Catalogue of NHMs Wallace Family Archive.pdf - The Alfred Russel

403 Pages·2005·4.37 MB·English

The Natural History Museum
General Library Manuscripts Section

Alfred Russel Wallace
Family Papers

c1790-2000
The Natural History Museum
General Library Manuscripts Section

Alfred Russel Wallace Family Papers

c1790-2000

WP

Contents

Wallace papers collection (fonds) level information……….p.1
WP1…………………………………………………………p.4
WP2………………………………………………………p.182
WP3………………………………………………………p.203
WP4………………………………………………………p.208
WP5………………………………………………………p.215
WP6………………………………………………………p.217
WP7………………………………………………………p.261
WP8………………………………………………………p.299
WP9………………………………………………………p.305
WP10……………………………………………………..p.309
WP11……………………………………………………..p.313
WP12……………………………………………………..p.316
WP13……………………………………………………..p.326
WP14……………………………………………………..p.331
WP15……………………………………………………..p.339
WP16……………………………………………………..p.348
WP17……………………………………………………..p.378
WP18……………………………………………………..p.394

Exported/printed March 2005
The Natural History Museum General Library Manuscripts Section

Alfred Russel Wallace Family Papers

c1790 – 2000

WP

The collection includes personal and related family papers, correspondence, accounts of
expenditure, publisher's proofs, reprints, photographs, certificates, pamphlets, press-cuttings,
lecture notes and obituaries. The correspondence includes letters from Richard Spruce, and
letters written by Wallace to his family from Canada, c. 1886-1887, to his son William c.
1889-1911, to his daughter Violet, to Herbert Walter Bates, and to the Clarion newspaper.
Siblings with whom he corresponded or who mentioned in these papers include older brothers
William G [George] (died c. 1845), John (c.1819-1895) older sisters Eliza (died 1832) and
Frances (Fanny, Mrs Thomas Sims; died 1893) and younger brother Herbert Edward (c.1829-
1851).

WP1 Correspondence c. 1838-1913
WP2 Biographical Material and Portraits c. 1850?-1916
WP2/6 Papers re James Marchant's "Letters and Memoirs . . ." [1881] c. 1913-1916
WP3 Diaries, Notebooks and Sketchbooks c. 1846-1893 and undated
WP4 Houses and architecture, papers re c. 1871-1912
WP5 Land Nationalisation Society, papers re: c. 1881-1901
WP6 Papers re Publications: Books by Alfred Russel Wallace c. 1869?-1913
WP7 Papers re Publications: Short works by Alfred Russel Wallace with some related
papers c. 1853-1913
WP8 Spruce, Richard, papers; and annotated print and papers re edition of "Notes of a
Botanist" c. 1866?-1908
WP9 Lectures, Papers re: c. 1863?-1909
WP10 Physiography examinations, papers re: c. 1870-1897
WP11 Darwin Centenary, papers re: c.1908-1909
WP12 Short works by authors other than Wallace c. 1790-1914
WP13 Hampden , J, papers re (Flat Earth controversy) c. 1871-1886
WP14 Press Cuttings c. 1885-1910
WP15 Mitten, William, Papers c. 1853-1907 [1988]
WP16 Wallace, William Greenell, and Wallace, Violet Isabel, papers c. 1913-1951
WP17 Miscellaneous Photographs and other images c. 1850?-1913? and undated
WP18 Miscellanea c. 1810? -2000? and undated

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) traveller and naturalist, independently of but at the same
time as, Charles Darwin, identified Natural Selection as the key to evolutionary change.

Alfred Russel Wallace was born on January 8th, 1823, near the town of Usk in
Monmouthshire, to Thomas Vere Wallace (died May 1843) and Mary Anne Wallace (née
Greenell; died 15 November 1868). The family moved to Hertford, Essex, in about 1826.
Their father, originally a gentleman of independent means and a non-practicing solicitor, lost
money in unsuccessful financial speculation and took up a series of low-paid jobs, and the
family moved several times for economic reasons.
1
When Mrs Greenell, Mary Wallace's stepmother, died in 1826, the family moved to her home-
town, Hertford, in Essex. Here ARW met another child, George Silk, who became a lifelong
friend and correspondent. The Wallaces lived first in a house in Andrews Street, next at an
address in Old Cross, a short distance away.

