I was being received socially they might come + burn down the buildings. I said they needn’t know everything that went on in the campus but she said they always did. The South makes me want to go out + scream. If I were here on my own responsibility I’d like to start a row just for the sake of saying ‘I am from England + I don’t care a damn for your conventions. You daren’t touch me, + if you touch my friends I’ll make such a row as there hasn’t been since the Revolution.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 12)

Her experiences made her aware of the complexities of social, racial and class divisions, and this may also have made her wary of mental testing. ‘The question of the mentality of the Negro is a most difficult one. On the surface one is tempted to say that they are really intellectually inferior to the white, but one has to remember that they have only had sixty years of freedom, with every bar to their progress all the time, their schools are badly equipped and have no funds to pay first class teachers, their homes are poor, and most of them can only attend school part of the year because they have to earn. They have no tradition of culture as the white child has. Of course there are rich Negroes, most of them students at Fisk, for example, probably come from fairly well-to-do homes, but even they have all the barriers of race prejudice against them; socially and professionally their opportunities are strictly limited.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 28, letter to Thomson, 6 April 1925)

Blackwood struggled with these questions, but they did not prevent her from believing in her anthropometric research as a physical anthropologist. Her lecture notes – she was responsible, later in life, for giving ‘ethnographic survey’ lectures that gave basic information on cultural groups throughout the world – reveal that she continued to think in terms of classifying people into cultural and racial groups throughout her career, using features such as language, skin colour, physical type, material culture and subsistence traditions to group large sets of people together or set them apart. At one point she explained in her (undated) lectures, that ethnography was concerned with the description of groups of people ‘considered as units, without reference to their possible relations with other units, making, in fact, a kind of map of humanity.’ In fact, her work was fuelled by the comparative method. She defined ethnology as ‘the application of any or all of the methods of Anthropology to the comparative study of races or peoples’, after Penniman in One Hundred Years of Anthropology (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, ‘What is Anthropology?’ lecture).

In her teaching work, she was quick to point out that ‘race’ had a purely physical meaning, as ‘a group or people having the majority of their physical characteristics in common and transmitting them to their descendants. Moreover, race is the expression of the average of a population, not the description of any one individual in that group.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, Survey Course, Lecture I) She quoted G.M. Morant, saying, ‘to the anthropologist distinctions between races mean no more than very small differences between averages’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 20, notes on Europe for General Ethnology lectures).

She warned against political uses of the term ‘race’. Race was a physical trait, not a cultural or linguistic one: ‘We cannot stress too often or too strongly the fact…that classifications suggested by language or other kinds of purely cultural evidence may be entirely misleading if they are accepted as a guide to racial distinctions. It is a great pity that so much of the earlier work did not take sufficient account of this distinction – partly owing to lack of knowledge, and to the fact that linguistic data is so much more easily collected than physical data.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, Survey Course, Lecture I) And again, with specific reference to Europe: ‘There is no population in Europe to-day which can be supposed to be sharply divided from neighbouring populations on account of racial distinctions. All national propaganda based on presumed racial differences and boundaries is therefore entirely without any scientific foundation.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 20, notes on Europe for General Ethnology lectures). And, even more specifically, ‘race’ should not be confused with ‘nationality’ which was the product of particular historical and political events: ‘There is no such thing as an English race or a German race’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21. Survey Course I).

Blackwood spent much of her time issuing cautions and qualifications during these lectures, because she talked in terms of racial groups, but was fully aware of the conceptual problems this kind of classificatory approach fostered. While on the one hand listing the different traits that could be used to classify groups into different races – skin colour, hair type, facial type – she was careful to make the point that there were no hard and fast lines, and different groups ‘graded’ into each other. ‘All these classifications are based upon the presence of similarities in a certain group of physical characters which, however carefully they may be chosen, are nevertheless arbitrary, and what is put into any group in any method of classification depends upon which characters are selected and upon the degree of similarity arbitrarily selected by the classifier as sufficient to justify inclusion in one class or another.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, Survey Course, Lecture II). She pointed out that biological research was moving towards the study of individual traits and genetic inheritance rather than groups of traits defining cultural units, and noted that differences did not proceed through ‘jumps’ but graded into each other (ibid, see also PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21 ‘What is Anthropology?’ lecture). ‘Race’ did not refer to static, immutable, fixed differences or hard and fast genetic boundaries between groups, but variations in the relative frequencies of genes in different parts of the population. Ultimately, mankind shared a common genetic unity (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21 Survey Course, Lecture II).

And yet, broader classifications were still integral to her teaching: ‘It is convenient, however, for purposes of study, to make the material easier to handle, to divide up the population of Europe on certain broad lines, and it is permissible, provided that we realize that these are artificial, and are not established on a solid biological, i.e. genetical basis.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 20, notes on Europe for General Ethnology lectures) What was true of Europe, was also true of Africa, America, Asia, the Pacific, and Arctic communities; indeed, for the sake of convenience, the whole world was divided and sub-divided into racial and cultural groups.

What Blackwood’s lectures actually reveal is the fact that the classification of races, cultures, tribes and regions changed constantly depending on what criterion was chosen to classify them. She often talked through the linguistic classification, before turning to the physical classification, then the technological one, and so on. It is not altogether surprising that she spent a considerable amount of time discussing the pros and cons of these different methods of analysis. And yet, the question of what defined Melanesians as opposed to Polynesians, or Melanesians as opposed to Malays and Indonesians, or Malaysians as opposed to people living in Madagascar, centred and defined her work. Her lectures were focussed on defining certain groups in relation to each other. She knew that such classifications were essentially descriptive, and the real question was how such differences were caused, ‘how such groups came to be as we find them now’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, Survey Course, Lecture II). Such questions were far less easy to answer. How far were traits the result of culture contact? How far were they due to the environmental and social conditions? To what extent were they inherited genetically? What was the best means to use when defining a certain group in contrast to another? These were issues Blackwood couldn’t escape and she continued to wrestle with them throughout her career. No doubt her work amongst the racially segregated communities of North America in 1924-27 sowed the seeds for some of these intellectual struggles. It was a political and social segregation she resisted, but a physical segregation she worked to uphold. What the physical differences meant, and how all the different elements – politics, culture, appearance and economics – worked together was less easy to quantify and measure.

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Her trip to North America began in September 1924. She left Liverpool on 13 September and arrived in New York on 23 September. She met with Clark Wissler (1870-1947) two days later and began to plan her work and travels. Blackwood spent the first few weeks of her stay based in New York, but also visited friends near Boston. On 6 October she moved to Princeton and was given lab space in the Psychology Department under Professor Brigham. While based in Princeton she worked at the Vineland Training School in New Jersey (a residential school for ‘feeble-minded’ ‘children’ (aged 6 to 60 years), which had become an international centre for research into mental illness and psychology, see http://www.vineland.org/history/trainingschool/). She occasionally visited New York and Boston. She spent Christmas in Atlantic City with friends, and then travelled to Washington D.C. on 27 December for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meetings.

1925

In early January 1925 Blackwood attended the National Research Council Committee on Human Migration in Washington D.C. From 7 January she was based back in Princeton, although she visited New York and Boston from there. On 31 January she travelled to Nashville, Tennessee, where she was to be based until mid-April, apart from a brief trip to Cleveland, Ohio, to attend the meetings of the American Association of Anatomists and to meet Dr Wingate Todd, between 7 and 14 April. In Nashville, she took measurements at various institutions, including the ‘Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School for Negroes’ (later, Tennessee State University), and Fisk University, another black college. On 17 April she travelled from Nashville to Birmingham, Alabama, where she worked at the Tuskegee Institute (full name: Tuskegee Negro Normal Institute) until the end of May. She travelled to New Orleans on 29 May and explored the area until 3 June before returning to Tuskegee. On 10 June she arrived in Atlanta, Georgia and worked at the Atlanta University. She visited Rome, Georgia, on 13 June, and then travelled back to Nashville on 16 June.

From Nashville she travelled up to Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) via Chicago on 23 June, arriving in Winnipeg on 25 June. From here she continued northwards, across Lake Winnipeg, to Norway House where she worked on the Indian Reserve. From Norway House she undertook a trip to Oxford House between 6 and 16 July. On 24 July she arrived back in Winnipeg. She went to the Regina Annual Exhibition and Fair in Saskatchewan at the end of July, before moving on to Calgary, Alberta and the Sarcee Reserve on 29 July, and the Cardston Reserve on 1 August. Between 5 and 11 August she travelled around Lake Louise, Victoria Glacier and Emerald Lake, west of Calgary, before departing for Vancouver on 11 August. On 18 August she travelled to Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia, then on to Prince Rupert on the following day. From here she travelled on to Kitwanga, where she worked for about 5 days, before moving on to Kispoix, where she spent about a week. On 2 September she travelled to Hazelton, then travelled back to Prince Rupert four days later. From here, she went to Alert Bay, where she worked for about a week before going back to Vancouver.

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Cultures in transition: Blackwood became interested in the possibility of studying cultures in terms of their responses and adaptations to western influences, as opposed to trying to research ‘original’, pre-contact societies. The northwest coast of Canada struck her as ripe for this kind of study. She was fully aware of the contradictory policies practiced in Canada, where people were forbidden from making new totem poles, while existing ones were being re-erected, repaired and re-painted for tourism along the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. She noticed that communities were putting up gravestones with totemic designs because of the ban on constructing totem poles.

‘…while these gravestones are no longer representative of native art, it seems to me that they are interesting as examples of the adaptation of old customs to new conditions. I cannot help thinking that it would make a very interesting contribution to anthropology if someone made a study of the present-day American Indians simply with a view to describing the transition from their culture to our own. We give a great deal of attention to the few really primitive peoples that remain on the earth, and are inclined to think that when natives have come into contact with the white man, their interest for anthropology is past. But the transition stages offer problems not only of academic but also of practical value, and they ought to be recorded before they pass away. This is nowhere more strikingly illustrated than among these tribes of the north-west coast.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 13, undated lecture on ‘The Totem Poles of British Columbia’)

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On 21 September she set out from Vancouver, arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 24 September. She was given lab space at the Anatomy Department in Minneapolis, where she was based for the next month. On 29 October she travelled to Duluth, Minnesota and worked at the village of Net Lake, then went on to the Red Lake Indian Reservation on 6 November. On 20 November she returned to Winnipeg, and visited the Ogema White Earth Reservation and the Pipestone Indian Boarding School over the next ten days, before travelling on to Handrean on 30 November. On 6 December she went back to Minneapolis, then to Chicago on 14 December. On 17 she left for Hindman, Kentucky, where she stayed until going on to Washington D.C. and Boston, arriving there on 31 December.

1926

There is a gap in Blackwood’s diary at the beginning of January. It resumes on 21 January when she leaves Wellesley, west of Boston, Massachusetts, where she had friends, and travelled to Hindman, where she was based and worked in the area until 9 March. On 10 March she arrived in Berea, Kentucky, and worked there until 24 March when she arrived in Johnson City, Tennessee. At the end of March she journeyed to Philadelphia, and spent 2-6 April in Atlantic City, before going to Wellesley, Massachusetts, and staying there until 13 April. From 14 April until 9 May she was based in Cleveland, Ohio, working at the Western Reserve University. On 12 May she arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, working at the U.S. Indian School and the Museum. She was based in Santa Fe for about a month, although she visited Albuquerque from 21 May until 4 June.

On 13 June she arrived in Phoenix, Arizona. From here she visited Tucson for a few days. On 13 July she left Phoenix for the Grand Canyon. She worked at the village of Supai, Cataract Canyon, Utah, between 17 and 24 July before moving on to Holbrook, Arizona. From Holbrook she went to Polacca, Arizona, and on to the Acoma mesa on 31 July, where she met people who had worked with Barbara Freire Marecco during her fieldwork in the Southwest in 1910 and 1913.

Sixty miles west of Albuquerque, the Acoma pueblo claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States (see http://www.nmmagazine.com/NMGUIDE/acoma.html). Following in Freire-Marecco’s footsteps, Blackwood visited the pueblo a number of times during 1926 and 1927. Although visitors were not generally welcomed, she had the support of Mr Reuter, who worked for the Society for the Preservation of the Ancient Churches of the South-West, and who had already been accepted by the community, and she also made friends with the Governor and his second in command. The villagers gave Blackwood an Indian name – Shamuts-henati – ‘White Cloud’ ‘whether on account of my skin or my clothing I never could find out’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 13, undated evening lecture on ‘Acoma’). While there, she managed to collect various things for the Pitt Rivers Museum, including examples of selenite windows that were being replaced by glass, one of the stones used for cooking ‘paper bread’ (Blackwood spent some time looking into the making of paper bread and her notes are kept in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 13), and some of the pottery, which Blackwood judged to be ‘the most elaborate and the finest of all the Pueblo pottery’ (ibid). She became good friends with Maria Chino, who was considered to be the best Acoma potter, and Blackwood stayed with her sometimes. When she left, Maria gave her some particularly find pieces of pottery, which were later given to the Pitt Rivers Museum (see ‘The Blackwood Collection’ document). She greatly enjoyed her visits to Acoma, remembering afterwards,

‘I never saw Acoma without a feeling of excitement or left it without looking back. I do not think even the most hard-boiled traveller could fail to be thrilled by it. I cannot begin to give you any idea of the atmosphere of age-old mystery that pervades it.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 13, undated evening lecture on ‘Acoma’)

On 3 August she arrived back in Santa Fe where she enjoyed a Fiesta which started on 4 August. Between 16 and 27 August she joined a group of 24 people and toured Mesa Verde (Colorado), Chaco Canyon, Gallup and Zuni, New Mexico (basically the area spanning the Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona borders). On 28 August she went with some of the party to Fort Defiance, Arizona, and from there she went on to Chinlee (also in Arizona) and explored Canyon de Chelley, Canyon del Mueito and worked on the reservation. On 12 September she returned to Fort Defiance where she worked for a fortnight before arriving back in Phoenix on 27 September.

From Phoenix she visited Fort Apache on 18 October. And on 27 October she left for Acoma, then Albuquerque. At this point her diary entries become sporadic, however she went to Acoma on 5 December, was in Santa Fe on 7 December and in Chicago by 19 December.

Meanwhile, the annual report for the Department of Human Anatomy in Oxford for 1926 reported that, ‘As the American Council of National Research has approached Miss B. Blackwood, B.Sc., M.A., of Somerville College, to undertake ethnological research in the islands of the Pacific, it is uncertain as yet whether she will return to resume her work in this Department.’ (University Gazette, 22 June 1927, p723)

1927

Blackwood’s diary does not resume fully until May, but during January she spent one week in New York and some weekends in Boston. On 15 May she visited Niagara Falls, then on to Chicago on 17 May, Denver and Colorado Springs on 19 May, and Salt Lake City on 21 May. She went to Sacramento Valley, California, on 23 May and took the ferry to San Francisco from there. She spent the next month based in the San Francisco area. She visited Stanford and Berkeley, went sight seeing in the area, and worked around Orick and Weitclipe, in Humboldt, northwest California, as well as at Mills College in San Francisco. On 23 June she travelled to Los Angeles, and on to San Diego the following day. A few days later, on 28 June, she travelled to Laguna and Acoma, where she spent about ten days before moving on to Bernalillo via Albuquerque on 9 July. On 15 July she travelled to Santa Clara, New Mexico, where she worked. Between 23 and 28 July she visited the area around Pecos and excavated there. On 28 July she went back to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, then on to Casa Blanca (Acoma region) three days later. On 8 August she went to Langua and from there on to Oraibi, Arizona, arriving on 11 August, where she was based until 30 August. On 4 September she was back in Holbrook, in Gallup on 9 September, in Fort Defiance on 11 September, and in Albuquerque on 12 September, from where she continued her journey eastwards and home, to England.

Back in Oxford, Dudley-Buxton became Reader in Physical Anthropology under new University Statutes and Blackwood resumed her duties as Assistant Demonstrator for Ethnology and continued to work on the cranial collections from Michaelmas Term 1927. (University Gazette, 13 June 1928, p653) In November, Arthur Thomson wrote to Herschel Margoliouth (Secretary of Faculties, 1925-1947), asserting that, having spent 6 years as Department Demonstrator, Blackwood must be nominated for a University Demonstratorship otherwise she would miss her chance (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 15 Nov 1927). He added that she was skilled in microscope technique, had an intimate knowledge of the details of physical anthropology (particularly using psychological methods to investigate racial groups), had helped to collect material for the department’s collections (including photographs illustrating racial types, modes of life and geographical environments), and was an experienced fieldworker.

1928

Following Thomson’s letter to Margoliouth in November 1927, Blackwood was promoted to University Demonstrator in Physical Anthropology in 1928. The Department’s Annual Report for 1928 recorded that: ‘She has all but completed the cataloguing and arrangement of the collection of over 2,000 skulls, which now occupies the small museum erected for that purpose in the new extension.’ During the year, Blackwood lectured on ‘Human Hybridization’ (Trinity Term) and on ‘The Value of Mental Testing in Ethnological Work’ (Michaelmas Term) (University Gazette, 12 June 1929, p688). In October, she requested leave of absence from the University to undertake a National Research Council funded trip to the Pacific (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 22 October 1928)

1929

In Trinity Term 1929 Blackwood was granted one year’s leave of absence by the University, to take up funding from the Research Committee of the Rockefeller Fund to work in Melanesia. Before leaving, she completed cataloguing the cranial collections at the Department of Human Anatomy; she also lectured in ‘Human Heredity’ in Trinity Term. In 1929, Tom Penniman was given a room in the Department of Human Anatomy to work on material excavated at Kish in 1928-29 (University Gazette, 12 June 1930, p661). One letter in the Blackwood manuscript collections recounts the memories of Mr Hambridge, who had worked the lantern at meetings of the Oxford Anthropological Society, and recalled that ‘Professor Thomson believed that his young team of Buxton, Miss Blackwood, and Penniman were going to make revolutionary discoveries in evolutionary history’, which is rather interesting given that two of them went on to run the Pitt Rivers Museum through the 1940s, 50s and early 60s (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter from J.M. Edmonds to Mr Hambridge, 25 September 1967, enclosed in letter from K.P. Oakley to Blackwood)

Blackwood’s fieldwork was funded by the Committee for Research on the Problems of Sex, set up by the National Research Council based in Washington, D.C. The scheme had been brought to her attention by J. Wingate Todd, who she had first met in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925, and she had been helped and guided during the application and planning process by Clark Wissler, who had overseen her North American research. She had chosen to work on one of the smaller islands of the Bismarck Archipelago; she was to decide on the exact location once she had arrived in New Guinea and discussed the options with the Government Anthropologist, E.W. Pearson Chinnery. She chose this area of the Pacific after consulting with various experts (presumably people like Wissler, Marett, Charles and Brenda Seligman, Thomson and Balfour, all of whom she thanked in her book Both Sides of Buka Passage although there is no direct evidence for their role in helping her chose her field site) (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to J. Wingate Todd, 27 May 1929; preface to Both Sides of Buka Passage) She later remembered that the instructions given to her amounted to nothing more than, ‘Find an island somewhere in the Pacific with the least possible amount of contact with white people, and go and live in it.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers, uncatalogued correspondence, undated lecture on ‘Field Studies’)

Blackwood probably left England for Australia in early July (her diary starts on 21 July, while in Colombo, and it took about 3 weeks to get to Sri Lanka from England at that time). She arrived in Australia in early August, and travelled to Melbourne, arriving there on 3 August. On 9 August she arrived in Sydney, where she stayed for a week, during which time she met Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, Camilla Wedgewood, Raymond Firth and Margaret Mead.

She began her trip doubting her own abilities as a field anthropologist. On 18 August she wrote to Thomson in Oxford, ‘Talking with this girl [a missionary nurse sharing her cabin on the S.S. Montoro to Rabaul] and with Margaret Mead has left me terribly depressed about my fitness to cope with this job. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew this time – and no mistake…’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 1, 18 August 1929). She later admitted that Mead ‘made me feel very small in Sydney’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 9, 24 November 1929), and even that she had disliked her ‘intensely’, ‘a feeling I discovered to be shared by Dr Powdermaker + others. For one thing – a person who spends six months in a place (during one month of which I afterwards discovered she lived with a white woman nursing a sprained ankle) - + then says she speaks the language perfectly + knows all about the natives – always makes my hair stand on end.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 20, 17 April 1930). However, she was grateful for Firth’s help; she reported that Radcliffe-Brown had been kind and given her a letter of introduction to the Governor; and she reassured by the fact that Chinnery (Government Anthropologist, New Guinea, 1924-32) was meeting her in Rabaul. But she wished she had brought more books with her, including Malinowski’s Argonauts, to help prepare her for the field. And she seems to have hesitated from the start when it came to taking Chinnery’s advice: ‘I suppose I shall have to agree to his suggestion that I should work at Buka, though I am disappointed about Tauga [?] and the Feni Islands.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 1)

She had left Sydney on 17 August and reached Samarai on 24 (where she met Mr Lyons, the Resident Magistrate, who had helped Haddon when he was there but had since passed a law preventing antiquities from leaving New Guinea (ibid, letter 2)). She arrived in Rabaul on 26 August, where she was met by Chinnery. ‘Mr Chinnery met me on the wharf and has been most awfully good to me – spends a lot of time discussing methods and work and introduces me to nice people…’ (ibid). She enjoyed herself while in Rabaul, and busied herself learning pidgin. Chinnery had a plan to send her to Mortock Islands because it was ‘more urgent than Buka which is going on all right’, but this required confirmation from the Governor General and Blackwood was waiting for further transport anyway, so in the meantime she visited Hortense Powdermaker. On 29 August she travelled along the south coast of New Ireland. She arrived in Kavieng the next day, and met Powdermaker the day after that. She stayed with Powdermaker until 11 September. Powdermaker had been doing fieldwork amongst the Lesu, on the coast of New Ireland, for four months thanks to a grant from the Australian National Research Council and the backing of Malinowski. While staying, Blackwood continued to learn pidgin. She clearly admired Powdermaker: ‘I wish I may be as successful. I’m eager to get to work on my own little bit but as I have to wait for transport anyway I’m lucky to have this chance of seeing it done and of getting away into the bush’ (ibid, letter 4). Having left Powdermaker, Blackwood arrived in Karu on 12 September, in Muliawa on 15 September, and was back in Rabaul on 17 September.

