Records of York and District Field Naturalists' Society

Includes minute books 1874-1983, including St Thomas' Field Naturalists Society minutes, 1883-1885; receipts and payments account book 1934-1984; field studies of Rawcliffe Ings, Clifton and Moor Plantation, Wiggington Road, York, 1976-78; report books 1894-1996; printed material 1982-1993; glass slides and negatives relating to natural history, including trees, plants, fungi, birds, mammals, insects, molluscs, and portraits of men of science, c.1900-1980, mostly c.1900-c.1939.

The York and District Field Naturalists Society was founded in the house of Mr William Prest in Holgate Road, York on 2 March 1874. Prest took the post of first honorary secretary, which he held until his death in April 1884, and meetings were invariably in his house until that date. Meetings in the winter either heard papers given by members or guests, or enjoyed displays of specimens; these meetings were supported by regular field excursions in the summer months. This initial pattern, with some amendments, formed the basis of the activities of the Society over the next century. It is not, perhaps, surprising that the early membership included employees of the optical instrument manufacturers Thomas Cooke and Sons.
The Society began to build up a library of standard works and a museum of specimens. In 1894 the President, George Dennis, provided the recorders with specific record books in which annual reports of their activities and observations were to be entered. In the 1930s the Society appears to have embarked on an ambitious study scheme at New Earswick, but was unable to sustain the activity for more than a season. In the 1970s similar schemes at Clifton Ings were also started; again, however, this appears to have been a story of ambition unfulfilled.
As might be expected, the Society became an affiliate of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union early on, certainly by March 1883, and it remained so at least until the (temporary) dissolution of the Society in 1954. The Society also amalgamated with an earlier naturalists’ society in York. This organisation, which had several names, has left only the slightest traces in the record. Hargrove notes that it was founded as the York Naturalists’ Club in 1849. The Club met in the Merchants Hall to discuss papers on natural history, form a library of standard works, and collect and exhibit specimens. Lord Londesbrough was the first president. By 1883 this had evolved into St Thomas’s Field Naturalists’ Society, and the latter and YDFNS opened discussions on a possible amalgamation in that year. The account of the (somewhat protracted) negotiations appears in the minutes and also in the only known record of St Thomas’s club. The result of this process was the amalgamation of the two societies, the transfer of the assets of the St Thomas club to YDFNS, and, in the first year after amalgamation, joint secretaries provided by the membership of each society and a new president from St Thomas’s membership.
Further constitutional re-organisation occurred in 1908, when YDFNS resolved to dissolve itself as an independent society and re-form as a section of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The YDFNS briefly dissolved for lack of interest in 1954, but the dissolution seems to have galvanised a section of the remaining members, who held a meeting on 24 August 1954 with a view to reviving the Society – this they did in the following weeks, and the Society enjoyed a flourishing existence until it finally closed in the 1990s.
The YDFNS disbanded in 2002 and its remaining assets were transferred to its affiliate, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was transferred to the Borthwick Institute by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in 2009. A further addition was made to the archive by the Society in 2015.

The York and District Field Naturalists Society was founded in the house of Mr William Prest in Holgate Road, York on 2 March 1874. Prest took the post of first honorary secretary, which he held until his death in April 1884, and meetings were invariably in his house until that date. Meetings in the winter either heard papers given by members or guests, or enjoyed displays of specimens; these meetings were supported by regular field excursions in the summer months. This initial pattern, with some amendments, formed the basis of the activities of the Society over the next century. It is not, perhaps, surprising that the early membership included employees of the optical instrument manufacturers Thomas Cooke and Sons.
The Society began to build up a library of standard works and a museum of specimens. In 1894 the President, George Dennis, provided the recorders with specific record books in which annual reports of their activities and observations were to be entered. In the 1930s the Society appears to have embarked on an ambitious study scheme at New Earswick, but was unable to sustain the activity for more than a season. In the 1970s similar schemes at Clifton Ings were also started; again, however, this appears to have been a story of ambition unfulfilled.
As might be expected, the Society became an affiliate of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union early on, certainly by March 1883, and it remained so at least until the (temporary) dissolution of the Society in 1954. The Society also amalgamated with an earlier naturalists’ society in York. This organisation, which had several names, has left only the slightest traces in the record. Hargrove notes that it was founded as the York Naturalists’ Club in 1849. The Club met in the Merchants Hall to discuss papers on natural history, form a library of standard works, and collect and exhibit specimens. Lord Londesbrough was the first president. By 1883 this had evolved into St Thomas’s Field Naturalists’ Society, and the latter and YDFNS opened discussions on a possible amalgamation in that year. The account of the (somewhat protracted) negotiations appears in the minutes and also in the only known record of St Thomas’s club. The result of this process was the amalgamation of the two societies, the transfer of the assets of the St Thomas club to YDFNS, and, in the first year after amalgamation, joint secretaries provided by the membership of each society and a new president from St Thomas’s membership.
Further constitutional re-organisation occurred in 1908, when YDFNS resolved to dissolve itself as an independent society and re-form as a section of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The YDFNS briefly dissolved for lack of interest in 1954, but the dissolution seems to have galvanised a section of the remaining members, who held a meeting on 24 August 1954 with a view to reviving the Society – this they did in the following weeks, and the Society enjoyed a flourishing existence until it finally closed in the 1990s.
The YDFNS disbanded in 2002 and its remaining assets were transferred to its affiliate, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute.

Includes glass slides and negatives. Access to audiovisual material may be restricted due to technical requirements, please contact the Borthwick Institute for more information.

Created 02.11.15

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

The records of the York and District Field Naturalists' Society were transferred to the custody of its affiliate, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS), in 2002. The archive (not including the negatives and glass slides) was then deposited at the West Yorkshire Archive Service in Leeds until 2009 when it was transferred to the Borthwick Institute by the YPS.

Further accruals are not expected.

Published

GB 193