Other members of the family included Aunt Wilson, Mary Anne Wallace's sister, wife of
Thomas Wilson, lawyer, who in 1826 lived in Dulwich. Thomas Wilson was controlling
trustee of a Greenell family legacy which paid for, among other things, John Wallace's board,
and held money in trust for the other Wallace children. When Thomas Wilson was declared
bankrupt in 1834, the legacy became involved and the Wallace's income was drastically
reduced.

ARW was educated at Hertford Grammar School and then Hertford School where in his final
year he was a pupil-teacher. In 1837, aged 14, he went to London where he stayed with his
brother John (an apprentice builder) and became an apprentice surveyor as pupil to his brother
William. His parents moved to Rawdon Cottage, Hoddesdon, in the same year.

ARW began collecting insect specimens found during his surveying trips, and became
increasingly interested in natural history. In 1848 he went with fellow enthusiast H W Bates
to the Amazon on a collecting expedition, hoping to make a living as a collector of natural
history specimens. His brother Herbert (usually known by his second name, Edward)
subsequently joined him, but died of Yellow Fever in 1851. ARW returned to England in
1851, losing his journals and collection of specimens when the ship in which he was sailing
caught fire and sank.

Still hoping to make a living as a collector and naturalist, ARW sailed for Malaysia in 1854
with a young assistant, Charles Allen. He spent eight years in the Malay Archipelago,
collecting birds and insects and studying and writing on the local flora, fauna and people. It
was here that he began writing scientific papers, formed his ideas on the natural selection and
geographical distribution of species, and began corresponding with Charles Darwin.

At a meeting of the Linnean Society on July 1st, 1858, Wallace's paper "On the Tendency of
Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type", written in early 1858 while he was at
Ternate in the Moluccas, was presented jointly with an unpublished essay of 1844 on the
subject by Darwin.

ARW returned to England in 1862, and subsequently published widely on a variety of
scientific and other subjects, and gave public lectures. He travelled to America and Canada
for a lecture tour in 1886-1887. He was member of a number of scientific societies, was made
a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1892 and was awarded the Order of Merit by the King in
1908.

ARW married Annie Mitten, the daughter of pharmacist and bryologist William Mitten, in
about 1866. They had three children, Herbert Spencer (1867-1874), William Greenell (born
1871) and Violet (born 1869).

ARW died at home in Broadstone, Dorset, on 8 November, 1913.

References:
Raby, Peter (London 2002) Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life.
2
Charles H Smith (Website: The Alfred Russel Wallace Page
www.wku.edu/~smithch/home.htm).
Shermer, Michael (Oxford 2002) In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel
Wallace.

A collection of Wallace's papers was purchased for £160,500 by The Natural History Museum
after being exclusively offered to it at the beginning of 2001 by the owners, Mr A John
Wallace and Mr Richard R Wallace (Alfred Russel Wallace's grandsons) and Mrs A John
Wallace (Audrey Wallace). Funding was provided by Heritage Lottery Fund, Natural History
Museum Enhancement Grant Fund, Clothworkers' Foundation, Goldsmiths' Company's
Charities, Steel Charitable Trust, Idlewild Trust, Mrs Janet Dwek, Mr Anthony Hoare, Rayne
Foundation, The Lumpkin Foundation, Mrs Susan Lockhart, Mrs Tania Chislett and Mr James
Colyer-Fergusson.

The papers were taken into the custody of the NHM on 30 January 2002.

It is intended that the library staff using UNICORN software will catalogue publications. The
MSS, (including annotated printed matter etc as described above) which are part of the
General Library MSS collection, were catalogued in the Archives.