On 21 September, Blackwood left Rabaul for Buka (a boat travelled between the two places once every six weeks). On 23 September she visited Archer (this was probably F.P. Archer, b. 1890 in Melbourne, a plantation owner on Yame Island, on the west coast of Buka, Buka Passage), then travelled on via Soraken to Portau the following day, where she was met by the Haddens (Mrs Hadden was the daughter of the anthropologist R. Parkinson (Blackwood 1935: xix)). On 25 September she arrived at the District Officer, MacMillan’s, office, who was to help her pick out a ‘good village’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 3, 21 September 1929) and on 29 September she departed for Petats, a coral island off the west coast of Buka, where she initially stayed in the House Kiap (government patrol house) until the villagers could build her a house of her own. During this early phase of her fieldwork, Blackwood appears to have thoroughly enjoyed herself. She mentioned in her letters to Thomson her disbelief at being in such beautiful surroundings, which gave her the impression of being ‘in the pictures’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 5, 22 September 1929). She also enjoyed Petats initially, and was eager to make a good impression, learning the language and strolling round the village so that the villagers would get used to her presence (ibid, letter 6, 20 October 1929).

However, she was also concerned about the influence of the mission, which was positioned across the lagoon from Petats. ‘It is distinctly disconcerting to find these blighters going to church every evening and twice on Sunday!’ (ibid). Still, she hoped to get information about old customs from the older residents. The Rev. Allan H. Cropp, the Methodist missionary, had lent her his work on local languages, and although she intended to keep herself to herself she was aware that she had to keep on the right side of the mission, as it was so close by. She tried to weigh up the pros and cons of working alongside a mission station: ‘I think on the whole, so far, the pros have it, but it isn’t quite what I expected to find here. I am a little afraid that when I come to enquire after their magic etc they won’t tell me because they will think I shall tell the mission people.’ There was also Archer, the planter, and Mr and Mr Huson who owned a plantation on the other side of the mission. ‘The less I have to do with any of these white folk the better I shall be pleased – but I can’t afford to offend them…The one saving circumstance is that there are no white people on this island – (if there were I should pack up + go elsewhere).’ (ibid)

However, Blackwood’s unease increased rapidly as she realised that no traditional ceremonies seemed to have survived at Petats – ‘I would rather have less help and more material’ – and by 26 October she was considering looking around Buka for ‘a place where there is more left. I want my natives to myself – I can’t help feeling a bit resentful when the mission people come over’ (ibid, letter 7, 26 October 1929). By early November she was telling Thomson that she had ‘made a great mistake in settling here – I should have looked round a bit first…I am bitterly disappointed in Petats’ (ibid, letter 8, 7 November 1929). Blackwood’s frustration at being surrounded by the expatriate community stemmed from her aversion to socializing simply for the sake of it while in the field. This probably set her apart from most of her white companions:

‘I do not hanker after the society of people of my own colour. If there were a chance of a talk with someone of congenial tastes it would be different. But there is not a single white person in the whole Mandated Territory with whom I have any desire to exchange a single word, though I am on friendly terms with all of them – Government officials, planters and missionaries, and could get any help I wanted from them at any time. I should be well content not to see a white man for the rest of my residence in the Territory. I can generally manage to avoid them by not going down to meet the steamer, which I do only when there is some business which cannot be transacted by letter. The rare visit of any of them to this village always leaves me with a feeling of irritation.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 5, ‘Observations on climate etc’)

Before too long, her disillusionment was levelled at Chinnery too: ‘The policy of the Government seems to be to fob one off with a soft safe place where one can’t get into mischief – without caring whether one can do good work there or not. Chinnery is in with them – he should have known better than to send me here.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 9, 24 November 1929) Furthermore, she felt that the work of the mission was undermining her ability to gather ethnographic information, particularly as she was meant to be studying sexual practices.

‘The women giggle when spoken to + it is hard to get them to talk at all. The men are not very ready to talk of sexual matters – there is evidently an artificial sense of shame springing up among them. They never make any sexual reference in my presence unless directly asked. For a long time I got no stories with sexual references – the first was apologised for – ‘e make em talk no good’ - + only told to me after a consultation with the group as to whether it was the right thing to do.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 6, ‘Petats Review of Results in Three Months’)

She does not explain how she knew that the villagers’ sense of shame was ‘artificial’. All in all, she was faced with a difficult decision, having already invested a three months of her limited time in Petats, and learned the language, she was worried about starting all over again elsewhere and not leaving herself enough scope to do a good job second time round. Her concerns that her work would never reach the standards set by Mead and Powdermaker began to surface again (ibid).

The material culture was interesting and much of it had ‘survived’ the recent changes wrought by the mission, but Blackwood found the ceremonial and ritual life at Petats wanting. She spent a few days at another village to see a feast in honour of a new house and concluded that she had collected more information from there in a week than she could get in six weeks at Petats. And yet, if she moved, she still feared making a mess of both jobs by not giving herself enough time for thorough research in either place (ibid, letter 10, 8 December 1929). ‘The essence of this job is that I should stay put + get to know the people individually. If I start on another place + another language I’ll hardly have time to do that before it’s time to come home.’ (ibid). Her determination to work at one field site, in the Malinowskian tradition, is striking. Nonetheless, by mid-December she had decided to prospect for a new place to work (ibid).

1930

On 30 December 1929, Blackwood had had a visit from Mrs Hadden, who had offered to take Blackwood back and settle her in a village on the north of Bougainville, where there had only been a native mission teacher for a few weeks, and there were no white people at all other than the Haddens. So, at Mrs Hadden’s suggestion Blackwood went to the House Kiap at Gomen on 1 January 1930 and visited the neighbouring village of Kurtachi (on the north coast of Bougainville) from there. She only took enough supplies for a month or so initially, until she could gauge how the two places compared. (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 11, 25 December 1929, and Blackwood’s diary) As it was, after 4 days at Gomen, she wrote to Thomson and announced that she already had nearly as much material as she had collected during 3 months at Petats (ibid, letter 12, 5 January 1930). Kurtachi became her primary field site, and she went back to Petats briefly on 26/27 January to organize and collect her things. From Petats, before returning to Kurtachi, she made a journey round the northern half of Buka, to the village of Lemanmanu on the northern tip of the island, where she stayed at the House Kiap. On the way back, she stayed the night at Hanahan on the north east of the island. By 9 February she was back at Petats, but she took the boat back to Gomen on 11 February, this time with her possessions.

She did not wholly regret her time at Petats, particularly as the material culture was richer there than at Kurtachi, and the two languages turned out to have a similar structure (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 12, 5 January 1930). She later reasoned that, at the time, she had already been travelling for three months and wanted to get to work, and she had liked the sound of the place ‘they have fishing kites etc and no white people on the island’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 17, 14 March 1930). She was glad that she had been able to send Balfour a fishing kite ‘which he particularly wanted’ (ibid). She also kept in touch with Cropp, the Methodist missionary, despite her resentment of his influence over the villagers. He was an expert on languages and Blackwood had spent much of her time collecting vocabularies and linguistic data from the villages she visited. They both liaised with Sydney Ray, as did J.H.L. Waterhouse (who was also a linguist), about the relationships between these Melanesian languages, and Blackwood and Cropp corresponded about this work later (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 9, Cropp to Blackwood, 29 May 1933).

Interestingly, around this same time (new year 1930) in Oxford, Buxton was considering applying for a Registrar job at the University, and Blackwood asked Thomson whether he thought she would have any chance of succeeding him as Reader in Physical Anthropology. ‘In a way, I would rather remain without the teaching responsibilities involved, which would of course entail my remaining in Oxford + forgoing a possible second year of field work later on…But I know that my present position in Oxford is likely to become precarious, + to be quite frank – while I do not yearn to step into Buxton’s shoes – I should hate anyone else to have them!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 12, 5 January 1930) This comment is interesting because it illustrates her preference for fieldwork over teaching, and shows that she was concerned about – or at least aware of – the impermanence of her position in Oxford. In a later letter she expressed her wishes that things should stay as they were at the Department, but she also acknowledged that this was impossible given Thomson’s imminent retirement: ‘it isn’t fair to expect you to carry the job on indefinitely – but I feel that there’ll be ‘nae luck about the hoose when oor gind man’s awa!’ - + I hate the thought of the Department without its chief.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 21, 25 April 1930)

From 11 February until 1 October 1930 Blackwood was based at Kurtachi (her house there was finished in early March), but she undertook a number of trips around the area. From 22-25 February she travelled to see an upi ceremony (upi is the hat worn by adolescent boys) on the other side of the bay with Mr Hadden and Mr Swanston. As she settled in to work in this second village she began to realize how much information there was to gather and process, and how little time she had. ‘Ten months is not enough for this job’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 15, 26 February 1930). She frequently compared herself to Malinowski, whose books plunged her ‘into fits of the deepest depression’ and she despaired of ever getting the quality or quantity of material that he had published. She exclaimed more than once that he had three years in the field, while she had less than one, and that he was ‘a perfect genius at languages’ while she had ‘some facility for picking up enough of the language to carry on a casual conversation’ (ibid, and letter16, 10 March 1930). She also worried that she was unable to see the bigger picture in the way that Malinowski could, and she feared that he could ‘theorise about things which to me remain facts’ (letter 17, 14 March 1930).

In early April, Blackwood learned that the initiation ceremony – involving the upi or ‘hats’ – that she was hoping to see, would not take place until July at the time she was due to be travelling back to England. She was bitterly disappointed, especially as she suspected it might be the last of these ceremonies, since no new upi were to be given out and the boys were now against wearing them. She wrote to Thomson and wondered whether she dare ask for another term’s leave to enable her to extend her stay. She claimed that she did not particularly want to stay, but the opportunity for seeing the ceremony was too good to miss (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 19, 6 April 1930). The possibility of extending her trip was complicated by the situation in Oxford, because she realised that if there was any chance of her getting Buxton’s job should he move on, she would want to be back in time for Michaelmas Term (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 21, 25 April 1930). As it was, she heard in late May that Buxton had not got the job, and so she extended her stay in the field for an extra three months.

On 11 April she visited Ruri, a village along the coast to the east of Kurtachi. On 21 April she visited Saposa, an island off the west coast of Bougainville, where she met J.H.L. Waterhouse, who was collecting plants for Kew and gave her advice concerning her plant collection (I have written elsewhere about this collection). She arrived back in Kurtachi on 27 April following this trip. On 9 May she visited Riaso for another upi ceremony, and on 27 May she visited a sick woman at Ruri. By this time she was even more scared at the thought of only having six weeks left in the field. ‘I simply can’t write a book – or even a decent report – about these people – I don’t know the first thing about them. It’s all very well for people like Margaret Mead to say ‘a trained student can master the fundamental structure of a primitive society in a few months.’ I don’t know how she does it. I can’t. I’ve worked hard + conscientiously here for 8 months + I have hardly scratched the surface. The idea of having to ‘write it up’ after another two months or so is awful. After as many years one might perhaps be gratified to do so.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 22, 4 May 1930).

On 23 June she travelled to Malasang to see pottery-making (she collected some pots and the tools that were used to make them for Balfour (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 23, 29 June 1930) see ‘The Blackwood Collection’ document), returning two days later. By this stage she was beginning to wonder whether the ceremony, promised for July, would take place in time for her to see it, despite her extended leave (ibid, 21 June 1930). She soon resorted to ‘bribing and threatening’ in an effort to get the villagers to schedule it in time for her to see (letter 25, 10 August 1930). Meanwhile, in July, she went ‘on top’, to Konua (or Kunua), in the ‘uncontrolled area’ on the western coast. She initially intended to take this trip with Felix Spieser, but ended up going alone – or at least, only with the local villagers, who agreed to take her because she was a woman, making this ‘the first time in my life that my sex has been anything but a disadvantage to me’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 24, 27 July 1930). She visited several villages where the inhabitants had never seen a white person before. She wanted to see whether it would be possible, and profitable, to work there in the future.

‘The villages I visited were at that time still ‘uncontrolled’ and not very easy to work with, and my visit was merely an exploratory trip with a native who had affiliations there and agreed to take me with him. I hoped at that time to be able to go back and make a long stay in the Kunua country, but on my next expedition I was asked to go to New Guinea to get some things that were especially required by the Pitt Rivers Museum, and have never been back to Bougainville.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Box 5, letter to Dr Oliver, 20 April 1939)

She met Speiser again by chance afterwards and on hearing where she had been he decided to follow in her footsteps, which worried her terribly, as she thought it would jeopardize her own relationship with the people she had met. However, she concluded that they probably would not have allowed her to stay for a longer period anyway, and the settlements were too small for her to observe daily life effectively (ibid).

On 3 September she records going ‘on top’ to visit villagers again in her diary. Towards the end of her time, in mid-September, she began taking measurements of the villagers in the neighbouring villages of Tabut, Kurtachi and Ruri. By this time she had all but given up hope of seeing the initiation ceremony, which, in the end, must have taken place after her departure. She had heard from Mr Cook that the timing of the ceremonies was run from a village up in the mountains and the chief responsible was determined not to have the ceremony until Blackwood had left. Her friends in the village denied that the ceremonies were run by another village chief, but Blackwood was left wondering about the truth of the situation (letter 23, 8 June 1930). On 1 October she left Kurtachi and returned to Petats, where she continued to take measurements of the villagers. On 4 and 5 October she moved on to Pororan (an island off the west coast of Buka) where she took measurements. On 6 October she returned to Petats briefly before leaving via the island of Matsungon (off the west coast of Buka, south of Petats), and through Buka Passage, south to Kieta, on the east coast of Bougainville.

Blackwood was now heading to New Zealand, en route for home. She travelled via Tulagi (on 12 October), Norfolk Island (on 16 October), and arriving in Sydney on 22 October, where she stayed with the Swanstons. She did not enjoy Sydney, nor was she left with a favourable impression of Radcliffe-Brown, who she met there for the second time:

‘Australia is wet and cold and miserable and crowded and noisy and I feel like the wild man from Borneo. Here with my friends it is not so bad but Sydney was awful. Radcliffe Brown was sniffy and indicated that he didn’t see how I could possibly have done any decent work up there because I had had no training in social anthropology. He asked who did the social anthropology at Oxford, when I told him Marett, he said: ‘The unfortunate thing about Marett is that he has never seen a savage.’ Then he wanted to know about the Tropical African students, I said Buxton had to deal with them, he enquired with an air of superiority: ‘But Buxton has never been in Africa, has he?’ Altogether he succeeded in putting my back up properly but I couldn’t very well be rude to him in his own office. He’s too damn superior for anything.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 27, 28 October 1930)

On 25 October she travelled on to Melbourne, where she boarded the Makeno for New Zealand on 30 October. She arrived in Dunedin on 3 November, where she was met by Henry Devenish Skinner (who became director of the Otago Museum that year, having been an assistant curator and lecturer). Blackwood stayed with Skinners – ‘a most delightful couple’ – for a week before she travelled north via Christchurch (10 November), Wellington and New Plymouth (11 November), Rotarua (16 November) and Auckland (17 November). On 18 November she boarded R.M.S. Magaia at Auckland, and travelled east to Hawaii, where she arrived on 28 November and was met by Sir Peter Buck, ethnologist at (later Director of) the Bishop Museum, Honolulu (Buck and his wife were also deemed to be ‘a delightful couple’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 30, 19 November 1930)). By 4 December she had docked at Victoria, on the west coast of Canada, and her diary ends with her arrival in Vancouver on 5 December. From here, I assume she travelled eastwards through North America on her journey home. She certainly planned to see Clark Wissler, and was nervous about his reactions to a report she had sent him (it is unclear what the report was on) (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 29, 27 November 1930). But by the time she was due into Honolulu she was already tired of socializing. In her last remaining letter to Thomson, she writes, ‘I just want to have tea and cherry cake with you beside a cozy fire in the Department + talk shop. And you will ask me lots of questions I can’t answer + I shall wish I could go back again + find out.’ (ibid).

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Intensive fieldwork: Blackwood clearly modelled this 1929-30 field trip on the work of Malinowski and others who were doing ‘intensive’ research in the field at that time. In one of his letters to Blackwood, Thomson had cautioned her not to be ‘too diffuse’ in her work. Blackwood was forthright in her response, and clearly summed up why it was impossible to single out any specific strand of cultural activity for study:

‘[It] is very difficult [not to be diffuse], especially in view of the nature of my programme. I am supposed to be investigating ‘the sex life of a primitive people’. But if I ignored their material culture I should lose a lot of sex taboos e.g. while fishing, hunting etc. If I don’t bother about their medicines I lose a lot of charms for making people fall in love with you, to say nothing of contraceptives etc. If I omit astronomy, I lose e.g. an interesting connection between certain appearances of the moon + menstruation. If I omitted their genealogies – a job which takes endless time + patience – I could never understand their society + should never have heard of a number of anomalous marriages which throw light on the problems with which I am immediately concerned. And so on through all the range of human activities.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 22, 4 May 1930)

She was also keen to have her own house built in the village of Kurtachi, rather than stay at the Government’s House Kiap on the outskirts. She believed that it was much better for anthropologists to organize their own accommodation, which enabled them to secure a ‘strategic position’ in the village. In later lectures she gave of field methods, she remembered that this went contrary to the advice she had been given as a student:

‘In some lectures which I once attended before going on a field trip, the lecturer laid great stress on getting a house well away from the village. He was thinking of the advantages thus obtained in the way of quiet, cleanliness, sanitation, and so on. But for an anthropologist, these are far outweighed by the immense advantage of having a house in full view of what is going on in the village. You will often find that while the people have no objection whatever to your watching some ceremony or piece of work which may be in progress, it will yet never occur to them to come and tell you that it is going on.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence, undated lecture on ‘Field Studies’)

She ensured that rules were set up to protect her privacy. In the evenings, she would turn on a light on her veranda to signal that it was all right for people to come and socialize and tell stories. At first Blackwood did not realize that the villagers were too polite to leave until she turned them out in the evenings, but soon she began to do this. The villagers did not visit her at her house when she was eating meals because they considered it rude to do so (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 27, ‘My Daily Round’ typescript). I think there was also a rule that people were not allowed into the house, only on the veranda.

When going on journeys, she usually only took a rucksack and stayed with locals in their houses when visited. She strongly disagreed with the practice of ‘going on field trips even of short duration, accompanied by a string of porters carrying furniture, tucker boxes and such paraphernalia of civlisation’, because she realized that these things established a barrier between the anthropologist and their subjects (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence, undated lecture on ‘Field Studies’). She advocated making friends with local children, which was often a good way of getting to know their parents, and she took balloons, little bells, small mirrors and tinsel into the field to charm them. She quickly realized that finding out about technology and material culture was a good way of starting relationships. And she also found that reading books by other anthropologists not only stimulated her own research, but provided a starting point for discussions with the villagers who were interested in hearing about people in other parts of the world (ibid). She believed it was vital to learn the language, and criticized the practice of using interpreters which increased the likelihood of errors, and was slow and frustrating.

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Physical Anthropology: This was an area she had previously focused on almost exclusively, for example, during her travels in North America, where she spent the whole of her time measuring people and taking samples of hair etc. And she had intended to carry out similar kinds of research in the Solomon Islands: she wrote to Dr Keynes, of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, before she left, enquiring about taking blood samples to test for blood groups and other information ‘which can be used for the study of human heredity along genetic lines’. She was concerned as to whether the serum needed to carry out this kind of research would keep in the tropical climate, particularly as it would take her a while to win the confidence of the locals before undertaking the work (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, letter to Dr Keynes, 13 May 1929). However, once there, she found the realities of collecting physical and medical data less appealing.

While in Kurtachi, she argued that the group of people was too small for the measurements to be statistically significant. Furthermore, she was sure the women would ‘fight shy of it’ while the men – whom she never touched – would be provoked, and she didn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with the villagers in any way (Box 2, letter 22, 28 May 1930). She admitted, ‘I fear the physical side is the weakest in my work so far – I have hesitated to take measurements for fear of upsetting the natives with whom I have to go on living. If I measured anyone + he or she happened to die shortly after – it would be exceedingly awkward for me - + there are also other considerations.’ (ibid, letter 24, 27 July 1930). A month later, in late August, she knew she would have to get on with taking measurements, but was still reluctant: ‘I suppose I must make an effort to take some physical measurements – seeing that I profess to be a physical anthropologist – but I frankly admit that the prospect is not inviting – to be honest – I feel nearly sick at the idea of doing it, quite apart from the mental effort involved in persuading them, + the weariness of writing figures down without help, with nothing for them to sit on + nowhere to lay one’s instruments.’ (letter 26, 28 August 1930)

As it was, she did take measurements, and with comparative ease, but only in the final few days of her stay. Her final comment suggests that the experience, which was ‘the filthiest and most disgustingly repulsive job’ she had ever done, did not ignite any renewed passion for physical anthropology. ‘I’ve been flunking this job for months, + wishing I hadn’t to keep up my reputation as a physical anthropologist. But now I’ll be able to give the desired flavour to the lectures you want from me in Hilary Term – though I suppose Buxton will say the numbers are too few to be any good. I can’t help it – I just can’t chase around to any more villages in search of victims…It was only the feeling that I couldn’t face you without having done any measuring, that forced me to go through with it.’ (ibid, 21 September 1930). Years later, she concluded that the trip had not been designed for physical anthropology research, which would have necessitated moving through a larger geographical area: ‘Physical anthropology was not one of the main objects of my expedition, which called for a long stay in one district rather than for survey work.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Box 5, letter to Dr Oliver, 20 April 1939)

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On her return to Oxford, she moved into a house in Walton Street, No. 45, with two other ladies, an arrangement that had been confirmed while she was still in Bougainville (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 2, letter 22, 4 May 1930). (She was still living there in 1935, see letter from Blackwood to LHDB, PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Box 4, 25 August 1935, and possibly lived there until 1963, see below)

1931

In early 1931 Blackwood wrote to Chinnery and reflected on her time in Melanesia and life since she had arrived back in Oxford:

‘…since I left Soraken on my homeward journey life has been one continual rush, in which efforts at letter-writing have been in vain. I have hardly settled down again even yet, but am still engaged in picking up the threads of my job here.’

‘I spent a most strenuous and interesting year and kept in excellent health the whole time. The powers-that-be have expressed themselves as much pleased with the preliminary report I sent them, and the people here are delighted with the things I have brought home, and also with my photographs, which have turned out much better than I dared to hope they would. So I feel that my efforts have been worth while. I hope very much to be able to come back again at some future time and learn a little more – a year is a lamentably short time in which to pick up even a superficial knowledge of a primitive community, though of course previous training and experience helped me to make the most of it.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence A-D, 17 February 1931)

Blackwood lectured in Trinity Term on ‘Heredity and Racial Crossing’ and in Michaelmas Term on ‘Field Methods in Ethnology’ [see her notes for the latter lectures]. She continued to work on the cranial collections at the Department of Human Anatomy and began a card catalogue of skulls in the Williamson Collection, recently transferred to Oxford from the Royal Army Medical College at Millbank. She also began writing up her research in the New Guinea, and read a paper on ‘Puberty Rites and Initiation Ceremonies in the Northern Solomons’ at the BAAS Centenary Meeting in London in September 1931. (University Gazette, 15 June 1932)

She also gave a paper on her research at the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which led to a spate of sensational headlines in the press: ‘Oxford Girl’s Adventure. Present at Native Mock Battle. First Witness of Strange Rite. Boys who always wear hats’ Daily Telegraph 25 Sept 1931; ‘First Woman to see Native Rites’ Morning Post 25 Sept 1931; ‘Woman lives for year with savages. Never felt in danger, even on fringe of cannibal land. Ready to Return’ no date or publication; ‘Girl Risks Life at Forbidden Rites. Dressed as Man for Mock Battle’ Daily Herald, 25 Sept 1931 (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued box ‘Music’).

