WCP507

[1]

CROYDON NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

2 Friends Rd.

Croydon

7 February 1913

A.R. Wallace Esq., O.M.

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your kind reply¹ to my letter. Since writing I have delved further into our records & I venture to send you a few notes on your connection with this Society.

The first mention of your name appears to be in the Proceedings² for 1878 where it is recorded that at our 9th. Annual Soiree held on 6 Nov. 1878 you exhibited butterflies from the Malay Archipelago, including Kallima from Sumatra. You were elected a member in Feb. 1879, and took part in discussions at our Monthly meetings in March & November of that year.

In January 1880 you seconded a motion by the Rev. E. M. Geldart³ which by omitting the masculine pronoun from the Rule allowing a member to introduce a visitor at the meetings would have paved the way for the admission of lady visitors. The motion was very fully discussed but on being put to the meeting was lost by a great majority (about 80 votes to 15)! You therefore gave notice that at the following meeting you would move the following addition to the Rules:- "That the reader of a paper be allowed the privilege of having lady visitors introduced on the occasion when his paper is read, on announcing his wish at the previous meeting".

In February you supported this motion in a speech of considerable length and Dr Carpenter⁴ seconded it. After a lengthy debate [2] this seemingly harmless motion was put to the meeting and negatived by a huge majority (only 9 votes in favour)!!

The leaven, however, has worked. We not only have lady visitors but have had lady members for many years past; and I am glad to say that at our annual meeting last month a lady was for the first time elected for the Council — and this without any fuss or feeling; though an innovation it was felt to be a natural & fitting one & there was no opposition.

To return to your own work, in March 1880 you read a paper on the "Peculiar Species of the Brit. Fauna & Flora" and of this a 3 page report appears in the Transactions.⁵ In Nov. 1880 you took part in a discussion on "Colourization in Animals"⁶ and your views on that question occupy nearly 2 pages of the Proceedings.

At the Soiree in Nov. 1880 you exhibited a collection of objects of Malay manufacture, and I suppose it must have been very soon after that you left Croydon as I find no later mention of your name.

Please do not trouble to reply to this. I am proud to belong to a Society with which you were associated in such an interesting way, & I thought you might be pleased to have "old times" recalled, especially in view of the good fruit borne by your pioneer work in the cause of women.

Believe me | Yours very truly | Frank M. Roberts⁷ | Hon. Sec.

[3]

[in ARW’s hand] F. M. Roberts