Some of the books and MSS in the collection relate to specimens held in the Museum's
collections. The acquisition also augments the Museum's existing Wallace holdings; for
instance the new material reveals Wallace's post-publication thought and reaction to the work
of others, notably Darwin.
3
WP1

Correspondence
1835-1913

Correspondence between Alfred Russel Wallace and his friends, mother and siblings, wife Annie
Wallace née Mitten, in-laws, children, colleagues, publishers and readers, with some early
correspondence on family affairs between his mother and other members of the family.

WP1/1 1889-1911 Alfred Russel Wallace Letters to his son William Greenell Wallace
WP1/2 1889-1905 Alfred Russel Wallace Letters to his daughter Violet Isabel Wallace
WP1/3 1835-1893 Wallace Family: Correspondence of family members and others
WP1/4 1879-1903 Alfred Russel Wallace Letters to Annie Mitten/Wallace
WP1/5 1886-1887 Alfred Russel Wallace Letters from the USA and Canada
WP1/6 1899-1910 Letters to Alfred Russel Wallace from Fred Birch
WP1/7 1889-1910 Letters to Alfred Russel Wallace from Sydney Skertchly
WP1/8 1870-1913 Alfred Russel Wallace Miscellaneous Correspondence 1870-1913 A-Z

WP1/1 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 1889-1911

Approximately 180 letters, some with enclosures, and 2 postcards,
from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace.
Enclosures include letters, sketch maps and plans, and a press-
cutting. There is also 1 sheet of lined paper folded and written on
two sides in an unknown hand with notes on the contents of some
of the letters (see WP1/1/152). Letters from Alfred Russel Wallace
are typically addressed ''My dear Willie'' or ''My dear Will'' and
typically signed ''your affectionate Papa''.
Letters are generally in date order though some added later are out
of sequence including 52 letters previously loose or arranged by
subject, almost certainly by or for James Marchant c. 1915; these
records have been put in date order at the end of the sequence, see
WP1/1/153-201.
Notes: The letters were in a small, non-archival box when
delivered to the Museum. Only the label, which may have some
historical value, has been kept. See old ref WP1/1/139. The letters
have been placed in acid-free folders as a bundle. Many letters
were numbered by Mrs Richard Wallace some time in the 1990s,
roughly in date order. These numbers have been noted here. To
assist locating and listing, I have numbered ALL the pieces in
pencil IN BRACKETS, on the top right hand front corner where
possible. The old and new numbers do not necessarily coincide.
There is one blank record (WP1/1/88) P J Lucas, December 2002
and July 2003.

WP1/1/1 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 9 June 1889
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Godalming 9 Jun 1889 re: New house at Parkstone, Dorset;
marking examination papers; packing fossils and birds eggs;
spiritualism.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
4
WP1
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Sharpe, Mr
Campbell, John Douglas Sutherland, 1845-1914, 9th Duke of
Argyll
Place: England (Surrey)
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 1

WP1/1/2 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 19 Oct 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace
from Parkstone, Dorset, 19 Oct 1890 re house alterations ; Mr
Sharpe's illness; William's college studies.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Sharpe, Mr
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 2

WP1/1/3 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 26 Oct 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace
from Parkstone, Dorset, 26 Oct 1890, re house-alterations; death
of Mr Barnes's grandson; Mr Sharpe's illness; William's visit to Mr
(Livinton?).
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born c 1871
Sharpe, Mr
Livinton?, Mr
Barnes, Mr
Place: Dorset England

WP1/1/4 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 9 Nov 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace
from Parkstone, Dorset, 9 Nov 1890 re: house alterations; books
ordered for William; Mr Sharpe's illness; William's studies.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Sharpe, Mr
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 3

WP1/1/5 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 18 Nov 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 18 Nov 1890 re: House alterations;
American railways; inventions.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 4

WP1/1/6 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 7 Dec 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 7 Dec 1890, re: illness of William's
mother Annie Wallace; William's studies; house alterations;
5
WP1
Clarke's patent syphon gas stove; new electric railway under the
Thames.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Annie
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 5