1932

Thomson was sick with the ‘flu for much of Hilary Term 1932 (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 22 April 1932). Blackwood continued to lecture and give demonstrations in the Human Anatomy Department, and completed her cataloguing of the Williamson Collection of human crania, while also working on her research in the Solomon Islands (University Gazette, 8 December 1933, p206). She was already thinking about returning to Bougainville, but she was aware that she needed to produce some sort of report on her 1929-30 fieldwork before she could contemplate returning. At the same time, she wanted to go back to try and answer some of the inevitable questions that arose during the writing-up process. ‘Unfortunately, I am expected to produce some sort of a report on the last trip before I can possibly dream of another, and the more I work on my material the more essential it seems to go back and fill some of the more glaring gaps before committing myself to print at all. So it’s a vicious circle!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 22 April 1932). Initially, she had not intended to write a full monograph:

‘I did not at first intend doing a book of anything like so comprehensive a character, and meant to make a separate paper or papers out of the material culture, which I should have been only too pleased to let you have. But Professor Thomson and Mr Balfour urged me to put all my material into one volume, as being more useful for reference, so I am following their advice. It means, of course, that I have got to get it all done before any of it can be published, which is delaying publication considerably.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 21 March 1933)

Blackwood had her own reservations about producing one, comprehensive document, rather than dividing up the material into specialist areas for publication, which she thought her funding body, the Committee for Sex Research at Washington, might prefer. However, since the book was to be published in England, she thought it better to follow the advice of those who were based in the UK and so worked under Thomson and Balfour’s guidance. She lacked confidence when writing about material culture in particular. She wrote of Peter Buck’s Samoan Material Culture, which published as a Bishop Museum bulletin in 1930, ‘To look at that book makes me despair of ever writing anything worthwhile on material culture.’ (ibid)

1933-34

Blackwood continued to lecture, and give demonstrations in the Human Anatomy Department. She continued to work on the cranial collections there, and assisted in excavations.

Blackwood continued to work on writing up her work in New Guinea for publication. She found it tough going at times, and wrote to Gordon Thomas in early 1933 explaining how she longed to be able to go back into the field to fill in some of the gaps in her work: ‘It’s a vicious circle, I can’t write my book till I have been back again, and I can’t go back till I have written my book! …I wish very much that I could come back again, but that seems extremely problematical at present, America has no more cash to spare for such trips, and we certainly haven’t here.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Thomas, 17 January 1933)

By July 1934 (the end of the period covered by the Annual Report for the Department) her report on the Solomon Islands fieldwork was ready for publication (University Gazette, 5 December 1934, p202). Arthur Thomson resigned as Dr Lees Professor of Anatomy in 1933, and left his post in 1934 to be replaced by Wilfred Edward Le Gros Clark.

By early November 1934 Le Gros Clark was in negotiations with Herschel Margoliouth (Secretary of Faculties) about restructuring the staffing in the Department, and specifically about Blackwood’s position as University Demonstrator. Le Gros Clark found her position in his Department ‘quite anomalous. As well might a Reader in Modern History be appointed in the Department of Physiology!’ (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 7 November 1934). He proposed that she either stay in his department, but be demoted in some way so that he could fill the two Departmental Demonstratorships with qualified anatomists (trained biologists – unlike Blackwood - who could teach medical students as well as physical anthropology courses), or she be moved out of the department and become Demonstrator in Anthropology. This second option was impossible because University Demonstrators could only be appointed on the recommendation of a Head of Department, and there was no Department of Anthropology at the time. Thus, Blackwood could easily have lost her post. Le Gros Clark, however, was emphatic. He suggested that Blackwood could be taken on by the Geography Department.

Blackwood also wrote to Margoliouth in November 1934, referring to ‘the extreme seriousness of my position, and [I] would be glad to do anything in my power to meet the situation, if I did but know what ought to be done.’ (ibid, 20 November 1934) Margoliouth expressed to her ‘a little uneasiness on my part in case I should have led you to underestimate the magnitude of the difficulties of the existence of which you are aware. I have known cases of people who have neglected opportunities of undertaking other employment because they relied too much on assurances from other people in whom they had unwisely placed excessive confidence, and I do not want there to be any danger so far as I am concerned of that happening to you.’ (17 November 1934).

A few days later, the Committee for Anthropology wrote to the Board of Faculty of Biological Sciences to put on the record its high opinion of Blackwood’s ‘capacity and services to the study of Anthropology in Oxford for sixteen years’ and its view that the School of Anthropology should have a Demonstrator in Ethnology. They formally recommended that Blackwood continue as a teacher in Ethnology under the direction of the Committee for Anthropology, with her present salary of £450 and that she be given a room (ibid, 30 November 1934). This was deemed unworkable. It was unclear where Blackwood would be based under this arrangement, and Le Gros Clark was concerned that she would still be working on the collections in the Human Anatomy Department but would no longer be under his direction.

1935

Arthur Thomson died on 7 February 1935. Balfour wrote to Margoliouth in January 1935 giving his formal support to the statement issued by the Committee for Anthropology in November 1934 regarding Blackwood. He added that, ‘I hope that it may, perhaps, be possible for the Committee for Anthropology to be added to the list of ‘Departments’, so that Miss Blackwood be ‘attached’ to the Committee on reappointment…if the University machinery will admit of the inclusion of a new ‘Department’, several benefits would result from the change’ (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 29 January 1935). As it was, Blackwood was reappointed as Demonstrator in the Faculty of Biological Sciences for one more year in early 1935. In Trinity Term 1935 the Board of the Faculty of Biological Sciences met to consider ‘certain proposals’ which would enable her to transfer to Anthropology with the status of University Demonstrator the following year (ibid).

Apart from a list of her publications, Blackwood’s work was not mentioned in the Department of Human Anatomy’s annual report for this year, for the first time, and she was never mentioned again in that Report. In November 1935 Le Gros Clark repeated his statement to Margoliouth, that Blackwood’s position in the Department was anomalous and suggested that she be ‘attached to the Pitt Rivers Museum under Mr Balfour’, however he adding that ‘such work as I have been able to give her in this department during the past year she has done quite efficiently’ (ibid, 15 November 1935). Margoliouth wrote to Balfour requesting a letter from him to confirm his willingness to have Blackwood reappointed under him (‘as you are no longer a member of the Board of Biological Sciences’). He also asked Balfour to outline her duties and her stipend. Balfour’s response does not seem to have survived, but Margoliouth wrote to Blackwood in December 1935 to confirm that she would be reappointed under Balfour. Blackwood was grateful, but concerned about the future of the cranial collections that she had spent so much of her time working on in the Department of Human Anatomy during the preceding decade (ibid, 13 December 1935).

Amidst all this uncertainty and change Blackwood’s book Both Sides of Buka Passage: an ethnographic study of social, sexual, and economic questions in the north-western Solomon Islands was published by the Clarendon Press in 1935. She had been working on it for many years, and remembered later that ‘it was an awful sweat to write and I got very bored with it long before it was finished’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to F.E. Williams, 26 October 1939). By March 1933, she was complaining to Sydney Ray (who helped her with her linguistic research) that she was anxious to get the book finished because ‘it has already dragged on far too long’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, 17 March 1933). Given that her work had been funded by the Committee for Research on the Problems of Sex, it is not surprising that most of the first half of the book deals with marriage, sex relations, pregnancy and childbirth, and male and female adolescence. However, there are two sizeable chapters on material culture: ‘Useful Arts’ and ‘Aesthetic Arts’, which she included at Balfour and Thomson’s suggestion, as described above. She included a final chapter on dreams at the encouragement of Seligman, who had suggested her research in that area and advised her during the writing of the chapter (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence, M-S).

The book was very well received and Blackwood received many letters of congratulation from leading anthropologists. A.M. Hocart, writing in Nature, attributed the high standard of the book to Blackwood’s scientific training.

‘Miss Blackwood has medical traditions. The effect is at once apparent in her work on Bougainville, the largest of the Solomon Islands. She has learned mental discipline and a subordination of personality to the subject. In technical parlance, she has objectivity. We must be all the more thankful as the facts are worth knowing. It is not that there is anything sensational about them (the sensational is rarely the most valuable): their value lies in their being presented with such thoroughness and integrity that they form a solid basis for theoretical construction. The book is a mine of facts presented in their proper setting as parts of a social system.’ (Nature January 199 1936 pp 46)

However, some of the more popular reviews were published with rather sensationalist titles, like ‘Woman lived among primitive people for more than year’ (St John’s Evening Telegram, Newfoundland 17 January 1936, Montreal Daily Star 4 January 1936), ‘A woman among the Solomon Islanders’ (Times Literary Supplement 2 November 1935), and ‘A woman’s adventures’ (Manchester Guardian, n.d.) (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z).

As she wrote to her mentor in America, Clark Wissler, she was hoping to return to Melanesia to continue her research in the area,

‘You will know of the retirement and death of my Chief, Professor Arthur Thomson. His successor is a man of very different interests, who has made drastic changes in the policy and programme of this Department. My position has in consequence become extremely difficult and uncertain, but I am to continue as at present at least for the academic year now beginning. Meantime, I am considering ways and means of making another trip to the Solomon Islands, as I should much like to continue my work in the interior of Bougainville, which I hear is now being opened up by the missionaries, and will therefore probably soon have lost much of its original character.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to Clark Wissler, 29 September 1935)

She told Chinnery that she would now ‘very much like to tackle another group on similar lines, and feel sure that I could make a better job of it after my first experience. I am ‘exploring every avenue’ with a view to getting a grant for the purpose.’ But Thomson’s death and Le Gros Clark’s disinterest had left her without a strong mentor who could present her case within the University (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to Chinnery, 29 September 1935). Marett, who told her that her book was ‘a magnum opus indeed’ and reassured her that her scientific fame was now secure, was hoping to get her funding through the Rockefeller Grant for Social Studies, but he knew that there was little on offer for anthropologists (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter from Marett, 11 October 1935).

1936

In March 1936 Blackwood wrote to Margoliouth seeking leave of absence from the University to undertake research in Mount Hagen, New Guinea (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90).

In November 1936, Balfour wrote to Margoliouth in order to secure an increase in Blackwood’s salary from £450 to £550 in accordance with the salary scale for University Demonstrators (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90).

In 1936, Blackwood undertook a second fieldtrip to Melanesia. This time she was travelling under the auspices of the Pitt Rivers Museum, to collect material for Balfour. ‘I was sent out specifically to visit Mt. Hagen, in which area my Chief, Professor Henry Balfour, Curator of the Pitt-Rivers Museum, is especially interested.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Rev. Mr. Vicedon, c. May 1937). Balfour also wanted her to visit New Britain, particularly to collect barkcloth and head-bound skulls. He wrote to her, ‘Amongst other things I am extremely anxious to obtain artificially deformed skulls from New Britain, + patterned bark cloth (this is incidentally used for binding infants’ heads to produce deformation)…They are important for my series.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, Balfour to Blackwood, 26 August 1936)

On 3 April 1936 Blackwood set out on her ‘2nd Voyage to Sydney’. She arrived in Freemantle on 5 May, and a few days later, on 9 May, docked at Adelaide. On the 11 May she was in Melbourne, and on 14 May in Sydney. She spent the last week of May, from 23 – to 1 June, back in Melbourne. On 13 June she boarded the S.S. Nellore in Sydney and docked in Brisbane on 15 June, from there she travelled on to Rabaul, where she was met by Chinnery, arriving on 22 June. While in Rabaul she discussed her plans with Chinnery and decided to work in the Otibanda country, ‘on top’, rather than along the north coast of New Britain as Chinnery had suggested (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 23 June 1936). While in Sydney, she had heard from a group of Cadets studying at the University that a small area around Manki village had remained open, in an area that was largely designated as ‘uncontrolled’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 18 May 1936). ‘I chose them [the Kukukukus] as the only mountain people available for study at present, as the Mt. Hagen area has been closed to whites owing to trouble caused by mishandling of natives by recruiters and missionaries…As far as I can find out, no one has worked among the Kukukukus, so I hope it will be worth while.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Haddon, 20 August 1936)

On 2 July she arrived in Kavieng, on 4 July she was at Salamaua, where she learned that the Assistant District Officer, Mr Bridge, was on patrol for three weeks and she would have to wait until he returned to proceed with her work. After some delay and waiting around, on 22 July she flew to Wau. From Wau she went to Bulolo for a couple of days and explored Kunai country (25/26 July). On 29 July she flew to the Upper Watut aerodrome, and went to Otibanda for the day from there, where she met the ADO, Ken Bridge, and they agreed that she would work at Manki village (‘Manki’ was sometimes spelt with an ‘i’ and sometimes with an ‘e’, I have used the former for the sake of consistency). Manki was the only village (itself consisting of two hamlets) in a group of Manki villages that was not in the ‘uncontrolled’ area and was therefore open to Blackwood. The Manki were one of three groups of people – along with the Nauti, and the Ekuti – who made up the Kukukuku, a name given to the bigger group by their enemies and picked up by the Government (they themselves did not recognise it). The groups were similar culturally, but were hereditary enemies, although the Manki were now on friendly terms with a section of the Nauti. Blackwood was able to visit those villages from each of the three groups that were not in the ‘uncontrolled’ area during her stay (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 11 ‘Preliminary outline of the material culture of the Kukukuku people’).

On 4 August she visited the village of Manki (with a population of about 130) for the first time, and she was bitterly disappointed with the appearance of the village, which she felt had been affected by contact with the white community, and was, ‘not at all ‘belong before’’. She returned to Otibanda the next day, before establishing herself at the House Kiap in Manki on 7 August. The House Kiap was situated between the two hamlets of Manki, which had been induced to come together by the Kiap and the Lutheran mission, for their greater convenience (ibid). The inhabitants of each hamlet spoke different dialects, although some people understood both. For the next four months, until 11 December, Blackwood was based in Manki, although she went on patrol with L.C. Noakes through the Upper Watut country from 13-27 September. Less than two weeks into her stay she wrote to Balfour, ‘Probably I shall not be able to get as much material here as I might have done from a coast village, but anything I do get should be useful as it will be quite new. I hope I have done the right thing in coming up here.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 18 August 1936).

Work in the uncontrolled area would have been extremely difficult, not only because of the people’s hostility to strangers and regular fighting, but also because the settlements were small and scattered. Blackwood had to be content working with those who had come under the influence of the government and had ceased to fight (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 11, ‘round robin’ letter, October 1936). This was an aspect of Blackwood’s trip that she found perpetually frustrating (and the sentiment echoed her experiences with the missions and government infrastructures during her 1929-30 fieldwork in New Guinea). It was something she also had to deal with when it came to the possibility of working in Hagen. ‘The trouble in this country from my point of view is that any village in which it is possible to live has had contact with whites and some of its life has been altered, while the untouched natives are interesting but one cannot work with them as it is impossible to get Government permission to enter the ‘uncontrolled area’.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Mallard, 10 October 1936)

The languages of the Kukukuku were of Papuan stock and were much more difficult than those she had learned in 1929-30, so she had to start her work in pidgin and use interpreters. As time went by, she found the culture lacking in ritual or ceremony, the people were reluctant to give her information – gathering genealogies was difficult because there were strict taboos on saying the names of anyone who was dead – and her work was slow (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Haddon, 20 August 1936). She was also worried by the fact that there was very little in the way of decorative arts, writing to Balfour, ‘I am afraid you will think I have struck a very dull place with so many things absent.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 8 November 1936). In October she concluded that ‘nothing especially interesting has happened during the three months I have been here’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 11, ‘round robin’ letter, October 1936).

On 11 December she travelled to Andarora, arriving at the Mission House and House Kiap on 13 December. She had been invited to go to Andarora with Andatei’s father and various others nearly eight weeks earlier, while in Manki. She believed Andarora to be less affected by contact with the white community. She wrote to Balfour in early 1937, ‘I now feel that I was justified in coming inland, in spite of all the expenses + difficulties I might have avoided by settling on the coast. This really is a Stone Age culture – the few plane irons + knives they now have made no appreciable difference to their mode of life except to speed up a few operations. They haft and use the plane irons exactly as they do stone adzes.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 1 February 1937).

1937

Blackwood stayed at Andarora for about ten weeks, until 20 February 1937, apart from a few days in January (20-25 January) when she went back to Otibanda, and to Manki to check on her house and her belongings there. While in Andarora she undertook a few trips to Padarua, to see singsings, and also went on a short trip to Keda at the beginning of January with Ken Bridge (the ADO). On 20 February she returned to Otibanda, and from there to Manki on 23 February. However, she did not stay in Manki for long. Over the next few days she organized a trip to Ekua, leaving for Otibanda on 8 March, and on to Ekua on 9 March. She wrote to Balfour that same day, ‘The District Officer was anxious for me to visit a village belonging to the Ekuti tribe, to ascertain the relations existing between them and the other groups. So I am now anchored in the village of Ekua, but as I have only just arrived, I do not know how good working conditions will be.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 9 March 1937) She added that her stay in Andarora had been very profitable, and, ‘I would have remained there for the rest of my time, but for this special request of the District Officer for information which will be useful to him.’ She stayed in Ekua until 4 April, but in that time she spent a day or two in Waiganda (31 March-2 April). On 5 April she was back in Manki, but only for a few days to organize herself before leaving on 12 April en route for New Britain, to collect things specifically for Balfour.

Later, she wrote to Chinnery, ‘I was very sorry to leave the Kukukuku, the time has been much too short, but as Balfour is very keen on this Gasmata work I have no choice but to go.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Chinnery, 15 May 1937) Overall, she had found working amongst the Kukukuku difficult, because the people were reticent and ‘their two main – almost only – interests are food and fighting’. As she had written to Penniman, in January 1937, ‘These folk are the most exasperating on earth – the Bougainville crowd were flowing founts of eloquence and wisdom compared to them! Getting a single small fact is like extracting a grain of gold from a mountain of quartz with a pickaxe.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Penniman, 7 January 1937). But she was reassured by the fact that the District Officer had been impressed with her work and the information she had gathered (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Haddon, 9 May 1937). She always wanted to stay longer, and had hinted at this in a letter to Balfour in November 1936, after only a few months in the area, when she warned that spending the last few months of her time in New Britain would come at a cost.

‘It would involve leaving much work on other aspects of Kukukuku life unfinished. To make even a fair study of the social anthropology of these folk would take all the time one could give to it, the language is quite difficult, there are no adequate interpreters, and any quantity of taboos on saying names etc. makes the collection of concrete data a matter of much time and more patience, and in this kind of work the last few months are much the most profitable.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 8 November 1936).

There is a gap in her diary after she left Manki, between 15 April and 5 May, but the notes she made in her diary reveal that during this time she travelled to Port Moresby by plane, then went on to Orokolo on the steamer to see Mr and Mrs F.E. Williams, who took her on a canoe trip to Iari village on the Purari Delta. She explained this trip with the Williams’s to Balfour in a letter:

‘I felt I needed a break and a mental stimulant before tackling the Gasmata job, so I accepted a very cordial invitation from F.E. Williams to visit him and his wife at Orokolo where he has been working for some time. He had arranged a canoe trip for us up the Purari River, and during my stay I was able, with his help, to gather things very rapidly, as I could never have done alone. I hope this culture is not already fully represented in the Museum, even if some of the more spectacular things may have been brought back by others, and that you will not grudge the space occupied by two dance masks, which I should not have collected had Williams not recommended them as particularly fine specimens of their kind.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 8 May 1937)

Following this three-week trip, she went back to Port Moresby and from there on to Wau by plane. Between 6 and 17 May she was at Salamaua, trying to negotiate a permit to work in Mount Hagen. Blackwood found out, when she had first arrived in Sydney in 1936, that the Mount Hagen district was closed to visitors, as it had been declared an ‘uncontrolled’ region after recent fighting in the area. However, in May 1937 she heard that applications for permits were being accepted again as a Government Station was to be established in the region. She quickly wrote letters to various missionaries, officials and persons of influence to try and secure a permit, and on 11 May she radioed Balfour to see whether he could get her a six-month extension from Oxford to go to Hagen after her trip to New Britain (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19 and PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 8, diary II).

(Earlier on, when she first arrived in Australia in 1936, she had discussed the possibility of leaving New Britain a month earlier than planned in order to travel home through Japan or China, and she had written to Balfour about this possibility in November 1936, although she acknowledged that he might prefer her to stay in New Britain, especially if she found it productive there (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 8 November 1936).)

By late June she was beginning to realize that the efforts to get a permit for Hagen were hopeless. The plans for a new Government Station had been postponed indefinitely and Chinnery did not think that any women would be allowed into the area (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, Blackwood to Balfour, 28 June 1937). As a result, Blackwood had to decide where to spend her remaining months, now that her leave from Oxford had been extended. Chinnery suggested a survey of the material culture along the coast of New Britain or New Guinea, and she wrote to Balfour to ask whether he wanted her to go anywhere in particular (ibid). One of her letters to Chinnery at this time illustrates the fact that she felt her personal aspirations as an anthropologist were sometimes constrained by Balfour’s expectations of her as a museum collector:

‘I would like to go back to the Kukukukus, but as I am now working for the Pitt-Rivers Museum I think Balfour would rather I went somewhere more profitable from the point of view of material culture. I have covered that side of Kukukuku life – the easiest to study – pretty thoroughly, I think, including the technique of making stone implements which Balfour particularly wanted, so from his point of view it would not be worth while going back. He does not care about social anthropology.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Chinnery, 27 June 1937)

While these decisions were being made, she travelled on to New Britain. On 18 May she left Salamaua for Gasmata, arriving on Rook Island on 20 May. She spent ten days stuck here because of high winds, and stayed at ‘Money’s plantation’. While on Rook Island she visited the four villages of Barang, Gom, Gassam Island and Barim. ‘I collected a good bunch of stuff from villages there so the time wasn’t completely wasted.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Mr Williams, 27 June 1937) At the same time, ‘[i]t was impossible to do systematic intensive work as we thought every day we should be going on’ (ibid, letter to Balfour, 28 June 1937). On 30 May she passed the Siassi island group and anchored at Aromot Island, the following day she passed the end of Rook Island and entered into the strait separating it from New Britain. On 1 June she visited Harold Koch’s plantation, Aliwo, and the following day established her headquarters at the House Kiap at Passismanua Patrol Station.

