Assorted letters, notes and newspaper articles of John Bland Wood, Benjamin Carrington, Edward W. Hobson and Thomas Whitelegge

The fonds consist of documents belonging to the life and work of John Bland Wood (1813-1890), Benjamin Carrington (1827-1893), Edward W. Hobson (1782-1830), Thomas Whitelegge (1850-1927).

John Bland Wood (1813-1890) was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire in 3 December 1813. He died in Manchester in 11 February 1890. He did his Master Degree as a Bryologist in Broughton, Lancashire. John Bland Wood also employed Richard Buxton as a collector and was member of the Botanical Society of London. He was also involved in the work of the herbarium of the University of Manchester. He worked about plants in the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) and some of his letters can be found there and in the correspondence of W. Wilson at the British Museum (Natural History).

Benjamin Carrington (1827-1893) was born in Lincoln in 18 January. He died in Brighton, East Sussex in 18 January 1893. He did his Master Degree in Edinburgh in 1851. He became a Fellow of Linnean Society in 1861, as well as a Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh. Carrington practiced medicine at Radcliffe, Lincoln, Yeadon and Southport. He was also a Medical Officer of Health at Eccles for 18 years and an Authority on hepatics, as well as the president of the Manchester Cryptogamic Society. He worked at the Herbarium and his portrait still remains at the University of Manchester, his Letters are at Kew and BM (NH).

Edward W. Hobson (1782-1830) was born in Manchester in 1782 and died in Bowdon, Cheshire in 17 September 1830. He worked as a grocer's assistant and soon became a Bryologist, as well as an entomologist and geologist. He was a friend of G. Galey and J. Horsefield and he also was a correspondent of R. K. Greville and W. J. Hooker. Hobson became the first president of the Banksian Society in Manchester in 1829. He also became the president of the Lancashire Botanists and developed the Musci Britannici (exsiccatae) from 1818 until 1822. Herbarium was purchased by the Manchester Botanical Society.

Thomas Whitelegge (1850-1927) was born in Stockport, Cheshire, in 17 May/ August 1850 and died in Sydney, New South Wales in 4 August 1927. He was a workingman naturalist and became secretary and president of the Aston Linnean Botanical Society. Whitelegge had herb. Corresponded with C. Darwin. He went to Australia in 1883 and became a staff member of the Australian Museum in Sydney, until 1908. He was an authority on mosses and ferns and wrote Census Muscorum Australiensium, together with W. W. Watts.

Arranged in series by subject matter. Rehoused in archival storage in February 2007. Series are numbered as followed:

• BAL/1
• BAL/2

Unrestricted access to material, but visits to be prearranged with staff of the Botany Department.

Title supplied in 2007 by D. Wagner on basis of contents of the fonds.

Biographical history taken from:

Desmond, R.: Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists. Including Plant Collectors and Botanical Artists, London 1977

Copyright is retained by The Manchester Museum.