To William Ewart Gladstone 14 May 1866
London, May 14, 1866. To the Rt. Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir,—
It having been stated that the Scientific men of the Metropolis are, as a body, entirely opposed to the removal of the Natural History Collections from their present situation in the British Museum, we, the undersigned Fellows of the Royal, Linnean, Geological, and Zoological Societies of London, beg leave to offer to you the following expression of our opinion upon the subject.1
We are of opinion that it is of fundamental importance to the progress of the Natural Sciences in this country, that the administration of the National Natural History Collections should be separated from that of the Library and Art Collections, and placed under one Officer, who should be immediately responsible to one of the Queen’s Ministers.2
We regard the exact locality of the National Museum of Natural History as a question of comparatively minor importance, provided that it be conveniently accessible and within the Metropolitan district.3
George Bentham, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
William B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.
W. S. Dallas, F.L.S.
Charles Darwin, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
F. Ducane Godman, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S.
Edward Hamilton, M.D., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
Joseph D. Hooker, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.
Thomas H. Huxley, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., F.L.S. F.G.S.
John Kirk, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S.
Lilford,4 F.L.S., F.Z.S.
Alfred Newton, M.A., F.L.S. F.Z.S.
W. Kitchen Parker, F.R.S., F.Z.S.
Andrew Ramsay, F.R.S., V.P.G.S.
Arthur Russell, M.P., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.
Osbert Salvin, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
G. Sclater-Booth, M.P., F.Z.S.
S. James A. Salter, M.B., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
W. H. Simpson, M.A., F.Z.S.
J. Emerson Tennent, F.R.S., F.Z.S.
Thomas Thomson, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S.
H. B. Tristram, M.A., F.L.S.
Walden,5 F.Z.S., F.L.S.
Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.
London, May 14th, 1866.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Fagan, Louis. 1880. The life of Sir Anthony Panizzi, K.C.B. 2 vols. London: Remington & Co.
Rupke, Nicolaas A. 1994. Richard Owen, Victorian naturalist. New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press.
Stearn, William T. 1981. The Natural History Museum at South Kensington: a history of the British Museum (Natural History), 1753–1980. London: Heinemann in association with the British Museum (Natural History).
Summary
Memorial to the Chancellor of the Exchequer from the fellows of the Royal, Linnean, Geological, and Zoological Societies of London, stating the importance of separating the administration of the national natural history collections of the British Museum from that of the library and art collections, and placing it in the hands of one officer, immediately responsible to one of the Queen’s ministers.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5090F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Ewart Gladstone
- Sent from
- London
- Source of text
- Gunther 1975, p. 238 (facsimile of printed copy of memorial)
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5090F,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5090F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14