Blackwood spent the next two months in New Britain, amongst the Arawe. From her base she visited No. 1 Island (Eglep) and No. 2 Island (Apui), Alomos, Aliwa and Lapalam. Her stay was incredibly efficient in terms of collecting the material Balfour had requested: by 14 June, just two weeks into her stay, she noted, ‘Have actually got everything Balfour wants from here now!’ At the same time, she was not planning to stay in the area long, because the collection was her main priority, so it was difficult to settle into any in depth anthropological work. The area had also been studied recently by John Alexander Todd. Blackwood had not realized this until after she arrived and as a result she felt that an anthropological research she might do there would be largely redundant. She did not want to publish anything about the Arawe that Todd might be intending to put into print, so she felt that her visit was ‘for the benefit of the Pitt Rivers Museum only’. ‘I couldn’t have obtained the specimens Balfour wants without coming, so it doesn’t matter, except that it makes things rather less interesting for me, as I can’t publish any of it. If only I had made a better job of the Kukukukus, on whom I suppose I am expected to publish something!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Williams, 27 June 1937). All in all this part of her trip was not particularly fulfilling.

After her two month stay in the Arawe district, on 4 August she travelled back east along the south coast of New Britain to Gasmata but got stuck there: there were no boats to Rabaul because of the devastation wrought by eruption of the Tavurvur and Vulcan volcanoes between 29 May and 2 June. Blackwood was forced to stay at Gasmata, waiting for a boat, for a month, until 4 September. From Gasmata, she visited outlying villages like Akur and Avato (8 August), Lalagen and Anato (12 August), and the area around Lindenhafen where she stayed with the Munros (17 August), but she could not travel far because she never knew when a boat might arrive for Rabaul, and she spent most of her time sitting and working at her typewriter (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to F.E. Williams, 23 September 1937).

On the whole, she found her stay in New Britain a little dull and rather frustrating. The collecting work had almost been too easy; she felt any anthropological work was largely redundant given Todd’s previous research; she had wanted to travel inland, but the weather prevented her; and her stay in Gasmata was restricted because she never knew when a boat for Rabaul might arrive:

‘I am sorry that the weather conditions during the latter part of my stay [amongst the Arawe] prevented me from making another trip into the interior, which might have been productive. I am very conscious that I have lamentably little to show for three months’ work, but the last month was, perforce, spent partly at the District Office, Gasmata, and partly at Lindenhafen Plantation, and though I visited such villages as could be easily reached from both places, I could not go far afield even on the few days when the weather was fine enough, as several boats were long over due and I did not want to risk missing a chance to get to Rabaul.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 10, letter to Balfour, 19 September 1937)

The nearest village to her camp at Gasmata was on an island, which meant that she had to take a canoe to get there and was unable to observe anything from her house, which was a ‘serious disadvantage’. She had to content herself with seeking out the ‘special information’ Balfour was interested in. In one letter from Gasmata she wrote ‘I only want specimens and certain special information. I’m bored and fed up and don’t want…’ before thinking better of it and crossing the phrase out (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 10, undated ‘round robin’ letter).

Eventually, on 3 September the Mangola arrived and Blackwood secured a berth. The next day she was at Salamaua, on the 6 September she passed through Lae, and on 9 September she finally reached Rabaul. She found the town almost unbearable because of the heat and the destruction wrought by the eruption which had left pumice dust everywhere. While there she, ‘was reduced to the semblance of a bit of chewed string and did nothing that wasn’t absolutely essential’ (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to Constance William, 23 September 1937).

Over the next ten days in Rabaul she tried to decide how to spend her remaining few months, since her leave from Oxford had been extended until the end of March 1938, initially to allow her to travel to Mount Hagen, but, failing this, to enable her collect more things for the Museum. She had intended to work in Mount Hagen, but after weeks of negotiations, she reluctantly acknowledged that she would be unable to get a permit to work in an area that was officially deemed ‘uncontrolled’. An exchange by radio with Balfour confirmed that he was happy to leave her to decide where she should base herself for more collecting work. After discussions with Chinnery, she decided to go to Madang and find a suitable place to work in that district after consulting the District Officer and local plantation manager.

‘Chinnery thinks I should get some good museum material from that area, it would be an offshoot of the Sepik culture probably and should provide carving etc. I have purposely avoided the Sepik itself as so many anthropologists have been there. Did you get from Lord Moyne any things from the Aiome pygmies? If not, I would make a special effort to get in touch with them, perhaps you would send me an air mail letter on receipt of this if you want this done…I have made numerous enquiries about the possibilities of the north coast of New Britain, but it seems to be all missionised and to have lost much if not all of its native culture. Good for the study of culture contact, but probably disappointing from the standpoint of museum collecting and studying material culture.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Balfour, 14 September 1937)

She clearly based her decision on the perceived richness of the material culture in the Madang area and the fact that it had been little visited by anthropologists (‘while I don’t want to be a mere snapper up of museum specimens, I must think of that side of the question seeing that is what Balfour sent me out for to do.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to F.E. Williams, 23 September 1937)). She may well have been somewhat disappointed in the end. She wrote to Todd, ‘As the last lap of eighteen months’ work, I am now doing what I am sorry to say amounts to little more than a collecting trip in the Madang area…’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Todd, 31 October 1937).

On 21 September she left Rabaul and sailed back to Lae, and on to Madang (1 October) and Sek (3 October), from where she visited the villages of Ruwo and Siar. On 6 October she boarded the Muliawa, which left the following day for Bogeia and Awar. From here, Blackwood made preparations to study the Bosmun group of villages on the Ramu River. She departed for Bosmun on 18 October, and settled herself at the House Kiap. By this stage in her journey, Blackwood was exhausted and demoralized. She was plagued with indecision about where to spend her remaining few months, and was uncertain that Bosmun was the best place for her to work. She found the living conditions uncomfortable, because it was very hot and full of mosquitoes, and she knew that she only had a matter of weeks to try and make something of her stay, which was not enough time to get meaningful data. She became increasingly depressed and unsure whether to stay or move elsewhere with time running out. She eventually decided to move on, and go to Wewak, but by the time she reached Awar with her things, on 18 November, she had missed the boat to Wewak. Plunged into further indecision and depression, she decided not to board the Muliawa which was leaving for Kavieng on 21 November either, and instead stayed at Awar.

Regretting every decision she had made so far, on 26 November she went up to the Aerodrome to see if she could depart on the next plane, leaving two days later on the 28 November. On 27, she packed but decided to leave for the Aerodrome early the next morning instead of spending the night there, a decision she immediately regretted, even though she was still uncertain whether leaving at all was the best course of action. Her assistant, Moi, failed to turn up the next morning and she missed the flight. The following excerpt hints at her state of mind, and is just one example of a number of similar entries. Sometimes she could not even leave the house, and stayed in reading newspapers and magazines because she could not bring herself to work.

‘Have condemned myself to stay here till early Jan now – don’t know how I’m going to stand it. Have got myself into the worst mess yet – if only I’d pulled myself together on Sat aft. + spent the night at t[he] drome I cd have been sitting comfortably on t[he] ‘Maedhui’ now + got out of this hole…They say a plane did come yesterday – DAMN. Nothing for it but to make what I can of this now – keep on realising more + more how crazily I’ve acted. Suppose I’ll be the laughing stock of Madang if not all New Guinea now. Why did I push myself too far + let myself get into this state of nerves.’

The diary ends abruptly on 13 December. Blackwood is still at Awar and thinks she will have to stay there at least until Boxing Day. She is still depressed and uncertain, and in the middle of negotiating for her helper, Moi, to stay with her despite the fact that his father has just died in Bosmun and he want to return there.

1938

Blackwood arrived back in Oxford in April 1938. She had left Oxford at the beginning of April 1936, only a few months after hearing that she would be transferred to the Pitt Rivers Museum to work as Demonstrator in Ethnology under Henry Balfour. In effect, then, she did not start working in the Pitt Rivers until early 1938, on her return from the field. A year earlier, while in the Melanesia, she had written to Penniman about her new job. He had recently applied for the new Professorship in Anthropology at Oxford but had lost out to Radcliffe-Brown. She commiserated with him, and went on to express a little of her own feelings at the thought of returning to work at the Pitt Rivers Museum rather than in the Anatomy Department, where she had been based for nearly twenty years, since 1918.

‘I do hope something will turn up for you. I quite understand how you feel about the Pitt-Rivers job, but of course for my own sake I wish you would take it. Between you and me, work there is not exactly in my line of interest either, but I suppose I shall come back and settle down to sticking on labels till I get too restless to stand it any longer…I hope Captain Musgrave is still working and keeping the skulls in some sort of order. How I shall hate not to work with them when I get back!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Penniman, 7 January 1937)

(Captain Musgrave was probably Christopher Musgrave, an archaeologist who graduated from the Diploma in 1935.) Balfour’s health deteriorated significantly in 1938, and he and Blackwood spent very little time working together under the same roof. By early May 1938 he was ‘far from well’ and undergoing treatment at Droitwich Spa (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to F. Speiser, 7 May 1938). He was forced to leave work at some point in the early summer of 1938, and in the event he was not able to return before his death in February 1939. This left Blackwood trying to hold the fort as soon as she arrived back in Oxford.

‘On my return to Oxford in April 1938 I found Professor Balfour in very poor health. He asked me to lecture for him until he could resume work. I continued to do this until the appointment of Mr. T.K. Penniman as Deputy Curator in Hilary Term, 1939. During the same period I was also responsible, in Professor Balfour’s absence but under his direction, for the supervision of the routine work of the Pitt Rivers Museum.’ (Report of the Demonstrator in Ethnology for the Period 1936-40, OU Archives, file FA 4/2/2/1 Anthropology and Geography Reports 1932-46)

On a more personal level, she was extremely busy.

‘I have had a very busy year. Professor Balfour was never able to come back to the Museum since the summer…and I had to carry on his lectures and as much of the administrative and other work of the Museum as he could delegate to me, until Mr T.K. Penniman was appointed Acting Curator at Balfour’s death in February [1939]. (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, letter to Herskovits, 9 May 1939)

One of the things Balfour asked her to do in his absence was attend the International Congress in Copenhagen in August 1938, and give a paper on head deformation amongst the Arawe. Balfour had been hoping to go himself, but was unable to because of his health (in July, he wrote to her and mentioned that he was suffering from malaria and acute leg pain, presumably due to rheumatoid arthritis). Balfour read a draft of Blackwood’s paper from his sickbed in July, and in response he asked her to state that her research in New Britain had been undertaken at his own request on behalf of the Pitt Rivers Museum. He also gave her the names of people who would be attending the Congress and whom he hoped would give him specific objects for the collections in exchanges (adding sketches of the various artefacts in his letter with a very unsteady hand). The letter suggests that Balfour was finding his enforced absence difficult – it is interesting that he wanted to be mentioned in association with Blackwood’s research at the Congress – and relied on Blackwood to carry out his explicit wishes while he was sick (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence A-D, letter from Balfour, 27 July 1938).

Meanwhile, Blackwood admitted that she was more interested in the subject of head deformation from an anatomical, rather than a cultural, point of view. She wrote to John Todd explaining that there seemed to be little cultural significance – or at least, ceremonial significance – attached to the practice of head-binding, and while she was intrigued as to why people found the elongated head shape beautiful, her main interest was in finding out whether the changes to the bone affected people’s intelligence or mentality. She had had some of her specimens sectioned vertically and found that the pattern of bone growth had been affected by the binding process (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to J.A. Todd, 28 July 1938). It is interesting, although perhaps not altogether surprising, that despite her wide-ranging fieldwork experiences and her recent professional move to the Pitt Rivers, Blackwood was still drawn to biological and anatomical research questions rather than cultural and social ones.

As an ‘add-on’ to the Conference, Blackwood visited museums in Copenhagen, Goteburg, Stockholm, Oslo and Bergen collecting data for lectures and arranging exchanges of specimens at Balfour’s request in August and September 1938 (Report of the Demonstrator in Ethnology for the Period 1936-40, OU Archives, file FA 4/2/2/1)

Blackwood also began teaching, in Balfour’s stead, at the Oxford University Summer School of Colonial Administration in 1938, which was organized by the Social Studies Research Committee at the University. It was attended by officers of the Colonial Service, the Sudan Civil Service and the Burma Civil Services. ‘The object of the School [in 1938] was to enable officers to review and discuss problems of colonial administration.’ The lectures surveyed the position of the colonial empire, specific aspects of administration, anthropological approaches to administration, and explored various comparative cases. Blackwood joined Le Gros Clark, Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, and Fortes in contributing lectures to the course (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued letters and memories of Blackwood).

1939

Blackwood continued to shoulder extra responsibilities at the Museum after Balfour’s death in February 1939. She mentioned the strain she was under that year as a result of Balfour’s death in a number of letters she wrote to friends and colleagues (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence). Her workload was increased even further by the sudden and unexpected death of Dudley-Buxton on 5 March, only a few weeks after Balfour passed away. Buxton was just 49 years old and died from pneumonia after only four days’ illness (Blackwood June 1939, Folklore vol 50 no 2). Blackwood had now lost two of her long-term mentors in the space of a few weeks, only a year after her return to England and her move to the Pitt Rivers Museum and four years after the death of her closest counsellor, Arthur Thomson. Oxford must have seemed like a very different place to her by mid-1939.

H.D. Skinner wrote her a sympathetic letter on hearing the news of Balfour’s death, and was insightful enough to realise that the situation left Blackwood in a very different position, since she automatically assumed greater responsibility for running the Museum, at least in the short term. ‘How much it all must have upset your life and plans’ he commented, and went on to ask whether there was any chance of her succeeding Balfour as curator (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter from H.D. Skinner, 27 June 1939). Blackwood was firm on this point. She never wanted to take on the more high-status position, preferring to keep herself free for more fieldwork.

‘I did not apply [for the curatorship], though several people suggested that I should, partly because I did not want to stand in Penniman’s way, but chiefly because I really prefer my own subordinate job which leaves me free for expeditions. I like collecting things and seeing them used, but I don’t care to be responsible for their safe-keeping in a Museum, nor do I care much about the administrative work which is so large and important a part of a Curator’s job.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 16 November 1939)

However, she was glad when Penniman was elected Curator. There was a feeling that, since Penniman had been taught by Balfour and had been associated with the Museum for a number of years, he understood the ethos of the place and would continue to run things in much the same way as Balfour had, while also getting systems in order again after Balfour’s long and debilitating illness:

‘You will have heard, I expect, that Mr. T.K. Penniman has been appointed Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum. We are all very pleased about it. He will carry on the Museum in the Balfour tradition without being hidebound. I retain my position as Demonstrator and Lecturer, which leaves me free to go off for further field work when opportunity offers – not very soon I fear, in the present state of Europe.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence E-H, letter to Herskovits, 18 October 1939)

Before her 1936-7 field trip she had hoped to return to Bougainville, now she wondered whether she would be able to publish her work amongst the Kukukuku and arouse enough interest to allow her to go back and continue her work there (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to F.E. Williams, 23 September 1937). Her hopes were initially confounded by the outbreak of war, and, as it turned out, Blackwood never undertook another field expedition.

In Oxford, Blackwood and Penniman continued Balfour and Dudley-Buxton’s resistance to Radcliffe-Brown, whose arrival as Professor of Anthropology had huge implications for the future of the Diploma Course. Radcliffe-Brown argued that the exisiting Diploma was too broad and wide-ranging, and students graduated with a superficial understanding of a number of different disciplines making the qualification practically useless. He advocated three separate diplomas, which in effect spelled the end for teaching in the Museum, since most students would opt to study Social Anthropology, while Physical Anthropology would become subsumed into the Biological Sciences. Not surprisingly, given her own training, Blackwood continued to believe that Anthropology was necessarily a subject of three equal parts, and she greatly disliked Radcliffe-Brown, whom she had first met in Sydney in 1929 and quickly found to be arrogant and disparaging. She spent much of her trip to America in 1939 (of which, more below) wondering whether she should censor her opinions when it came to R-B (everyone was interested to find out how he was getting on at Oxford) and she nearly always found that it was unnecessary because everyone was of the same opinion when it came to assessing his character. She and Penniman argued strongly to keep the current diploma while working on establishing a Final Honour School in the long term.

‘He hates both Penniman and myself because we are fighting to keep the present Diploma till we can get an Honour School, and takes every opportunity to be sneeringly obnoxious. He is a major disaster to anthropology in Oxford. The death of Buxton was a sad weakening of our forces, as he could have stood up to R-B and could turn on a tongue as cutting as R-B’s own. No appointment has been made to the Readership in Physical Anthropology, and possibly won’t be till after the war. R.B tried to have it degraded to a minor lectureship, but has been overruled on that point. He is losing for us all the ground we have gained for anthropology in Oxford for the last forty years. I did Buxton’s teaching last term, and at present there are no diploma students doing physical anthropology.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 16 November 1939)

Radcliffe-Brown’s ambitions for Oxford were ultimately defeated by University bureaucracy, the Second World War and his own retirement. It is doubtful that he missed his colleagues at the Pitt Rivers Museum very much after he left. In October, Blackwood wrote that he was ‘becoming abusive about the present system’, adding that he was ‘a major disaster’ and ‘doesn’t fight fair’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to F.E. Williams, 26 October 1939).

Blackwood travelled to the United States later that year for the Sixth Pacific Sciences Congress in San Francisco, which ran from 24 July to 12 August 1939. She left Oxford on 30 June and boarded the Empress of Britain the following day. She was in Quebec by 6 July, but travelled on to Ottawa, via Montreal, the next day. She was met in Ottawa by Diamond Jenness who was working at the National Museum of Canada, and she stayed with him on the Gatineau River. She spent a couple of days at the National Museum and socializing before taking the train to Toronto on 11 July. While in Toronto, she visited the Royal Ontario Museum, studied the collections and discussed possible exchanges with the Pitt Rivers. On 13 July she took the overnight train to Chicago. Here, she met Henry Field, W.B. Hambly, and studied the pacific collections with A.B. Lewis, who ‘would willingly exchange but says there is little that he wants except Central New Guinea stuff’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 12, 14 July 1939). On 16 July she travelled to Minneapolis, where she stayed with Wilson Wallis and his (second) wife. Wallis gave her a copy of the photo of Thomson, Balfour and Marett with three of their diploma students, Wallis, Jenness and Barbeau, taken in 1910. ‘The original was faded so Allen Wallis [Wilson’s son] copied it. Begged for a copy + as the negative was available this was possible.’ (ibid, 18 July 1939). She visited the Anthropology Department with Wallis and again discussed exchanges: ‘Dr Wallis wd. like some New Guinea things but has nowhere to put them at present + nothing to offer in exchange.’ (ibid, 19 July 1939)

On 20 July she travelled north west through Minnesota to Walker, via the Onamia Trading Post, where she bought some beadwork, a model cradle and a lacrosse stick from H.D. Ayer, a trader, who also promised her some stencils and tooth work. At Walker she visited the Occupational Therapy Dept. with Dr Burns, where Native American patients were encouraged to do craft work. Blackwood also bought some Chippewa things from Mr Fake, who ran a shop at Park Rapids. On 21 July she took the night train from Minneapolis to San Francisco, arriving on 24 July for the Congress. First thing on arrival, she arranged her trip to Mexico with the travel agent, Cook’s, and at the Embassy. She had dinner with Erna Gunther, who ran the State Museum in Washington: ‘Sat talking and arranging museum exchanges’ (ibid, 24 July). Over the following days she attended the meetings of the Anthropological Section, and visited the Golden Gate International Exposition. At the Indian Exhibit in the Federal Building she ‘met an Indian girl [?could be Miss Tautequidgeon] who works among the Soiux – her women made good dolls in native dress – she will get some for us.’ (ibid, 26 July) On 28 July she gave a paper on the use of plants among the Kukukuku, which was ‘well received’. She visited the Anthropological Museum with Trever Thomas and arranged for them to give the Pitt Rivers some Californian material in exchange for west African artefacts, but ‘Dr. Kroeber won’t part with any Californian material that is exactly located.’ (ibid, 28 July)

She continued to use the Congress as an opportunity for networking and securing material for the Museum. She met a lady, Miss Marriot, who worked for the Government with the Indians of Oklahoma, and bought a number of things for the Pitt Rivers on Douglas Haring’s advice. She relied quite heavily on the advice of others in deciding what to buy and finding out what to look for while in Mexico.

‘Miss Beckwith’s friend Mrs Brown (Alice Kelsey) brought her grandfather’s collection of Menomini things for me to see. Some lovely beadwork. She is not sure she wants to sell any of it separately, so I made a tentative choice of a few pieces in case, these were selected for me as typical by Dr Douglas who with Mr Heath came to see t. collection too. Then Mr Heath showed me some things – bought a few wh. Douglas thought I shouldn’t miss. Seem to be v. expensive. Wish I knew more. Douglas told me earlier that Heath’s prices were O.K.’ (ibid, 30 July)

On 31 July she travelled on to Los Angeles, and from there took the overnight train to Albuquerque. The next day she travelled across Arizona and New Mexico – ‘Going through Williams and Gallup and Holbrook roused many memories of 1925 + 6’ – and then took another overnight train to El Paso. On 2 August she crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, and arrived in Mexico City on 4 August. She visited the National Museum and the Palace of Fine Arts and on 5 August the Congress [possibly the 27th International Congress of Americanists, held in Mexico City that year] opened. Over the coming days she attended the Congress meetings and socialized with fellow delegates. This included a number of trips to Palacia, and visits to historic sites and buildings in Acolman, Teotihuacan, Ave de Madero, Tenayuca pyramid, the Monastery at Tepozotlan, the Pedregal lava flow, the Copilco archaeological site, and numerous other sites and places of interest. She found the itinerary rather restrictive and resented going to places that she did not find interesting (for example, she would have preferred to see more archaeology rather than visiting the Monastery at Tepozotlan), she was also frustrated by how much time was spent over ‘ritual meals’ rather than exploring the area.