WP1/1/7 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 14 Dec 1890
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 14 Dec 1890 re: house alterations;
proposed visit to Alfred Russel Wallace with sister Violet;
Maudesley; ''Life of Nasmyth''.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Violet, born 1869
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 6

WP1/1/8 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 18 Jan 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 18 Jan 1891 re: an enclosed letter (not
present); house alterations; William's sister Violet; health of Mr
Sharpe; weather.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 7

WP1/1/9 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 25 Jan 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace his son William Wallace, from
Parkstone, Dorset, 25 Jan 1891 re an enclosure (not present);
house alterations; the Buxton family; suggestion William join
Institute of Electrical Engineers; Mr Cockerell collecting shells;
William's sister Violet's postal address.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Violet, born 1869
Buxton, Mr
Cockerell, Mr
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 8

WP1/1/10 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 22 Feb 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 22 Feb 1891 re: house alterations; health
of Mr Sharpe.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Sharpe, Mr
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 9
6
WP1
WP1/1/11 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 8 Mar 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 8 Mar 1891 re: house alterations; rules for
viewing reptiles (where not stated- London Zoo?) refers to
enclosed card (not present).
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand:10

WP1/1/12 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 12 May 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 12 May 1891 re ordering a book on conic
section for William.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand:11

WP1/1/13 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 15 June 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 15 Jun 1891 re Alfred Russel Wallace to
lecture on Land Nationalisation; William's sister Violet; Mr and
Mrs Cockerell going to Jamaica; death and funeral of Mrs
(Allinson?); visit to Meldola's (possibly Finsbury Technical
College?) various visitors to the house.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Cockerell, Mr
Right?, Mr
Paston, Mr
Allinson?, Mrs
Nichol, Colonel
Cooper, Mrs
Meldola, Raphael, 1849-1915
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand:12

WP1/1/14 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 23 June 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 23 Jun 1891 re dental treatment for
William, with sketch map of location of dental surgery, refers to
enclosed card (not present); upcoming (College?) holidays.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Hodge, Mr, dentist
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 13

WP1/1/15 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 13 Oct 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 13 Oct 1891 re: Alfred Russel Wallace
7
WP1
visit to Corfe with Ma, Grandma and Grandpa (Alfred Russel
Wallace's wife and parents); suicide of Mrs Monk; reading of
''Ivanhoe''.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Thomas Vere
Wallace, Mary Anne, born c 1789 died 1868
Monk, Mrs
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 14

WP1/1/16 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 8 Nov 1891
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Corfe View, Parkstone, Dorset, 8 Nov 1891 re visits to
London and Sevenoaks (Kent); meeting of Psychical Research
Society.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Violet, born 1869
Place: Dorset England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand: 15

WP1/1/17 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 18 Nov 1892
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 18 Nov 1892 re William starting work at
Woolwich, advising him on type and cost of lodgings, behaviour
at work and need to thank Davis, Meldola and Professor
Thompson for help; orchids from Natal received from Canon
Usherwood; work on index to Australia book (presumably
Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel. Australasia,
Vol.1, Australia and New Zealand. New Issue, London 1893);
Prof Perry's book on spinning tops; Ma's (William's mother Annie
Wallace) visit to Malvern; Mr Ponton's pin-hole photography in
France; Mrs Crump; Aunt Fanny.
Name: Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Wallace, William Greenell, born 1871
Wallace, Annie, née Mitten, fl 1890
Davis, ?, fl 1858
Meldola, Raphael, 1849-1915
Thompson, Darcy, fl 1892
Usherwood, ?, fl 1893
Perry, ?, fl 1903
Ponton, Mungo, fl 1892
Crump, Mrs ? fl 1889
Sims, Frances, née Wallace, died 1893
Place: Australia Dorset Malvern Worcestershire England
Notes: Numbered in pencil in Mrs Richard Wallace's hand:16

WP1/1/18 Letters to William Greenell Wallace 14 Dec 1892
Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to his son William Wallace,
from Parkstone, Dorset, 14 Dec 1892 re William's friendsdhip
with (Portheim?) at Siemens; sister Violet; William's mother's
8
WP1