On 14 August she, ‘met Dr Ralph Beals of the University of California at Los Angeles – he wd. Like to exchange S.W. archaeological material for African. Don’t believe we have enough stuff for all the exchanges I’ve discussed!’ (ibid) On 16 August they travelled to Tehuacan by bus, then on to Oaxaca, the following day they visited Monte Alban. On 18 August she visited the market at Oaxaca and ‘bought some attractive whistles and toys in black pottery’, then on, in cars, to Mitla where she ‘bought sample of weaving and some figurines – vetted as genuine by Miss W[ardle] – and a stone chisel which no one would trouble to fake even if they could.’ (ibid) Later she bought more things at the local market. On 19 August they returned to Mexico City, where Blackwood bought more things at the Theives Market, and the group went to a bull fight. On 22 August she and Mrs Wardle visited the ruins at Xochicalco, Cuernavaca and the Palace of Cortez, then, the next day, they went to the village of San Anton, where they watched potters at work. They went to see the ruins at Teopanzolco and up to Taxco in the mountains. Blackwood continued to pick up objects for the museum in shops and at markets. On 25 August she went from Mexico City to Toluca, and the ruins at Calizllahuaca, and the following day she went out to Xochimilco, stopping to buy things on both days. On 27 August she visited Lueretaro and wandered around the town and the markets. Meanwhile, the news from Europe was getting worse, and Blackwood had to decide whether to cut her trip short and return home.

On 29 August Blackwood took a train back to El Paso, and two days later she passed through Albuquerque and on to Santa Fe (I think she stayed with Dorothy Stewart), where, on 2 September she enjoyed the beginning of a fiesta. Her diary ends abruptly on 2 September, but a letter kept in the diary and written to ‘Jennie’ the day before reveals that, given the outbreak of war, she was planning to return home as soon as possible, in a few days time. The news meant that she had to give up plans to visit the Yucatan peninsula (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 16 November 1939).

1940

The onset of war led to a number of new accessions at the Museum as people ‘turned out their attics’ and the small staff, including Blackwood, were kept extremely busy trying to keep up with the cataloguing work. They were helped by the fact that some students decided to volunteer at the Museum while waiting to be called up to serve in the armed forces (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to Mrs Van Stone,15 August 1940). Beyond this voluntary help, the war meant that it was impossible for them to increase the Museum’s staff more permanently.

Penniman had the idea of creating a complete card index for the Museum’s collections in 1939 when he became Curator and discovered that the accessions books were the only standard record filled in for material entering the collections. He and Blackwood discussed the issue and, ‘both of us set out on the enormous task of putting on cards, in duplicate, all the entries from the beginning in 1881 until 1939. Since then I have kept the cards up to date as nearly as possible and have been solely responsible for their arrangement in the appropriate places – but the original idea was T.K.P.’s and the credit should go to him.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued N. American photos and Kew, letter to ‘Jocelyn’, 6 May 1973)

On top of the routine cataloguing work, Blackwood, Penniman and their colleagues tried to, ‘catch up with some of the work which has got badly into arrears owing to Balfour’s long illness and his habit of trying to do everything himself’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence T-Z, letter to Wilson Wallis, 16 May 1940). However, Blackwood wrote to Skinner,

‘I am very glad to tell you that Pitt Rivers is now happy in the hands of Mr T.K. Penniman, who has its interest very much at heart. Of course we have had to shelve all thoughts of expansion for the time being, but otherwise we are going ahead with all sorts of work and material keeps pouring in. The Ashmolean was lucky in that its plans for building were passed and the grant allotted before war broke out, ours were not so far advanced so now there is nothing for it but to make the best of what accommodation we have for the present.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence M-S, letter to H.D. Skinner, 22 May 1940)

Blackwood’s own appointment as Demonstrator was renewed for four more years, which was the usual period. She had more teaching, since the diploma syllabus had been revised and a decision had been taken not to replace Buxton until after the war.

‘I should like to get back to the Pacific, but must content myself here for the time being. R.B. continues to be a thorn in our flesh, but so far we have managed to beat him over every thing of major importance. He won’t cooperate but our sympathisers are in the majority.’ (ibid)

One gets a definite impression that Penniman and Blackwood felt they were engaged in battle with Radcliffe-Brown, and the mentality was very much ‘us’ against ‘them’.

1941

During 1940 and 1941 there were no candidates for the Diploma in Anthropology, perhaps because they were usually graduates who were now occupied with the War effort. However, a small group of geography students took Anthropology as a special subject, so Blackwood and Penniman continued to teach. Blackwood covered Buxton’s lectures in physical anthropology, which she taught in the Anatomy Department (her correspondence with Le Gros Clark regarding these lectures in 1941 and 1942 – which is very cordial, although there were still differences of opinion on the syllabus and Clark seems to have given the course little priority within his department – can be found in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood) The Museum’s most precious specimens – those which were not too fragile to move – were packed away, and the glass roof was reinforced with strong wire netting. Blackwood used the long vacation in 1941 to catch up on cataloguing and routine Museum work, she also planned to prepare some lectures on primitive art, designed to attract students at the Slade School of Art which had been evacuated to Oxford from London during the war (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, letter to D. Jenness, 1 June 1941)

1943

In January 1943, Marett suffered a mild heart attack, but was soon back to work as Rector of Exeter College. However, on 18 February he was found dead in the Old Clarendon Building, waiting for a meeting of the Indian Institute curators to begin (see Rivière DNB entry 2004). Later that year, Blackwood wrote,

‘We miss him constantly, as though he was no longer officially a teacher of anthropology, we could always talk things over with him and be sure of his broad judgment and cheery sane outlook on life. Penniman and I heartily agree with all you say about the lack of recognition of him in England, which we have deeply regretted.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence E-H, letter to E.A. Hooton, 18 September 1943)

For his part, Marett wrote to Penniman, just days before he died, ‘Miss Blackwood isn’t big enough for all the medals that ought to be hung about her dainty person!’(PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, Marett to Penniman, 9 February 1943) He may well have been referring to the Rivers’ Memorial Medal, awarded to Blackwood in 1943 by the Royal Anthropological Institute for her exemplary fieldwork.

Blackwood spent her summer looking after a close friend and her friend’s 84 year old mother, who were both sick simultaneously, and had no one else to rely on. ‘Nursing and doing household chores and cooking etc. are not to my taste, but it was certainly a change though not a rest.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, letter to Kidder, 17 September 1943, see letter to T.F. McIlwraith, 18 September 1943) War work also had to be added to Blackwood’s list of responsibilities, which left her little time to write up her New Guinea research:

‘Teaching and Museum work take up so much of my time now-a-days – to say nothing of fire-watching, digging an allotment and driving for an Ambulance Unit – that I have not done any work on the remainder of my New Guinea material for a long time. But perhaps one of these days I shall ‘get around’ to it again.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, letter to R.H. Lowie, 25 September 1943)

Blackwood found the petrol rationing more difficult than anything else during the war. She was given a very small petrol allowance to collect things for the Museum and to investigate archaeological sites that were under threat during the conflict. She also used her car for ARP work for a local ambulance unit. Her friends in America sent her vegetables to grow at her allotment. (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, letter to G.G. MacCurdy, 9 September).

1948

Blackwood was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in February 1948 (as was Penniman – see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, letter of congratulation from H.L. Hildburgh, 5 February 1948). In the same year she began serving as one of two National Secretaries for the United Kingdom on the Permanent Council of the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Meyer Fortes was the other National Secretary. Blackwood finally gave up her post in 1951 because, having retired from her academic post, she was no longer eligible (see PRM biogs, and papers in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, ‘Royal Anthropological Institute’ folder).

Blackwood was also a founding member of the British Ethnography Committee, set up by RAI council in 1948, under chairmanship of Fleure, to consider ‘ways of promoting the ethnographical study of Great Britain in the light of the present state of such studies in this country and abroad.’ Blackwood, Bagshawe (dep. chairman) Digby, W.L. Hildburgh, Braunholtz, Fortes, R.A. Salaman, Fagg, and others, were on the committee. ‘At the Committee’s first meeting it was agreed that the establishment of a national museum or museums for the study of British culture was the initial and essential step in any movement to place these studies upon a sound footing, and subsequent meetings have been devoted to the preparation of a scheme for such a museum.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, RAI pamphlet, ‘A scheme for the development of a Museum of English Life and Traditions’ British Ethnography Committee 1949) This project seems to have been powered by Thomas Bagshawe, an historian, folklorist and collector, who was curator of the Luton Museum from 1927-1936, and was much influenced by Scandinavian folk-life museums (see here)

Blackwood commented on a memorandum drawn up by Bagshawe and Fleure, submitted to the Committee regarding methods of record-keeping for the Museum. The Committee also drew up a ‘Scheme for the development of a museum of English Life and Traditions’, which outlined plans to co-ordinate and organize collecting and storing material relating to English cultural traditions, initially through regional museums, in the hope that, ‘some large house of architectural and historic interest, within easy access of London, with its surrounding land (a minimum of 200 acres) might be made available or patriotically offered, as a permanent home for the Museum of English Life and Traditions and its open-air section’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, ‘Scheme for the development of a museum of English Life and Traditions’). The paper also discussed the possibility of regional branches.

The scheme relied on curators siphoning off material in their collections, or objects presented to them in the future, when they were deemed suitable for the national museum. Penniman wrote that, as far as the Pitt Rivers Museum was concerned, while deaccessioning could be problematic, ‘Should such a Museum be established, it would be our policy when approached by donors or vendors of suitable material, to accept objects which were required for our own series, + put the donor or vendor in touch with the National Museum of Folk-Lore for other material which he might wish to place in a Museum.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, letter from Penniman, 6 December 1948). Circular letters informing curators of the scheme were also drafted, but, from surviving correspondence between Bagshawe and Blackwood, it appears that the plans had been shelved by 1950, and Blackwood sent papers relating to the proposed Museum to Bagshawe in Cambridge to be archived. It is unclear from the documents here why this happened (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34).

Blackwood was also in discussions aimed at establishing an Oxford Branch of the Folk-Lore Society in early 1948. This project was driven by Miss [Christine?] Hole and Miss Ellen Ettlinger. At a meeting of the Council of the Folk Lore Society in 2 June 1948 a resolution was passed to establish an ‘Oxfordshire and District Branch of the Folklore Society’: ‘Its objects shall be to collect, record and study the folklore of Oxfordshire, and the neighbouring counties, and to further the study of the international folklore of these districts.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood, folder ‘The Folklore Society 1948-49, agenda for the meeting). The Oxfordshire Branch was set up partly because of the difficulty of getting into London for Society meetings, partly to enable courses of lectures in the winter outside normal meeting times, and partly to help collect material in Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties. They hoped to recruit from villages throughout Oxford, and proposed to supply lecturers for local Women’s Institutes. The first course of lectures was planned to take place in the Autumn of 1948, and Blackwood arranged for them to be in the University Museum (ibid, letter to Mrs M.M. Banks, 24 June 1948).

However, the new branch quickly ran into problems. The Oxfordshire team could not even agree on a suitable name with the parent Society in London. Those in London felt that the branch was superfluous, and providing services that were already supplied in London, particularly when Ettlinger proposed setting up a local Board to answer queries, compile a bibliography, collect information and material, and draft questionnaires. For her part, Blackwood resigned from the Oxfordshire Folk Lore Society in June 1949, citing the burden of her other professional commitments as the reason for her departure. It is unclear from these papers what happened to the branch.

1950

By the 1950s Blackwood was regularly asked to advise and support field expeditions mounted by younger teams, and she continued in this role throughout her life (see, for example, correspondence in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34). Many of these expeditions were organized from Oxford, including the Oxford North Khorassan Expedition in 1958, the Oxford Snaefellsnes Expedition, Iceland in 1958, the Oxford University Expedition to Sarawak 1955-1956, the Oxford University Expedition to the French Congo, and the Oxford University Women’s Expedition to Bijapur, India in 1964 (to name a few, see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34).

1952

Blackwood undertook a trip through Austria, presumably for the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in Vienna (see PRM biogs).

1953

In early 1953 Blackwood was contacted by Colin Simpson who was researching his book Adam with Arrows: Inside New Guinea and wanted to include a chapter on Blackwood’s personal experiences amongst the Kukukuku. Blackwood responded to his request for personal information with a firmness bordering on hostility.

‘I must begin by saying that I intensely dislike any form of personal publicity other than the minimum necessary to authenticate my work. Please respect this attitude, which is of very long standing, and do not entitle a chapter of your book ‘Miss Blackwood’s Nine Months in the Stone Age’, or use my name as a caption in any way.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Misc. ms. and correspondence Re-Z, letter to Colin Simpson, 16 February 1953)

She was a thoroughly private person, but she did recount her general way of life in the field for Simpson, and wrote fondly of her cat, Sally, who had charmed the villagers and was the first cat they had ever seen. ‘Some of the toughest old warriors would spend hours trailing bits of string for her to play with. I can send you, if you are interested, a photograph of a group of Kukukuku on the occasion of their first introduction to Sally, who was one of my best assets, from the professional as well as the personal standpoint.’ (ibid) She also told Simpson how disappointed she had been not to be able to enter the uncontrolled territory, and how frustrated she had been when she had to leave the Kukukuku after only 9 months to go on a collecting mission for Balfour. She later wrote to him, ‘I have never ceased to regret that I did not get that last three months, which from previous experience I expected to yield more information than the whole of the first nine.’ (ibid, 20 March 1953)

Simpson evidently asked Blackwood for a photograph, which she refused to give him. He may well have been surprised by the strength of her feelings when he read her response.

‘There is no photograph of myself available, and if there were, it would come into the form of personal publicity which I particularly dislike. I see no point, either, in a book about the Kukukuku, of biographical details about myself, except that I went as part of my job as University Demonstrator in Ethnology on the staff of the Pitt Rivers Museum a post which carries with it the obligation to carry out original study and research as well as to teach the subject in the University. ‘Black-wood’s Magazine’ was founded by another branch of the family, with which I can claim only a distant cousinship. But surely that is not relevant either. Please write about the Kukukuku and not about me.’ (ibid, 20 March 1953)

Her strong opinions make one wonder about studying Blackwood and her career even now!

Blackwood’s mother died in the late summer of 1953. Blackwood and her sister had shared the work of looking after her during the year (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence A-D, Audrey Grimes to Blackwood, 5 September 1953)

In November, Penniman wrote to the Secretary of Faculties requesting Blackwood’s reappointment as Demonstrator (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 3 November 1953).

1954

In June, Penniman wrote to the Secretary of Faculties nominating Blackwood for one of the Readerships that were to be awarded to Senior Demonstrators. In his letter he outlined and praised her work and her skills, stating that ‘there are few indeed who can write and speak with authority of so large a part of the world’. He went on, ‘[n]o one I have ever met has so many contacts throughout the world, nor so much ability to secure accurate documentation over so many areas…it is due to her that the Museum has so high a reputation abroad in Americanist and Pacific subjects’ (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 8 June 1954). Presumably, however, his appeal on Blackwood’s behalf failed.

In September, Blackwood visited the Musee de l’Homme in Paris to select objects from French Indo-China to be sent to the Pitt Rivers in exchange. She also organized the loan of a group of Bronze Age objects from S.E. Asia, which were analysed as part of the Museum’s Occasional Publications on Technology series (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, Demonstrator’s Report 1954-5)

1955-56

A letter to David Davis, written in 1955, suggests that Blackwood would still have liked the opportunity to return to Melanesia, but she realized that this was now a remote possibility, although her choice of words suggests that this was probably more on account of her commitments at the Pitt Rivers Museum than because of her age – she was now in her mid-60s.

‘I am very much interested to hear that you are going to work in Netherlands New Guinea, and envy you the opportunity. Some years ago I did a spell of field work in the Upper Watut River region, Morobe District, and in the Lower Ramu River region, and wish I could go back to New Guinea, but see no chance of doing so.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, letter to David Davis, 7 December 1955)

In the same year, she had an opportunity to reflect on her career when Herbert Pinney asked her to give advice to a friend’s daughter who was considering becoming an anthropologist. Interestingly Blackwood recommended taking an undergraduate degree in a subject other than anthropology, and she mentioned her own degree in English, as well as the careers of her mentors, Marett, Balfour, Penniman and Buxton, in defence of her argument. With the exception of Penniman, this was an earlier generation of anthropologists whose work was largely seen as outdated by the 1950s. She had the impression that the Cambridge undergraduate degree, where anthropology was part of a tripos, was not satisfactory. It is impossible to know whether she had altered her opinion of the benefits of an undergraduate degree altogether – in contrast to her stance in the late 1930s and early 40s, when battling Radcliffe-Brown – or whether she simply felt that existing courses were not up to scratch. She certainly advocated a broad education, only specializing in anthropology at a post-graduate level. The Oxford Diploma had, by now, become more specialized, with students concentrating on one sub-discipline, which Blackwood did not favour:

‘While realizing the extent of the subject, I still think that the old Diploma, giving equal weight to all three aspects, was better, but my colleagues do not all share this opinion. This is an age of specialists – I only hope it does not become one in which the specialists, in the words of the old tag, ‘know everything about nothing’. (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, letter to Herbert Pinney, 25 November 1955)

She felt that a research degree was necessary, meaning that an anthropologist would need to train for 3-4 years at a post-graduate level. She also mentioned the paucity of jobs, and, interestingly, she pointed out the lack of positions in physical anthropology in particular, while adding that Museum posts were ‘often concerned solely with the administration and arrangement of a museum’ (ibid). It is likely that these comments, tinged with negativity, reflect feelings about her own professional experiences. Her conclusions were measured: ‘Summing up, it can be said that Anthropology offers a varied, useful, very interesting and sometimes strenuous life, but little in the way of financial advantage.’ However, her own experiences had been positive: ‘Of course I, personally, think there is no career to beat it, but I have been exceptionally lucky both in opportunities for field work and in having a good University post to come back to.’ (ibid)

Penniman wrote to the Secretary of Faculties in September 1955 requesting an extension of Blackwood’s period of office until the age of seventy. He request was considered by the University’s Visitatorial Board in December, and in May 1956 Blackwood received a letter from the Secretary of Faculties confirming her reappointment as University Demonstrator. He added that a new young Demonstrator [Audrey Butt?] had been appointed and it was vital that Blackwood remain on the staff to ensure continuity of the teaching and research programme, and so that she could advise her new colleague (OU Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 29 September 1955).

In December 1955 Blackwood was also elected to represent the University at the 32nd International Congress of Americanists, in August the following year, in Copenhagen, on the recommendation of the Board of the Faculty of Anthropology and Geography. She was elected again in 1956 (she had also been recommended as a representative in 1949, but the University decided not to appoint a delegate that year) (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, letter from Douglas Veale, 6 December 1955). She travelled to the 1956 Congress with Irene Beazley and Mr Turner (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, letters to Irene Beazley 1956).

1957

Blackwood was elected Vice-President of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and served in that post until 1960 (see PRM biogs).

1959

Blackwood formally retired in 1959, at the age of 70, but she continued to work at the Pitt Rivers Museum until her death.

1963

Up to 1963 Blackwood lived in Walton Street, then, on the death of her ‘long term companion’ with whom she shared the house, she had to move and sort out the house, so she moved to Littlemore (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence J-M, letter from E. Jackson, 17 September 1963). Her companion was called Miss Watters (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of her, letter to Mrs Newall, 7 April 1967). From her correspondence at the time, it is clear that this was a difficult and trying job, both physically and emotionally (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence).

Blackwood, now in her mid-70s and officially retired, was concerned about her position at the Museum in the light of Penniman’s retirement and Fagg’s arrival as the new Director. A letter from Thomas H. Bagshawe (formerly Curator at the Luton Museum) to Blackwood responds to her concerns: ‘I can well understand your apprehension about the new curator and your own position after the appointment…Best wishes to you and a hope that soon you will find a happy home and be left in peace at the museum.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence A-D, 9 June 1963) A letter written a few years later, in 1967, to Audrey Richards confirmed that Fagg had allowed Blackwood to keep her room: ‘Our present curator, Bernard Fagg, has been very kind in allowing me to keep my room here although I have officially retired. There is plenty of work for me. I keep very fit and am pleased to be busy and of use.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 32, letter to Audrey Richards, 2 March 1967)

1966

Blackwood was given the post of Honorary Assistant Curator (see PRM biogs).

1968

In January 1968 Penniman was moved to St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton, where he worked on his autobiography. Thus began a long correspondence between Blackwood and Penniman, and Blackwood visited Penniman in Northampton in her Baby Austin, with the seat adjusted to make him more comfortable. Penniman frequently asked Blackwood to look up references for his book, or specific words, or more general details and information to assist in his research. He often gave her a list of books and other items to bring to him in Northampton. He wondered how she found time for jobs in the Museum when he gave her ‘full-time…employment as Research Fellow for Education of Emeritus Curators, who left the chance of education until retirement’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers /TKP uncatalogued letters, Penniman to Blackwood, 22 October 1973). The friendship continued in this way until Blackwood’s death in 1975, and some of their correspondence can be found in an uncatalogued box of PRM ms collections Blackwood papers /TKP letters.

Around this time, Schuyler Jones first met Blackwood. He remembered that, ‘When I first knew her [in 1968], Beatrice had been retired for ten years, though no one who spent any time in the museum could possibly have guessed. She was always one of the first to arrive each morning and among the last to leave in the evening…’

‘Beatrice, although she knew more about the museum and its collections than the rest of the staff put together, was very diffident and retiring when it came to expressing that knowledge in formal or informal staff meetings. In contrast, she was a mine of information to visitors…She was our database in the days before computers. She either knew or had a very good idea of where anything in the museum might be found…she had an excellent memory. She could therefore identify almost anything that was brought in for identification and go directly to the relevant section of our own collections to turn up half a dozen objects like it.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood, Memories by Schuyler Jones for Felicity Wood November 1993)

1969

Blackwood visited the Austrian Tyrol (see PRM biogs). There is part of an undated diary, written in a notebook, in the manuscript collections which may well have been written during this trip. In it, Blackwood records arriving in Innsbruck on 13 September (the first entry in the diary), where she went to the Tyrol Museum für Volkskunde and studied the collections and later toured the old town. It would appear that she was travelling with a group, because the following day she visited Bad Ischl with Fran Asmus, Professor O’Riordain of University College Dublin, and others, before going on to Hallstatt. Over the next few days they explored the area, visiting the salt workings, pottery making, and museums. On 17 September she noted that her companions left, and the next day she took a train to Salzburg, where she ‘Found a shop with Austrian handiwork + bought a whistle in form of a hen for Sir John Myres’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 18, diary from trip to Europe). On 19 she visited the shop again, and went to the castle and the catacombs. On the 20 September she began her journey home, flying via Frankfurt and Brussels and arriving in London on the same day (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 18, diary from trip to Europe).

1971

Blackwood visited Ascona, Switzerland, for two weeks (see PRM biogs)

1975

Blackwood died on 29 November at home in Oxford, aged 86 years. She was survived by her sister, Mrs Mary French, Chislehurst, Kent. At some point shortly before her death she crashed her Baby Austin while visiting Tom Penniman. Other people’s memories of this incident differ: Catherine Fagg remembered that she lost her car and her license and was never the same again (see below). Schuyler Jones gave a more detailed account of the story, as it unfolded following the car crash.

‘She then got a lift into Oxford and managed to purchase not only the same make and model of car, but one that was the same colour as well. Next morning she drove in to work as if nothing had happened. No one knew anything about it until a police officer arrived to get details of the accident. Her insurance company decided that she would have to take a driving test, the mere suggestion of which incensed her. In the end, uncharacteristically, she gave it up and walked to and from the museum each day. Finally, with the onset of winter, she gave in a little more and I was allowed to drive her home each evening. I did this as usual on a Friday evening in November, 1975. On the following Monday Beatrice rang in to say that she had a cold and her doctor advised her to stay at home. On Wednesday she was dead. In terms of her contribution to the museum she ranks with General Pitt Rivers and Henry Balfour. Those of us who were privileged to work with her treasure her memory.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood, Memories by Schuyler Jones for Felicity Wood November 1993)

If this story is correct, it seems hardly surprising, given Blackwood’s fierce independence throughout her life, that the loss of her car and consequently her increasing inability to fend for herself in day-to-day life immediately preceded her death.

It seems that at some point Blackwood may have travelled to ‘Lappland’:

PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 23: visited the Lapps –

‘The Lapp language has now incorporated a large number of Norse words. Nowadays, most Lapps speak also the language of the country in which they live. The Swedish Lapps I met, however, spoke Lappish and Finnish but not Swedish.’ (3.262)

‘All the Lapps drink quantities of coffee. If you visit them it is not etiquette to leave until you have had at least two cups of coffee, it is more polite if you drink three or four. In the olden days they used instead of coffee birchsap and duovlle, a fungoid growth found in birches. It is gathered in the summer, dried in the smoke of the tent and ground like coffee. It has a sweet taste.’

‘I found dried reindeer meat quite palatable up in Lappland. But you need good teeth!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued correspondence, undated lecture on ‘Field Studies’)

Friendships with other anthropologists

Haddon. Haddon corresponded with Blackwood about mental testing in late 1920s and wished her well for her 1929 trip to Melanesia, ‘I am already looking forward with interest to your return – it will be fascinating to hear what you have seen + done.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers uncatalogued N.American photos and Kew, Haddon to Blackwood, 28 June 1929). Blackwood asked ACH to check over her paper on Solomon Island stories for the Folklore Society Journal. She visited him when she was in Cambridge (see Box 8, envelope 26, Haddon papers, CUL). There are also letters in the PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence box. Haddon visited Blackwood and Penniman at the Museum in June 1939, and stayed with the Seligmans for the visit (see Gen Corres).

Sydney Ray – visits, correspondence re Melanesian languages, in March 1933, while she was preparing her book, he commented on the data she had gathered (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Gen Corres M-S) Blackwood collected significant amounts of linguistic data while in Melanesia (her undergraduate training had been in linguistics and she was a great linguist herself) and she was advised and helped in this work by Ray.

Seligman. Collected dreams for him while in New Guinea 1929-30 and corresponded about them afterwards, late 1931-1934 (latterly for Blackwood’s book) (see PRM ms collections Blackwood papers Gen Corres M-S) Blackwood also wonders about including something in her book about dreams, CGS encourages this and offers to read any manuscript, which he did. Blackwood also visited them at Toot Baldon, for work and pleasure. (Letter of thanks for an offprint from BZS 1943, also, NB, letter from BZS to Blackwood, 28 August 1946, regarding Bor beads in the Seligman collection, in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 24.)

Balfour – takes a caring and humorous tone in letters while she is in the field, e.g. ‘I will be very glad to hear of how you are getting on, if you get time to write. Take care of yourself + don’t run risks. Also don’t, like the proverbial missionary, get ‘absorbed in your work’ among cannibals!’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 19, HB to Blackwood, 26 August 1936) Schuyler Jones remembered that, ‘In 1937 Henry Balfour had become increasingly alarmed at the idea of Beatrice working alone in Highland New Guinea in areas that were considered unsafe at best. He ordered her to return to Oxford.’ (uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood, Beatrice Blackwood Lecture, 20 May 1998). I have found no evidence of this order. One gets the impression that their relationship was very professional: although there was great mutual respect, Blackwood did not have the warm relationship with Balfour that she enjoyed with Thomson. See ‘The Blackwood Collection’ document for more on HB and Blackwood.

Marett. Blackwood was very fond of Marett, who advised and encouraged her throughout. A few of his letters (ranging in date from 1928-1943) are in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers General Correspondence. In the year he died, Blackwood wrote a memorial paper ‘R.R.M. as Anthropologist: a paper read to the Lankester Society at Exeter College on June 2nd, 1943’, a copy of which is kept in PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21. In the paper she remembers referring to Thomson, Balfour and Marett as ‘the Triumvirate, or, alternatively, the Trinity’.

Memories of Blackwood

There is a folder of people’s recollections of Blackwood in the box ‘uncatalogued correspondence and memories of Blackwood’, most of which were gathered together for the Friends of the Pitt Rivers Museum 10^th Anniversary Newsletter in 1994. I have included some extracts here:

Schuyler Jones, Beatrice Blackwood Lecture, 20 May 1998

‘Beatrice was kind, thoughtful, helpful, and patient with students and visiting scholars, but a stickler for correct museological practices and procedures. Although diminutive in stature, she was extremely outspoken and the transgressor would receive a wrathful lecture delivered with a remarkable economy of words…a lesson which no one on the receiving end was likely to forget.

‘Although she was shy and modest in the extreme, she inspired respect bordering on trepidation.’

‘Blackwood was a well-known figure around Oxford in the 1920s and 30s when she was frequently seen careering about on a huge motorcycle with a sidecar, the latter usually full of books…’

‘My over-riding memory of Blackwood is of a complex personality. She could be shy and rather aggressive by turns, but aggressive only when she thought principles were in danger of being ignored. As already indicated, she was extremely modest about her own accomplishments, experience, and knowledge…Although working full time in the Museum and knowing the collections better than anyone, she was content to remain in the background, getting on with the work she regarded as being of importance. She was warm and generous with her time and knowledge whenever she felt that she was in a position to assist someone who had a genuine interest in the collections, regardless of whether that individual was a first year geography student or a well-established scholar from abroad.’

Schuyler Jones for Felicity Wood November 1993

Jones only gradually realised Blackwood’s important role in the history of the Museum:

‘Beatrice herself never had much to say on the subject. Aside from a natural reticence concerning her own contribution to anything, she was always too busy at work in the museum for idle reminiscence. She was a slight figure, below average height, with a fine sense of humour and a forthright manner. I soon discovered, however, that she could be almost fiercely sharp with anyone who mishandled museum specimens in her presence or rashly embarked on some procedure which was contrary to museum practices.’

‘…Beatrice had charm and patience in abundance and was courteous and welcoming to members of the public and visiting scholars. She carried on a wide academic correspondence with former students and other scholars all over the world.’

Catherine Fagg, January 1994

‘When Bernard was curator, I know that she was the most useful member of the PRM, and always ready to help. He constantly asked and accepted her advice. She looked after Tom Penniman who came into the museum daily (Ken Walters collected him from his lodgings), and when eventually Tom had to go into hospital - + St. Andrews in Northampton was selected – Beatrice drove over at least once a week to visit him. Unfortunately, on one of these journeys, she had a crash, lost her car, + lost her licence. Then, sadly, feeling that she was no longer independent, she found life more + more frustrating, left her home in Littlemore, took on the Wyndam House flats, where she died not long after she had moved in.’

Jean Townsend, wife of Blackwood’s cousin, Sept 1994

Beatrice always very relaxed with their small children when she visited and seemed to enjoy their company.

‘When we went to visit her in Oxford she would always prepare a fine lunch or dinner for us and then take us to the Theatre. She would always like to walk from 14 Walton Street where she then lived to the Theatre, but she walked so fast we had a job to keep up with her although we were years younger. She was great fun + loved the theatre or concerts…I wish she would have told us more about her travels.’

Ian Townsend, Blackwood’s cousin, Sept 1994

In the late 1950s she would come to lunch when he and his siblings were children – once she broke down but had fixed the car long before the RAC man arrived.

‘In those days, reflecting the culture of the times, I remember how I found it strange that a woman should not only work but drive a car and travel to strange places. In my world at the time, women, if they were not housewives, worked as nurses or secretaries or on production lines in factories.

‘Finding out from her what she did was always difficult. She seemed reluctant to talk about it, as if her work wasn’t important or interesting. She was always more interested in us…’

Bibliography:

Gacs, Ute; Aisha Khan, Jerrie McIntyre & Ruth Weinberg (eds.) 1989. "Beatrice Mary Blackwood (1889-1975)" in Woman Anthropologists: Selected Biographies. University of Illinois Press, University of Chicago

Gosden, Chris and Chantal Knowles 2001 Collecting Colonialism: Material Culture and Colonial Change Berg, Oxford

Knowles, Chantal 1998: ‘Beatrice Mary Blackwood (1889-1975)’ in Petch, A. Collectors Volume 2, pp. 6-13. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Knowles, Chantal 2004 ‘Blackwood, Beatrice Mary (1889-1975)’ entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Penniman, T.K. 1976a: 'Beatrice Mary Blackwood 1889-1975.' American Anthropologist vol.78:2, June1976. p.321-2.

Penniman, T.K. 1976b: 'Obituary: Beatrice Mary Blackwood.' Oceania vol.XLVI, 1975-6. p.234-7.

Percival, A.C. 1976: 'Obituary: Miss B.M. Blackwood.' Folklore vol.87:1, p.113-4.

Simpson, Colin 1953. "A Woman of Oxford lives with the Kukukukus" in Adam With Arrows: Inside New Guinea. pp. 64-84. Angus and Robertson, Sydney

Extract from the Friends of the Pitt Rivers Museum 10th Anniversary Newsletter. "Beatrice Blackwood Remembered." p.4-6. contributions from Schuyler Jones, Bob Rivers, Catherine Fagg and Kenneth Kirkwood

‘Miss B.M. Blackwood: Distinguished Anthropologist’ Obituary in The Times, 2 December 1975, pg 14, issue 59567, col. F

Blackwood: List of Publications:

1927. 'A Study of mental testing in relation to Anthropology.' Mental Measurement Monographs

1929. ‘Tales of the Chippewa Indians’ in Folklore vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 315-344

1930. ‘Racial Differences in Skin-Colour as Recorded by the Colour Top’ in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute vol. 60, pp.137-168

1932. ’92. Folk-stories from the Northern Solomons’ (summary of a paper) in Man vol. 32, p.74

1932. ‘Folk Stories from the Northern Solomons’ in Folklore vol 43, no. 1, pp. 61-96

1934. with L.H. Dudley Buxton ‘An Introduction to Oxfordshire Folklore’ in Folklore vol 45, no. 1 pp.29-46

1935. ‘Treatment of the Sick in the Solomon Islands’ in Folklore vol. 46, no. 2, pp.148-161

1935. Both Sides of Buka Passage: an ethnographic study of social, sexual, and economic questions in the north-western Solomon Islands. Oxford, Clarendon Press

1939. with L.H. Dudley Buxton and J.C. Trevor ‘Measurements of Oxfordshire Villagers’ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 1-10

1939. ‘Leonard Halford Dudley Buxton, D.Sc., F.S.A.’ in Folklore, vol. 50, no. 2, pp.204-205

1939. ‘Life on the upper Watut, New Guinea’ in The Geographical Journal vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 11-24

1939. ‘Folk-Stories of a Stone Age People in New Guinea’ in Folklore, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 209-242

1940. ‘Crafts of a Stone Age People in Central New Guinea’ in Man, vol 40, p. 11

1940-43. ‘Use of Plants Among the Kukukuku of Southeastern Central New Guinea’ in Proceedings of the Sixth Pacific Sciences Congress (Volume 4) of the Pacific Science Association. University of California Press

1941. ‘Some Arts and Industries of New Guinea and New Britian’ in Man, vol. 41, p. 88

1945. ‘Mary Edith Durham: 8 Dec., 1863-15 Nov., 1944’ in Man, vol. 45, pp.22-23

1948. [NB written by Balfour, edited and prepared for publication by Blackwood] ‘Ritual and Secular Uses of Vibrating Membranes as Voice-Disguisers’ in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 78, no. 1/2, pp. 45-69

1950. ‘Reserve Dyeing in New Guinea’ in Man, vol 50. pp. 53-55

1950. 'The Technology of a Modern Stone Age People in Central New Guinea.' Occasional Papers on Technology 3. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

1953. ‘Sir Francis Knowles: 1886-1953’ in Man, vol. 53, pp. 88-89

1955. with P.M. Danby 'A Study of Artificial Cranial Deformation in New Guinea.' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 85:173-192.

1962. ‘Robert H. Lowie: 1883-1957’ in Man, vol. 62, pp. 86-88

1970. 'The Classification of Artefacts in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.' Occasional Papers on Technology 10. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

1978. 'The Kukukuku of the Upper Watut. Edited from her published articles and unpublished field notes, and with an introduction by C.R. Hallpike.' Monograph series no.2. Pitt Rivers Museum

1991. The Origin and development of the Pitt Rivers Museum. Revised and updated by Dr. S. Jones). Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Blackwood also wrote numerous scholarly book reviews throughout her career, and contributed entries for the ‘Museum News’ section of Folklore between 1958-1971

This document was written by Frances Larson during the ESRC-funded Relational Museum project 2002-2006 as a series of research notes.

Beatrice Blackwood's Teaching of Anthropology

2012-08-09T07:21:48+00:00

Frances Larson

I have not been able to find out much – if anything – about Blackwood’s teaching practices while working in the Department of Human Anatomy, however many of her lecture notes survive from the 1940s onwards, when she taught at the Pitt Rivers Museum and in the Oxford University Museum [of Natural History] lecture theatre. During this period she and Penniman taught as a team. He noted that, ‘In general I deal with Archaeology or past Ethnology, what people were like and how they lived, and Miss Blackwood with present Ethnology, what people are like, and how they live now. Each helps to interpret the other.’ (BB box 21, folder 4) Students were taught ‘Social Anthropology’ by, first Marett, then Radcliffe-Brown, and, from 1946, by Evans-Pritchard (and others).

Unfortunately, a significant proportion of Blackwood’s lecture notes are undated, so it is difficult to build up any clear idea of how her teaching developed over the years. However, the overall impression I get is that the underlying approach and general anthropological lessons did not alter significantly through time. It is clear that Blackwood had to give her students a broad introductory overview of all the main cultural groups in the world, which gave little scope for detailed analysis or nuanced conclusions. One of the courses she gave was called the ‘Survey Course’, which was designed ‘to cover the world in one year’ of lectures. Blackwood explained that her aim was to give a ‘background survey of the main features of people in the world, as a foundation for more detailed studies’. She added that she would only be able to touch on social anthropology lightly and would ‘concentrate mainly on how they live, and how they make use of the resources provided for them by their environment’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21). Presumably this was because students were taught about other aspects of people’s social life – such as their spiritual beliefs, politics and kinship – elsewhere. These ‘Survey Course’ lectures seem to have been arranged by geographical region.

Another course was called ‘Lands and Peoples’, in which she seems to have themed her sessions differently, since the first lecture considered physical anthropology – eye colour, stature, blood groups and methods of taking measurements – while her second discussed ‘Hunters and Herders’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 22, folder 3).

‘It used to be thought that societies necessarily went through all the stages, from hunting and gathering, through pastoralism to horticulture – cultivation of a garden – hortus by means of a hand tool, the digging-stick or the hoe – and so to agriculture, cultivation of a field, ager, by means of a plough. We now know that this was not the case. Although the earliest and most primitive form of culture is that dependent on hunting and gathering, the passage of various peoples from that stage to any other has been widely different in different groups…

‘Another misconception which used to be widely held was that a group’s culture, and especially its food economy, was entirely dependent on its geographical environment. In extreme cases, of course, this is true…But we must not forget that various uses can be made of the environment + there are cases where peoples of very different cultures exist side by side in the same geographical environment, for example the pastoral Masai and the cultivating Kikuyu, both on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. Neither does a hard enviornment necessarily lead to a simple form of culture [compares the Eskimo (hard environment and highly developed culture), with Tasmanians (similar environment to England but simplest mode of existence known)]’ (opening statement from ‘Hunters and Herders’ lecture, PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 22, folder 3)

Other lectures in this series (which have not survived as an orderly group, and are spread through different boxes of material, so it is impossible to know how they related to each other or whether they are of a similar date) seem to focus on geographical regions again: Indians of the Northwest Coast; South American Hunters – Tribes of the Gran Chaco; The Eskimo; Nomads of the Central Asian Steppes – The Steppes; Herders & cultivators of East Africa; North Africa and Egypt, and so on. The geographical range is impressive, but it prevented Blackwood from delving into any single area in any depth at all, and many of her lectures were basic and introductory.

She did give slightly more specialized lectures, for example, on New Guinea Art, or the Material Culture of East Africa, but even these sessions were too short to allow much detailed analysis. Time was the limiting factor, and artistic styles or technological practices had to be characterized and glossed over to a large extent. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the general teaching style of the day, her lectures provided little scope for discussion, and one has the impression that she generally read from her notes word for word (they are written out in full, with even supposedly ‘casual’ remarks noted down) in front of a group of students who sat in silence and diligently wrote everything down. Although, she did use lots of slides: her lecture notes are often stored with long typed lists of slides that regularly run onto a second page (her extensive lantern slide collection is kept in the Photograph and Manuscript Collections).

She also ran a series of practicals alongside some of her lecture courses, which were more informal affairs and seem to have been held in the Pitt Rivers Museum. Here, she introduces the Lands and Peoples course structure and specifically forbids questions during her lectures, asking students to talk to her during the practicals:

‘We shall look at pictures of the people and of their country, and examine the things they make and use. The anthropologists will have an opportunity of seeing the things themselves at the practical class on Monday afternoons. The rest of you will, I hope, stay behind after each lecture for half an hour or so to look at them…The value of this course lies mainly in the pictures and in seeing the specimens themselves, so it will not be the same thing at all if you cut the lecture and borrow someone’s notes. The practicals will be quite informal, and questions are welcomed at them. Please do not interrupt the lectures with questions as we have a great deal to get through and they are carefully timed to last just under an hour…’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 22, folder 3)

Reading this introduction, it is clear that Blackwood used objects during her lectures as well as during practical sessions, and, moreover, that material culture was integral to what she was going to say. Some more specialist lectures focused entirely on material culture and may have been held in the Pitt Rivers Museum. For example, a course on the Material Culture of East Africa was designed ‘to illustrate, mainly from specimens in P.R. Museum, the main characteristics of the material culture of the peoples of East Africa’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 25). Despite the fact that her notes are so comprehensive, she does not seem to have written down any reference to the specific objects she brought into the lecture theatre (I think most of her general lectures were given in the OUM lecture theatre). Maybe they were left on the desk in front of her and students could come up and study them afterwards, or maybe she made impromptu references to them during the session without referring to her notes.

However, her lecture notes are frequently pinned to a small clump of index cards on which she has listed relevant objects in the Museum itself, giving their location, which presumably she used during the practical sessions or when she decided to lecture in the Pitt Rivers Museum. There are lots of these cards, covering numerous different cultural groups or geographical regions, including, for example, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Anuak; or Plains Indians; or the Lapps. They give some details about the location of objects in the Court and the Galleries. Here are some that might give an idea of the rough lists she was working from:

Northwest Coast Indians

Court

Carved box & mask. Art case

Chilkat dance apron

Rattles (Autophone case)

Model canoes + real one.

Totem and house poles.

Slatestone pipes (upright pipe case)

Masks.

Shaman’s head-dresses, skin blanket

Model totem poles + other slatestone carvings. An. Form

Chief’s coffin.

L.G.

Cradle [rubbed out?]

Copper. (under currency case)

Button blanket (upright currency case)

Box lid set with otter teeth

Box made by steaming (under currency case)

Silver bracelets

Food bowls

Cradle

Specimens for lecture on W. Africa.

Ashanti, Nigeria, Congo. Saturday Jan 24. 1947

3Bushongo ‘plush’ weaving (Torday’s)

3carved wooden raffia cloth ‘tukula’ boxes, or cups (Torday)

a throwing knife

3baskets

X carved gourds – also some with pattern burnt on

X hoe used as currency.

Some carved wooden figures.

Ivory figure (from Ivory case)

X wooden stools, carved – head-rests

Ashanti stool (ceremonial)

Masks (one or two. E.J. Jones colln)

X some typical gold-weights (Rattray)

Ebony carving of Mangbetu woman (S.P. Powell colln)

Mats worn behind – Mangbetu (S.P. Powell colln)

Bark cloth beater + specimens of bark cloth

S. American forest tribes. To get out.

Hammock

Some bead aprons etc

Blow gun, darts quiver*

Spindle with tortoise bone whorl

Types of thread (drawer)

Jaguar bone flute

Some ornaments of teeth

*all quivers rather fragile, probably better leave in case.

Miss Butt’s collection in shed.

S. American Forest Peoples

Court

Baskets: Design & basket case

Pottery & jaguar skull trumpets, Music case. Syrinx

Jaguar bone flageolet, drawer

Cotton & aeta palm string

Woodskin canoe model. Real one.

Model of Arawak house.

L.G.

Cassava apparatus & bread. Food case

Bead ornaments and aprons.

Feather ornaments in corner.

Sundry ornaments in desk case.

U.G.

Blow gun, quivers & darts.

Spears (middle of end cases)

Stone implements, desk case.

Get out.

Hammock.

Specimens for lecture on the Eskimo

Stone lamp (small one will do). Cupboard in workshop

Stone cooking pot. (Substitute for pottery case, Court.)

2 dolls showing costume. Doll case in lower gallery. (Labrador)

Sinew-backed bows. Upper Gallery.

1. western Eskimo, Arctic type, wooden, with sinew backing

2. Eastern Eskimo, antler with sinew backing.

Bow made of bone

Sieve made of whale bone, with baleen mesh (Fishing case, L.G.)

Small things on tray on table in cellar.

Bottle made of seal’s foot (below horn case, Court)

Sledge carrying kayaks. Model (ivory case).

There are so many of these cards that one could probably build up a reasonable picture of the displays if one spent a lot of time over it (although they are nearly all undated, and the descriptions of objects are not detailed enough to enable individual identification). Sometimes Blackwood noted down objects that were ‘by my room’, or ‘in workroom cupboard’ or in the ‘drawer under sandals [case]’ or ‘probably too fragile’ and so on. They show that Blackwood’s teaching in the Museum consisted of walks around and amongst the displays along with the study of objects already removed from cases or taken from behind the scenes and, presumably, laid out on tables especially for the students to look at.

One small, but particularly revealing document is a note Blackwood wrote to herself as a reminder of the strengths and weaknesses of a session she ran during the 1950s showing the films she had taken during her 1936-8 research in New Guinea.

Hilary Term 1953 Films on New Guinea and New Britain

Shown without slides, but with Kukukuku specimens on the table. The three rolls take about 45 minutes, with some talk while changing the reels. The other 15 minutes was used in discussing the specimens. But there were rather too many people and it would probably be better to set them out on the tables in the Upper Gallery as usual.

Same 1954 – doubt whether putting them in the Upper Gallery is worth the extra trouble.

1955 – only a few things put out as there were 2 lectures before. Quite enough I think. Useful to have them in the lecture room to talk about while reels are being changed. Slides not used.

1956 same. 1957 same. 1958 same. 1959 same.

(PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 26)

These notes suggest that tables were normally arranged in the Upper Gallery for objects taken out of storage or off display so that the students could examine them. It is impossible to know whether they were handled by anyone other than the Museum staff. It was clearly normal for objects to play a pivotal part in Blackwood’s lectures and teaching sessions in anthropology right through into the 1960s. Another tantalizing set of note cards gives hints about the organization of a practical – or series of practicals – on Melanesia. The cards are disused catalogue cards that have been recycled. On the back, Blackwood has written down a series of headings or labels to use as temporary signposts during a practical class designed to explore the main similarities and differences between Polynesian and Melanesian material culture. On one she has written, ‘Note. In practical Hilary Term 1947 all Mel. things were put one side + all Pol. things the other. ? better to put things of a sort from Mel. + Pol. side by side?’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 15)

Each card has short statement, for example, ‘Fish-hooks Common to both’, ‘Loom only in Santa Cruz. Came from Indonesia perhaps via the Caroline Is in Micronesia’, ‘Polynesia No Pottery’, ‘Melanesia tools curved section (round or elliptical)’, ‘For Melanesia pottery – see case in court. Note. No pottery in Polynesia’, ‘Typical Fijian ornament + sign of rank’, ‘Bark cloth beaters common to both’, ‘Melanesian bark cloth curvilinear design + figures’, ‘Melanesian objects used as currency + valuables’, ‘Polynesia No objects used as currency’, ‘ ‘Betel-chewing’ (really areca-nut + betel pepper + lime) characteristic of Melanesia but not of Polynesia. Came from Indonesia’, ‘Melanesian wood work curvilinear designs + animal + human figures w. much carving on all kinds of wooden objects. See food bowls in case.’ ‘Melanesian baskets of coconut leaves for rough use (many more elaborate forms in Court cases’ ‘Tiki characteristic New Zealand ornament.’ ‘Shell tools common to both. Very characteristic of atolls. Common in Micronesia’. Some simply have the name of the place ‘Admiralty Islands’, ‘New Ireland’, ‘New Britain’. They must have been used to label objects that were laid out on tables for the students.

Some of the cards also directed the students to other similar objects located in various parts of the Museum with descriptions and arrows. ‘Micronesia see also desk case + screen on east end of this gallery [arrow]’, ‘Polynesia except New Zealand see also desk case + screen at east end of this gallery [arrow]’, ‘New Zealand see also clubs on wall near entrance to this gallery’, ‘Polynesia New Zealand see also desk case + screens at east end of this gallery [arrow]’, ‘Polynesia see also spears in north-east corner [arrow] & clubs on wall near top of stairs, entrance to this gallery [arrow]’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 15) From the displays mentioned it is clear that these cards were used in the Upper Gallery, which supports the theory that this is where objects were temporarily arranged for practical sessions. Once the students had familiarized themselves with the objects on the tables and compared different cultural traditions, they were encouraged to continue their analysis and broaden their understanding of the different styles and methods of manufacture by exploring the Museum displays.

As mentioned above (under ‘Race Relations’ and ‘Cultures in Transition’), Blackwood often focused on comparing cultural and geographical groups with a view to determining the best criteria for defining different cultural units. Her practical session on Polynesia and Melanesia was designed to explore the fundamental differences and similarities between the two regions in terms of their material culture. Other criteria might have been used, in fact she identified six methods for studying ‘culture movements’, all of which had weaknesses. Archaeological evidence was limited by the fact that there might have been a gap between past and present practices; linguistic evidence suffered because languages were modified so quickly and easily; similar mythologies indicated only a very general relationship at best and any parallels could always be due to ‘convergence’; similar material culture traditions might have appeared following independent invention rather than representing a historical link, and, conversely, if there was none in common it did not necessarily follow that there was no relationship; and Wissler’s idea of culture complexes relied on a problematic concept of culture as a ‘compact mass…moving on its own momentum’ (BB box 26). The final option was to study the ‘peopling of small areas and distribution of single or a few individually outstanding elements’, but this meant sacrificing the bigger picture and any hope for creating a coherent whole. However, in one of her sets of notes, Blackwood concluded that this last option might provide the most promising way forward (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 27).

On the study of material culture as a window on the ‘movement of peoples and cultures’, Blackwood was, on the whole, cautiously optimistic. Here, she was indirectly evaluating much of Henry Balfour’s work, since he had made a career of analyzing historical culture movements through the detailed study of material culture. Blackwood was cautious because she was fully aware that similar material culture traditions could be due to independent invention in different geographical regions. Furthermore, she warned her students that just because there was no evidence for a particular type of material culture did not mean that it was not present, just that it had not been reported. Lastly, she clarified that there was a difference between the movements of peoples and the dissemination of objects or customs, and she mentioned as an example the spread of tobacco through New Guinea (studied by Haddon) which had occurred without any associated human migration. On the other hand, she acknowledged that where there were a number of unusual traits found in a continuous, or nearly continuous area, this was ‘good presumptive evidence’ (the notion of a culture-complex is creeping in here).

‘But where there are marked similarities in a number of traits, both material and non-material, there is some ground for theorising. This method has been used by the more recent workers, e.g. Speiser, Balfour, Haddon, and seems the most promising. But much more must be known about different groups of people individually before the can be satisfactorily combined to make a foundation for a theory.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 24)

She clearly admired the work of Balfour, and, even within its limitations, marked his studies out as some of the best and most reliable of their kind. He and Haddon had mastered the art of working on the distribution of ‘individually outstanding objects…as a basis for theorising as to origins and spreads’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 26). Her opinion that this kind of work should be supported by a much more detailed and nuanced ethnography of the specific peoples under discussion is not surprising given her own fieldwork experiences, especially in New Guinea where she constantly confronted the complexities of social groups and their traditions. She concluded that the best approach was, ‘a careful examination of technical details of material culture combined with evidence from social + religious customs + traditions where any.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 24).

My general impression is that Blackwood was enthusiastic about this kind of research: that is, taking a much smaller geographical region than, for example, Balfour ever had, and exploring the similarities and differences between local groups in much more detail. She was interested in cross-cultural influences and how particular traditions had come about, and she believed that anthropology should still aim for a broader view on the human condition, but she was reluctant to gloss over the intricacies of specific social practices or simplify the idea of a cultural group. She admired Haddon’s work on the history and diversity of New Guinea, in which he had focused specifically on canoes – ‘pertinent in Oceania where all travel must be by sea’ – art traditions and smoking practices (BB box 26). She mentioned in one of her other lectures that it ‘would be a good study to compare the life of these forest people of South America with that of the inhabitants of the tropical forests of Africa, noting where the similarities are due to similarity of environment, and trying to find reasons for differences. Something of the sort has been done by Daryll Forde in chapters IX and X of ‘Habitat, Economy and Society’. The comparison might well be carried into further detail.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 26).

Blackwood’s interest in analyzing specific cross-cultural currents in more detail stretched to studying the impact of European contact. She mentioned the benefits of smaller scale comparative studies, looking at, for example, the impact of white colonization on the communities of British Columbia and the American Northwest Coast (as mentioned above in ‘Cultures in Transition’). She was fully aware that cross-cultural influences ran in both directions. In one of her lectures she listed the ‘principal American Indian contributions to European material culture’ under the headings foods, drugs/narcotics/flavourings, fibres and textiles, transportation, games, rubber, and so on (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 26). She wrote brief notes on the ‘Effects of white contact’, through government, missionaries and trade, on the communities she had visited in New Guinea. She recorded that steel knives, hatchets and adzes had entirely replaced stone axes and adzes, which were now ‘used to sharpen knives on, or as weights or hammers for cracking nuts, or left lying around’. European cloth laplaps had replaced grass aprons (although some older men in the mountains had not altered their attire); bottles were sometimes used for storing coconut oil or magical substances; there were a few hurricane lanterns, even if they rarely had any kerosene; those who had worked on plantations had boxes and bowls; houses were built with nails and hinges bought at the Chinese store; a few men had European razors; tobacco was ubiquitous now, and European pigs were greatly prized, especially as they could not be bred on the islands yet.

Notes she made in Andarora included information of a similar kind, although this time focussing on how people had adapted and utilized European materials for their own purposes:

‘Adaptations of new materials Andarora’

(1) Plane iron hafted like stone adze head

(2) Wire twisted round neck like cane necklet

(3) Beads put between shells or teeth instead of seed or cassowary shafts

(4) Bits of broken plate etc pierced + worn as pendants in same way as shell

(5) Tins instead of bamboos for holding lime

(6) Bits of blanket gathered on top like a [yuturre] + worn as such + as barkcloths

(7) spokes of any old umbrella sharpened to make prickers instead of bone ones

(PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 11)

In a paper read to the Oxford Studies Association in 1944, titled ‘What is Anthropology and why study it?’ Blackwood asserted that one of the key things anthropologists were interested in was the arts and industries of mankind ‘from the earliest times to the age of mass production’. She explained the different contexts in which studying material culture could be useful. Firstly, it could ‘be made to throw much light on the contacts, and sometimes the movements, of groups who have no written history, especially where archaeology fails us, although such evidence must be used with caution’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21). However, it could also be used to try and encourage a ‘primitive people to make some adjustment in their lives which has become inevitable or may be to their advantage’. For example, a tool could be introduced from another group, which was only a little more complicated that the local tools, in the hope that it would be adopted more willingly than European tools. Material culture studies could thus aid communities in transition under colonial rule. Here, Blackwood is outlining a practical, administrative application for studying material culture, which is interesting because she is generally silent on the ethics of colonialism. She lectured at the Oxford University Summer School of Colonial Administration from the late 1930s onwards (see 1939 entry above), but it is difficult to gauge her opinions with regard to anthropology’s role as an administrative tool.

In this particular lecture, she went on to mention that studying material culture was useful while working in the field, as a way of getting people talking about what they were doing and why. She added that working on material culture could shed light on how things were made and used in the past, and here she used as an example her own work amongst the Kukukuku which could illuminated ‘the Stone Age’. Finally, she stated that work on objects more generally linked in with research work into primitive art.

In the same lecture, Blackwood clarified her use of the term ‘primitive’, explaining that it should not be taken to mean ‘simple’ or ‘inferior’ or ‘early’ or ‘immature’. ‘Actually, as used by the anthropologist, ‘primitive’ is merely a convenient blanket term to include all forms of culture other than those of the great European and Oriental civilizations and their offshoots.’ She went on to explain that the cultures that were bracketed together as ‘primitive’ are not all ‘on the same level’ (BB box 21). She concluded by stating that,

‘The aim of the anthropologist should be to see the culture of the people he is studying in the round, as a living thing, although through limitations of time, training, ability and inclination, he must needs choose aspects to work upon in greater detail than others.’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21)

By the mid-1940s, when this talk was given, material culture had definitely become a focus for Blackwood, although it is hard to say whether this was ‘through limitations of time, training, ability and inclination’, or due to other constraints. Her career at the Pitt Rivers Museum was shaped by her genuine interest in material culture, which infused her teaching and research work, however it is more difficult to say when this interest took shape and why. Her early training in anatomy and the archaeological fieldwork she had undertaken regularly since her days as a Diploma student must have provided her with expert skills for handling, analyzing and recording objects. Such work was the mainstay of her career in the Human Anatomy Department, where she catalogued hundreds of human crania. Her later anthropological field trips, especially those in Melanesia, gave her the opportunity to study in close detail how things were made and used, and she had collected and documented thousands of objects by the time she returned to Oxford from New Guinea in 1938. This close work with objects continued as she set about systematizing and creating the card catalogues at the Pitt Rivers Museum during the Second World War, work that continued right up until her death.

Although Blackwood’s career was centred on the study of objects and museum collections, she does not seem to have shared Balfour’s single-minded passion for ethnographic things. Her interests were more wide-ranging, as her field research shows: she worked in North America in the 1920s as a physical anthropologist; her research in the northern Solomon Islands centred on sexual practices, marriage, child-birth and children; and during her later fieldwork in New Guinea she seems to have been frustrated by her restrictions as a collector and longed to launch into more in-depth social anthropology. At the same time as wanting to explore a broader social anthropology, she was upset by the fact that she was no longer able to work in the Anatomy Department and retained her interests in biological analysis, for example, when studying the Arawe skulls.

Her reliance on the Balfour’s support during the second half of the 1930s, following Thomson’s death and the changes taking place in the Anatomy Department, left her little choice but to focus on ethnographic collecting and material culture while in New Guinea in the late 1930s. When she arrived back in Oxford, Balfour’s absence and then his death left her with no real mentor within the University Museum, meanwhile the War put an end to any hopes of returning to the field in the near future. She always considered herself lucky to have had a University position to come back to at this stage (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 34, letter to Herbert Pinney, 25 November 1955), but as it was she never returned to the field for intensive work. She and Penniman went on to preside over the Pitt Rivers for the next twenty years, and she was still working there in the 1970s. The fact that she found herself working, teaching and studying in a Museum environment during the post-war years was partly a natural extension of her early training as an anatomist and anthropologist, and partly the consequence of outside forces that she was in no position to argue with. She was a firm believer in the value of studying objects, and she argued vociferously against people like Radcliffe-Brown who underestimated and denigrated their importance, but I think she would have relished the opportunity to return to the field after the War and balance her interest in material things with a more in-depth study of cultures ‘in the round’ (PRM ms collections Blackwood papers box 21, quoted above).

Note: This research note was written whilst Frances Larson was working on the ESRC-funded Relational Museum project between 2002-6

Blackwood, Dudley-Buxton and Otmoor

2012-10-05T08:00:22+00:00

Beatrice Blackwood was an early Diploma of Anthropology student at the Pitt Rivers Museum and became a key member of staff at the museum in the late 1930s, she continued working at the museum until shortly before her death. She is most closely associated, in 2012, with her pioneering fieldwork in the Pacific (as discussed by Gosden and Knowles 2001) and for her pioneering work on museum documentation. This paper concerns her work before she joined the Pitt Rivers Museum when she worked next door in the the Department of Comparative Anatomy at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, when her interest was mainly in cranial studies. Please go to Frances Larson's full account of Beatrice Blackwood's life and work on this site for more information.

Leonard Dudley Buxton was a close friend of Blackwood. He had also been a Diploma of Anthropology student in Oxford and he too specialised in physical anthropology. As the following paper makes clear his early death, just before the second world war, stopped a promising University career.

The following paper was first published in the History of Anthropology Newsletter, 35: 1 July 2008. The editor, Henrika Kuklick, kindly gave permission for it to be published on the 'Other Within' website, and it is re-published here. Please note that it is possible that this web version varies very minutely from the HAN hard-copy version.

This paper makes it clear that an interest in physical anthropology continued within Oxford anthropology beyond George Rolleston, Henry Nottidge Moseley and Arthur Thomson. Blackwood continued her interest in human remains, particularly crania, for much of her career (certainly, until the late 1930s). Indeed her work on crania with Arthur Thomson led directly to her starting work at the Pitt Rivers Museum in the late 1930s.

Measuring the Natives: Beatrice Blackwood and Leonard Dudley Buxton's work in Oxfordshire

Alison Petch, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

I have been engaged for some years on research projects examining the history of the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) at the University of Oxford and its collections.[1] Recently, I have been examining the English collections held at this ethnographic museum in close detail, as part of the UK Economic and Social Research Council-funded project, “The Other Within.” [2] Although the findings reported in this paper have turned out to be only tangentially related to my main research subject, they provide insight into one form of anthropological fieldwork at the University of Oxford in the UK in the 1920s and 1930s. This work was related to philosophical and scientific debates widespread at that time, not only in academia but also in politics: all over Europe, scholars, politicians and members of the general public were increasingly interested in nationalism, defining “native populations” and historical antecedents.

The protagonists

The first hero of our tale is Beatrice Mary Blackwood (1889-1975). She was an undergraduate at Somerville College, Oxford between 1908 and 1912, before Oxford conferred degrees on women, studying English Literature and Language. She returned to Oxford in 1916 to study for the Diploma in Anthropology at the PRM, which she earned with distinction in 1918. In her coursework, she had studied a diverse range of anthropological subjects, [3] but she must have been most interested in physical anthropology, choosing to undertake further study with Arthur Thomson (1858-1935), the Dr Lee's Professor of Human Anatomy. He worked in the Oxford University Museum (of Natural History) adjacent to the PRM.

By 1920, Blackwood was Departmental Demonstrator, teaching physical anthropology to students as well as researching and cataloguing the anatomy collections. In 1928, she was promoted to University Demonstrator. Thomson had a very high opinion of her work in Human Anatomy. In support of her nomination for the post of University Demonstrator, he noted that she was skilled in microscope technique, had an intimate knowledge of the details of physical anthropology (particularly psychological methods used to investigate racial groups), had helped to collect material for the department’s collections (including photographs illustrating racial types, modes of life and geographical environments), and was an experienced fieldworker. (Oxford University Archives, file FA/9/2/90, 15 November 1927) Blackwood spent much time cataloguing and arranging a collection of over 2,000 skulls, as the Departmental Annual Report for 1928 recorded. (Oxford University Gazette, 12 June 1929, p.688)

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Blackwood also undertook gruelling fieldwork expeditions to North America, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. (Knowles 2000:252-266, Gosden and Knowles 2001:139-141) Most of her fieldwork was devoted to ethnography, and social and cultural matters. In 1936, she transferred to the PRM as University Demonstrator (later Lecturer in Ethnology), and worked on its ethnographic and archaeological collections until her death in 1975, some 16 years after formal retirement.[4] By the end of her life she was known primarily for her Pacific ethnographic fieldwork, collections and publications, and her work on the PRM's collections and documentation (Petch, 2003, Percival 1976:114), rather than for her cranial studies. In one of her obituaries, she was described as “a person of great integrity and friendliness. . . [She] wore her eighty-six years, her deep and wide knowledge and her many honours so lightly and with such modesty that perhaps we were inclined to take her for granted and only now realize what a rare person we have lost in her.” (Percival 1976:113-4)

The other hero of this story is Leonard Halford Dudley Buxton (1889-1939). He had also obtained a distinction in the Diploma in Anthropology at Oxford, six years earlier than Blackwood, in 1912. He was appointed Demonstrator in Physical Anthropology in 1913. He met Blackwood when he taught her while she studied for the Diploma in Anthropology. Buxton was appointed Lecturer in Physical Anthropology in 1922 and University Reader in 1927, the first Reader in Physical Anthropology at Oxford. (Blackwood 1939: 204) His work was assessed by one of his professional descendants:

Buxton undertook some craniometrics and was, for example, involved in examining archaeological material from Crete and Mesopotamia. But he never became a slave to the approach like so many of his contemporaries. He was much more interested in general ethnology and recording the patterns of human variety around the world. . . . A particularly insightful piece of work [Arthur Thomson and Buxton] undertook was to examine the global distribution of variation in the nasal index. This showed a high correlation with the variability in the geographical distribution of atmospheric relative humidity and was perhaps the first occasion when anthropometrics were examined in a functional way. (Harrison 2007:125)

In her obituary for Buxton, Blackwood remarked:

[H]is interests were wide and his knowledge extended to fields little suspected except by those who knew him well. He had, for example, a special liking for willows and knew the appearance and habits of every conceivable variety, together with the folklore connected with them. Another of his interests was ritual, and his book on University ceremonial is authoritative. He . . . was never at a loss for some odd bit of lore to enliven an argument or drive home a point. (Blackwood 1939:204)

Buxton fulfilled a wide variety of roles for the University in addition to his teaching, being at different times Senior Proctor, Curator of the University Parks and of the Schools and Bursar, Dean and Tutor at Exeter College. He served as a city councillor and was also on the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI). (Blackwood 1939: 204) Although Buxton was largely a physical anthropologist, he was interested in wider anthropological matters, ethnography and folklore studies. (Blackwood 1939: 204) He also wrote a guide to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Farnham (founded by Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, the founder of the museum in Oxford).

Blackwood and Buxton worked closely together in the Human Anatomy Department of the Oxford University Museum (of Natural History) from 1921 until she moved to the PRM in 1936. Together, they ran the Diploma students' practical classes and human anatomy lectures. They chose not only to work together on several special projects but also to publish together. She called him “Bones.” (PRM manuscript collections, Blackwood papers, Box 4, letter dated August 1935) No personal correspondence between them survives, but a flavor of his astringent character is conveyed in a letter from Blackwood to Skinner, in which she comments on Buxton's cutting tongue. (Mills 2007: 83) However, she also praised his “capacity for getting on with different kinds of people.” (Blackwood 1939:204)

A letter in the PRM manuscript collections reports that Arthur Thomson had believed “that his young team of Buxton, Miss Blackwood and Penniman [5] were going to make revolutionary discoveries in evolutionary history.” (Blackwood papers, Box General Correspondence M-S, Letter from J.M. Edmonds of the Oxford University Museum to K.P. Oakley at the British Museum 25 September 1967) This promise was not fulfilled, since Buxton died prematurely and Blackwood's interests changed.

The methodology and work

Buxton announced at the 10 June 1920 meeting of the Oxford University Anthropological Society (OUAS) that he was undertaking to collect the “folklore etc. among the people of the Cotswolds.” (OUAS meeting book I, PRM manuscript collections)[6] One feature of his project was physical measurement of the Oxfordshire population, past and present. Buxton and Blackwood explained, “Although the ancient inhabitants of Britain from prehistoric times onwards have received considerable attention at the hands of anthropologists, the problem of the physical type of their modern descendants has been to a large extent neglected.” They would “attempt to determine whether the Oxfordshire countryfolk of today are more akin with their medieval or to their Saxon and Romano-British predecessors, or whether they in fact represent an amalgamation of these somewhat diverse physical types.” (Buxton et al 1939: 1, 5)

Buxton described how their work began:

I started on a study of the modern population by chance. I was invited to lecture in a village to the Y.M.C.A. I lectured on the shape of people's heads, and measured them at the end as a kind of free side-show. Miss Blackwood soon joined me, and concentrated on Women's Institutes. The modern Oxfordshire people were all examined in villages, often the remoter ones. In addition to taking purely physical observations we enquired as to the birth-place of the subject and of his parents. Although in many cases the information must be considered not entirely reliable, the figures give a good idea of the movements of the people at a period just after the Great War, when the modern motor-bus system had hardly been developed. We have altogether measurements on just under 500 people. (Buxton and Blackwood, 1934:43)

The 1920 Annual Report of the Oxford University Museum (of Natural History) related that Buxton and his associates--“Miss B. Blackwood, Miss Mond, and Miss Russell”--enjoyed “the hearty co-operation of the local clergy and also the assistance rendered by the Oxford branch of the Y.M.C.A. under the auspices of which many of the lectures have been given.” (p. 20)

In a later publication their methodology was again described:

Of the original observations on which it is based, those relating to males were made by [Buxton], and most of those relating to females by [Blackwood], ... The data were collected in Oxfordshire during the years 1922 and 1923, either in village halls or at Women's Institutes. Our regular procedure was to give an informal talk on the history of the district we happened to be visiting and to follow this with a description of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Romano-British skulls. As the archaeological remains are well known to and keenly appreciated by the people, in whose folklore they play an important part, members of the audience usually responded with enthusiasm when invited to be measured for comparison with their forbears. (Buxton et al 1939:1)

Blackwood had certainly begun her anthropometric work on women in Oxfordshire villages by 1922-3. (Oxford University Gazette 13 June 1923, p.668) At some point between 1920 and 1939, Blackwood undertook an anthropometric study of female students at Oxford. Her data were not published and were apparently lost, but they were referred to in a 1939 article, which described the survey participants as “a stringently selected population” and stated that “[m]ost of the female Villagers and all of the University women were measured by a single observer [Blackwood] and within two years of each other.” (Buxton et al 1939:7) She must have carried out this work at some point between 1920 and 1925.

The anthropometric measurements of villagers were not extensive, and the subjects were not fully compliant. Because they could not be persuaded ”to remove their boots, statures could not be recorded, and we finally decided to confine our observations to measurements of the head, which were all made by contact.” (Buxton et al 1939:2) Taking head measurements may have seemed quite intrusive to subjects:

Head length (L) was taken from the glabella to the most distant part of the occiput, the female "bun" [hair-style] being raised or lowered to facilitate the measurement. Head breadth (B) was first taken over the hair and then, when the maximum diameter had been ascertained, partings were made at the appropriate spots and the callipers applied ... The minimal frontal diameter (B1) was found by palpating the external angular processes of the frontal bone and then moving the forefingers along the temporal crests ... [other measurements are then described] (Buxton et al 1939:2)

Blackwood may have been rather more industrious than Dudley Buxton; measurements were taken of 310 females, and of only 71 males. (Buxton et al 1939:2)

Blackwood and Buxton supplemented their anthropometric data with archival research, tracing specific families using the parish registers at Stonesfield, and finding “that there were certain families which had been in the parish for at least three hundred and fifty years, and probably much longer.” (Blackwood and Buxton 1934:41) Their field methodology now seems a little suspect, since they used the ruse of giving lectures in small villages to gain opportunities to obtain physical measurements. They apparently did not give their subjects the possibility of fully informed consent. Furthermore, they judged that they could take measurements only once in each village; they must have felt that villagers might smell a rat if asked to participate in the free side-show of measurement twice. They commented:

The work stopped because, although the population was not exhausted, villages in which we had once been heard were afterwards closed preserves. We measured everybody who was prepared to be measured, but in our final count we rejected all who were stated to be under twenty years of age and also those with any known Irish, Scotch, Welsh, Channel Island or foreign ancestry. There were no Manx ancestors. In a number of cases we actually made pedigrees, though this was often impossible. Everyone we examined was domiciled in the immediate neighbourhood of Oxford and employed in a village or in the city itself. A few sibs or parents and children are included in our series, but most of the subjects were unrelated. (Buxton et al 1939:1)

Buxton carried out similar work, at around the same time, in Malta and Gozo, with fieldwork in December 1920 and January 1921. In that study, he worked with three women, Miss Moss, Miss Russell and Mrs. Jenkinson. The women examined “about a hundred men and women at Gozo,” conducting most of the measurements on crania on women. Russell investigated the long bones and “about half the children.” Buxton himself carried out all the remaining measurements of living subjects and studied all the skeletal material. Evidently, Buxton had no problems working with women. Although Blackwood did not contribute to the Maltese fieldwork, she was well acquainted with its results, having helped prepare its findings for publication and checked proofs in Buxton's absence. (Buxton 1922:165)

The work in Malta and Gozo concentrated on skeletal material from four different sources and different time periods, as well as measurement of the living. As regards the latter data, Buxton commented that, “as far as possible . . . typical Maltese were taken.” The researchers sampled schoolchildren, and males and females from both Malta and Gozo and both rural and urban populations. They obviously went to some lengths to try and get a representative sample, reporting, “The individuals measured include among the men representatives of all social classes; among the women the lower social grades are chiefly represented.” Some efforts were made to exclude people with foreign heritage: “all those who were either born of Maltese parents abroad, or although born in Malta are not of pure Maltese parentage, have been rejected.” (Buxton 1922: 174-5) The same methodology was followed when sampling from populations closer to home, in Oxfordshire.

Buxton and Blackwood also worked on skeletal material in the Oxford University Museum collections. Evidently, Blackwood was the first to examine Oxfordshire bones:

With the help of the diploma students, excavations were carried out on a site at Abingdon, during Trinity Term, by courtesy of the proprietor, A. E. Preston, Esq., J.P., F.S.A. During the Long Vacation, through the good offices of the same gentleman, Miss Blackwood was afforded an opportunity of acquiring a quantity of skeletal material from the site of Abingdon Abbey, in the course of excavations carried out by a Joint Committee of local archaeologists and the Society of Antiquaries. (Oxford University Gazette 13 June 1923, p.668)

The 1932-3 Annual Report for the Oxford University Museum reported that Buxton carried out a study of the prehistoric peoples of the Oxford district in that year. (Oxford University Gazette, 8 December 1933 p. 206) On 16 February 1933, Dudley Buxton gave a lecture to the OUAS on “Oxfordshire folk,” “illustrated with lantern slides and exhibits of crania.” (PRM manuscript collections, OUAS meeting book I) The lecture was quite popular; 45 members attended.

Blackwood and Buxton used their own donations as well as skeletal collections from Oxfordshire amassed by other researchers and held by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. They explained that skeletons were ”the best evidence we can have [only] if they are exactly dated”; they could be measured “very accurately in the laboratory” and used “to study in great detail one important part of the culture they represent, i.e. burial customs.” (Buxton and Blackwood 1934:34-5) Their results were compared to measurements taken from living Oxonians, which were “sufficient to show that the modern Oxfordshire folk differ entirely from the medieval skulls from Abingdon.” (Blackwood and Buxton 1934:37)

The findings

In 1934, Buxton and Blackwood published an article in Folklore that described their work in Oxfordshire. There is no record of why they decided to publish some eleven years after the majority of their fieldwork had been completed. Their choice of journal influenced their article’s content; rather unsuccessfully, they attempted to link folklore, anthropometric measurement and speculation about racial origins. Their decision to publish in Folklore may have been made because of the considerable interest in folklore in Oxford at this time. It has already been reported that Buxton had given a lecture titled “Oxfordshire Folk” to the OUAS on 16 February 1933. At the next meeting (9 November 1933), there was another talk of local relevance; Elsie Corbett presented “Folklife Survivals in an Oxfordshire village” to an audience of 50 members, “including members of the affiliated Oxford Folk Lore Society.” Henry Balfour [7] also spoke to the society on 26 April 1934 on “Notes on some British folklore material in the Pitt Rivers Museum,” and a Miss Violet Mason talked about “Oxfordshire folklore.” On 20 February 1936, F.G. Parsons described 'The Chiltern Crosses.” On 2 November 1939, Ellen Ettlinger delivered “Documents of British superstition in Oxford.” Folklore was obviously in vogue among anthropologists in Oxford during the 1930s. (PRM manuscript collections, OUAS Meeting book I) Both Blackwood and Buxton were members of the Folk-lore Society.

Buxton and Blackwood introduced their article by saying:

The study of the Oxfordshire folk covers a very broad field. . . . In this paper we propose to deal only with a very narrow aspect, and to limit ourselves to the relation of the population to folklore, and especially to study the composition of the people, and to consider how far there has been a definite continuity of the history and people of the region. (Blackwood and Buxton 1934:29)

To the reader, they were more successful in achieving the second of these aims than the first. Their paper began with a long description of the geological and geographical characteristics of the area. Then followed a short historical description of the various groups of people who settled in Oxfordshire, particularly the Romano-British. There was little discussion of folklore in the paper. After much consideration of the history of the Oxfordshire population, the essay concluded:

What has all this got to do with folklore? It seems to us a great deal. We have plenty of evidence of a very mixed population . . . But local culture is a very different thing . . . The continual movement of people has probably always been backed by a static population. These old families are regarded by the people with a mixture of contempt and admiration, not unmixed with awe . . . What appears to be happening is that the old folks have their local tales, which certainly in North-west Oxfordshire they treat very seriously . . . Further, the people who stay provide a continuous static base. In about three generations, the new-comers are part of the old regime. Thus the physical type tends to homogeneity and our measurements of Oxfordshire show a remarkably homogeneous type, in spite of diversity of origin. So to a certain extent does the folklore. . . . But after a while . . .the old superstitions, once associated with primitive agricultural instruments, lie dormant on field trials with a brand new Fordson tractor. But after a while . . . the Oxfordshire mud converts the new plough, and the ploughman regards it as he did his old one, and his forbear his reaping hook. . . . There is a great task before the folklorist who would try to disentangle the various elements in this complicated palimpsest. (Blackwood and Buxton 1934:45-6)

Blackwood and Buxton’s attempt to connect physical measurements of the current Oxfordshire populations with the historic population was one thing; their allied attempt to link that with folklore seems not to have been assayed in any detail. They did record some interesting ethnographic findings: 51 out of 123 people “who claimed to be truly Oxfordshire folk . . . were born in the same village in which both their father and mother before them had been born”; contrary to expectation, the villagers were not “patrilocal, but actually there is little difference between the number of cases where the subject was born in his mother's or father's village, and the subject and both parents were born in different villages.” (Blackwood and Buxton 1934:43-44)

The final outcome of the research was an article published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1939, “Measurement of Oxfordshire villagers.” Pages 4-8 of the article give detailed findings. To twenty-first century eyes, some of the conclusions seem quaintly of their period. Plotting the home villages of the participants, the researchers found, unsurprisingly, that they were dealing with “an essentially South Midland rural population,” and their sample represented “the ordinary peasant folk of the region.” Most people's “family homes” were originally either in Wiltshire, Berkshire or Buckinghamshire (all neighbouring English counties) or in Oxfordshire itself. (Buxton et al 1939:2) They concluded, “[T]he Villagers are closer to the medieval people in head length and to the Saxons and Romano-Britons in head breadth.” (Buxton et al 1939:6) They did not discuss the significance of this finding.

An unhappy ending

In 1939, the partnership was brought to an abrupt ending by the sudden and unexpected death of Buxton on 5 March, only a few weeks after the curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Henry Balfour, had died. Just 49 years old, Buxton succumbed to pneumonia after only four days’ illness. The rush to publish was not linked to his ill-health because his health had previously been good. A note in the JRAI article records that Buxton died while it was “undergoing its final revision for press.” (Buxton et al 1939:1)

Blackwood had now lost two of her long-term mentors in the space of a few weeks, only a year after her return to Oxford from her final period of prolonged fieldwork and four years after the death of her closest counsellor, Arthur Thomson. The city must have seemed a very different place to her after 1939. In the short term, her mentors’ deaths dramatically altered and increased her daily workload, as she struggled to cover both Balfour and Buxton's teaching and museum commitments.

Blackwood's interest in English ethnography and archaeology continued after Buxton's death. She joined the Oxfordshire and District Folklore Society, established in 1948 to “collect, record and study the folklore of Oxfordshire, and the neighbouring counties, and to further the study of the international folklore of these districts.” (PRM Blackwood manuscript collections, uncatalogued box, Folder “The Folklore Society 1948-9”) However, her commitment to the group only lasted until the following year, when she resigned because of other obligations. She was also a member of the RAI's 'British Ethnography Committee', contributing to the discussion about setting up a Museum of English Life and Traditions (which never eventuated). She continued to take an interest in local archaeology until her death in 1975.

Forgotten research?

Between 1920 and 1939, Blackwood and Buxton tried to link folklore, local history studies and anthropometric research into a seamless whole, which would illuminate the local Oxfordshire population past and present. The links they perceived between local ethnography and physical anthropology were in part affected by the academic arrangements in Oxford and the historic way in which anthropology in Oxford had developed.

The Pitt Rivers Museum (to which Blackwood transferred in 1936) had been closely associated with the human anatomy department since its foundation was in 1884. Its ethnological displays were initially put under the control of Henry Nottidge Moseley, Linacre Professor of Anatomy. This association was strengthened when Arthur Thomson and Henry Balfour formed two parts of the “Trinity” or “triumvirate” who taught anthropology to generations of students from the 1890s until the middle 1930s. [8] For most of this period all Diploma students in anthropology were taught physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. (Gosden and Larson 2007:93) Physical anthropology was itself was divided into Zoology—“the zoological position of man,” Palaeontology—“the antiquity of man,” and Ethnology—“the comparative study of man's physical characteristics.” (Gosden and Larson 2007:125)

Physical form was not an important feature of the Pitt Rivers Museum's displays. In the original exhibit of his collection at Bethnal Green Museum in London, Pitt Rivers had allowed only limited space for a very small number of skulls; he wrote that these were “examples of the typical skulls of some of the principal race.” [sic] (Lane Fox, 1874:1) However, he acknowledged the importance of studying and teaching physical anthropology. (Bodleian Library, Acland papers, Pitt Rivers to Henry Acland, 10 May 1882, MS Acland d. 92, fols. 79-90) In Oxford, material culture and ethnographic and archaeological artefacts dominated the displays, though some human remains (such as shrunken heads, and trophy heads) have always been shown (and been very popular with visitors).

Blackwood and Buxton's fascination with the people living around the University, and their belief that examining and measuring them would shed light on distant and ancient times, came out of general interest within human anatomy at Oxford with “the affinities of groups of people with one another, with their classification into so-called races and with establishing historical connections between past and present groups.” The only way to study past groups was to examine their skeletal remains, so a great deal of attention was paid to bones, particularly to skulls; data indicated “considerable variation within and between human groups. Comparisons were made by meticulous measurement and sophisticated statistical treatment.” (Harrison 2007:125)

Blackwood and Buxton's work was not the last investigation of local villagers by Oxford physical anthropologists, however. From 1965, members of the Department of Biological Anthropology (as it was then called) undertook to research the total human biology of a group of villages in the Otmoor area. This site was chosen because of the excellence of local church records from the sixteenth century on, allowing the historical demography of the region and changing environmental and social conditions to be factored into the analysis. Researchers took blood samples and tested for “various genetic polymorphisms”; stature, bodyweight, IQ and personality traits were also measured. (Harrison 2007:128-130) They did not draw on Buxton and Blackwood’s studies. This would have been difficult, since Buxton and Blackwood did not publish the names of the villages in which they worked, though they evidently did in Stonesfield, Otmoor and Wychwood.

Today, Buxton is a forgotten figure in general anthropological circles and Blackwood is best remembered for her pioneering work on cataloguing ethnographic museum collections and for her fieldwork and collections from the Pacific. However, in a letter to an Elsie Corbett of Spelsbury near Charlbury, Oxfordshire on 16 February 1931, Blackwood described her anthropometric research as her “immortal work.” (PRM manuscript collections, Blackwood papers, uncatalogued) Evidently, she was committed to human anatomy and physical anthropology during the 1920s and 1930s, though her attention turned towards museum ethnography and material culture as time went on. Indeed, it is clear that even after she moved to the Pitt Rivers Museum in the mid-1930s, she still felt that her craniological research was important. This paper sheds light on this obscure part of her career, and an almost forgotten collaborative partnership.

The fieldwork Blackwood and Buxton undertook in Oxfordshire (and at the University itself) did not lead to any major discoveries, but it did show an early inclination to study “the other within,” from which the current research project to which I am connected can be said to descend. Our project does not study crania, but examines other physical evidence, the manuscripts and publications written about the collections by museum staff and researchers, as well as artefacts themselves as the raw data by which to measure the natives.

Notes
[1] The Pitt Rivers Museum is part of the University of Oxford and holds a large collection of ethnographic and world archaeological artifacts. It was founded in 1884 when a collection was donated to the University by Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (1829-1900). The museum has been described as one of the great ethnographic collections in the world (Gosden and Larson 2007:xvii).
[2] For further information about this research project see http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness.html. For more information about the findings of the project see http://england.prm.ox.ac.uk/. It follows an early project, funded from the same source, called the 'Relational Museum' project with Professor Chris Gosden and Frances Larson. For further information about this project's findings see http://history.prm.ox.ac.uk/.
[3] She studied under Henry Balfour, Arthur Thomson, Dudley Buxton and Robert Ranulph Marett. The subjects included Balfour's series on aesthetic arts, industrial arts and prehistory; Marett’s seminars on social origins, world-wide ethnology and prehistoric Europe; Thomson’s lessons on human anatomy; and Dudley-Buxton’s lectures on geographic conditions and racial types. Some of her lecture notes survive (PRM manuscript collections, Blackwood papers, box 1 and box 1A), Further information about the diploma in anthropology course and its teachers in Rivière, 2007, passim.
[4] I am extremely grateful to Geoffrey Harrison, Fran Larson, Chantal Knowles and Peter Rivière for providing information about Blackwood and Buxton's careers.
[5] Thomas Kenneth Penniman (1895-1977), was born in the United States and moved to Oxford after the First World War. He studied for the Diploma in Anthropology, and later worked at the Department of Human Anatomy and the Institute of Social Anthropology before being appointed the Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1939, succeeding Henry Balfour. He was another very close lifelong friend and colleague of Beatrice Blackwood.
[6] The Cotswolds is the name of a range of hills in southern England. It is not a clearly delineated area but can be taken to include parts of west and north Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire as well as smaller parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. It is well known for its wolds (gentle hillsides), villages with stone-built houses and is often thought of as “typically English.” The Oxford University Anthropology Society was launched in 1909 “to promote an interest in all its branches by lectures, the reading of papers, discussions and the exhibition of specimens.” (Parkin 2007:139, quoting information in the Pitt Rivers Museum manuscript collections)
[7] Henry Balfour (1863-1939), the first Curator (Director) of the Museum.
[8] The third was Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943), Reader in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. Blackwood wrote a memorial paper, “R.R.M. as Anthropologist: a paper read to the Lankester Society at Exeter College on June 2nd, 1943.” (Pitt Rivers Museum manuscript collections Blackwood papers Box 21) In it, she remembers referring to Thomson, Balfour and Marett as “the Triumvirate, or, alternatively, the Trinity.”

Manuscript sources
Bodleian Library, Acland papers, Pitt Rivers to Henry Acland, 10 May 1882, MS Acland d. 92, fols. 79-90
University of Oxford Archives, file FA/9/2/90.
Pitt Rivers Museum manuscript collections, Blackwood papers, Box General Correspondence, Box 1 and 1a, Box 4, Box 21, General Correspondence M-S, uncatalogued papers.
Pitt Rivers Museum manuscript collections, Oxford University Anthropology Society meeting book I.

Published sources
Blackwood, Beatrice. 1939. “Leonard Halford Dudley Buxton, D.Sc., F.S.A.” Folklore 50: 204-205
Buxton, L.H. Dudley. 1922. “The Ethnology of Malta and Gozo.’”, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI) 52: 164-211
Buxton, L.H. Dudley and Beatrice Blackwood. 1934. “An introduction to Oxfordshire Folklore.” Folklore, 45: 29-46.
Buxton, L.H. Dudley, J.C. Trevor and Beatrice Blackwood. 1939. “Measurements of Oxfordshire Villagers.” JRAI 69: 1-10
Gosden, Chris and Chantal Knowles. 2001. Collecting Colonialism: Material culture and colonial change. Oxford/New York: Berg.
Gosden, Chris and Frances Larson. 2007. Knowing Things: Exploring the collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum 1884-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Harrison, Geoffrey. 2007. “Oxford and Biological Anthropology.” Pp. 119-136 in Peter Riviére, op. cit.
Knowles, Chantal. 2001. “Reverse Trajectories: Beatrice Blackwood as Collector and Anthropologist.” Pp.251-272 in Michael O'Hanlon and Robert Louis Welsh, eds., Hunting the Gatherers. Oxford/New York: Berghan.
Mills, David. 2007. “A major disaster to anthropology? Oxford and Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown.” Pp. 83-97 136 in Riviére, op. cit
Lane Fox, A. 1874. Catalogue of the Anthropological Collection lent by Colonel Lane Fox for exhibition ... London: George W. Eyre and William Spottiswoode.
University of Oxford Gazette, 13 June 1923, 12 June 1929, 8 December 1933
Oxford University Museum (of Natural History). Annual Report 1920.
Parkin, David. 2007. “Oxford anthropology as an extra-curricular activity: OUAS and JASO.” Pp. 137-154 in Riviére, op. cit.
Percival, A.C. 1976. “Obituary: Miss B.M. Blackwood.” Folklore 87: 113-4.
Petch, Alison. 2003. “Documentation in the Pitt Rivers Museum.” Journal of Museum Ethnography 15:109-114
Rivière, Peter, ed. 2007. ed., A History of Oxford Anthropology. Oxford/New York: Berghan.

Other sources not quoted in the text
Jones, S. 1994. “Beatrice Blackwood remembered,” Pp. 4-6 in The Friends of the PRM 10th anniversary newsletter .
K.M. 1939. “Obituary: Dr L.H. Dudley Buxton.” The Geographical Journal 94: 95-6
Penniman, T.K. 1976a. “Obituary: Beatrice Mary Blackwood.” Oceania 46: 234-7.
Penniman, T.K. 1976b. “Beatrice Mary Blackwood 1889-1975.” American Anthropologist 78: 321-2.
Register for Diploma in Anthropology, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford (Blackwood and Buxton)

[Note the image of Leonard Dudley Buxton is taken from http://www.myheritage.com/photo-2000209_49370281_49370281/leonard-halford-dudley-buxton