Botanical walks, can Linnaeus help trace ones ancestors?

Cardamine amara  (left hand plant) collected in June 1838 and Mildenhall now in Birmingham University Botanical Collection

A few years ago, I was the recipient of a totally unexpected email from Gigi Crompton [1] a researcher at the Cambridge Botanical Garden who had read an article that I had posted onto the internet about my great great grandfather, the Revd. Harry Baber. 

Did I know that he had been involved in botanical trips while at Cambridge University?

Harry Baber (1817-1892) in 1840.

The Botanical Garden has been engaged in a project for many years that is trying to measure the changes brought about to the flora of Cambridgeshire due to climate change, and mans modifications to the landscapes. They have been going back through the botanical collections and records held since the 1530's in order to try to determine how many plants had been lost, by comparing the lists with current survey details.

Harry Baber was recorded by Charles Cardale Babington (1808 – 1895), the author of "Flora of Cambridgeshire" (1860)making many trips together out into the Cambridgeshire countryside botanising.

Charles Cardale Babington (1808-1895)

Babington was nine years older than Harry Baber, and had been studying botany under Professor John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861), who was professor of Botany at Cambridge. Henslow had also mentored Charles Darwin, and it is this work that he is best remembered for these days.

It had been Henslow who had put forward Darwin's name as being a suitable companion and botanist for Captain Fitzroy who was about to depart on HMS Beagle.[2]

Records exist both on the notes written on the back of the pressed plant specimens preserved in the Cambridge Botanical Garden and also in sources like the diaries of Charles Babington and notes made by Professor Henslow, which record that Harry Baber had been on some of the trips that Henslow and Babington had made, and these describe the locations and the finds they had made.

The Flora survey listed University Database included details of the following excursions.

Chenopodium rubrum Stretham, H. Baber (Hb CC Babington), Oct.1838, CGE.

Lamium purpureum  Grantchester, H Baber, 6.1837, CGE.

Lythrum hyssopifolia L. Stretham, H Baber, 9.1837, E.

Myosotis ramosissima Pit beyond Observatory, as M.collina flore albo., [var mittenii Baber added in pencil], H Baber, 6.1837, CGE.

Mentha x gentilis var cardiaca (Baber), Marshy field by Finch¹s Walk, Cambridge,.

Rorippa amph. Stretham, H Baber, 7.1838, CGE; near Ely, H Baber, n.d. (but Babington label), CGE;

Trifolium subterraneum Gamlingay, Prof Henslow, H Baber (in pencil), HB Churchill Babington, 1836, CGE.

Sparganium emersum Stretham-fen, as S.simplex, H Baber, 8.1837, CGE.

Veronica agrestis Stretham, H Baber, 30.9.1837, CGE.

Veronica polita Stretham, H Baber, 30.1837, CGE.

Lycopodium clavatum Stretham, H Baber, 9.1837, E.

Minuartia Went with Baber to Madingley...We noticed...Arenaria tenuifolia just come up, in the gravel pit near to the Observatory. 29.5.1837 Bab.Mem.62.

Muscari neglectum Hinton, H Baber, 5,1859, BM.

Oenanthe

Oenan pimpinelloides Wilburton, H Baber, Hb JA Power, 7.1838, 'I call this pseudanifolia, Poll. CE Salmon', & pimpinelloides crossed out. RTE.

Potamogeton compressus Stretham fen, H Baber, 6.1839, det. Dandy & Taylor, UCNW.

Potamogeton gramineus Stretham, H Baber, 1837, det. Dandy & Taylor, CLE.

Pulsatilla vulgaris Gogmagog Hills, H. Baber, May 1837, BM. Cambridgeshire, H Baber, Hb JA Power, 5.1838, RTE.

Gogmagog Hills, H Baber, 1839. ex Hb. F Tansom [?spelling.], YRK:6.

Gogmagog Hills, H Baber, Hb JA Power, 1839, RTE.

Gogmagog Hills, Mr H. Baber in Hb Mrs Atkins, 1839, BM.

Taraxacum palustre Ely, H. Baber, 1839, BM.

For a long time I have been waiting for an opportunity to see if I could repeat some of these trips. It would be important to choose the same time of year as the earlier trips otherwise many of the plants would be dormant and invisible.
Harry Baber had been educated at Westminster School, and matriculated at Michaelmas 1834. He was admitted to Trinity College Cambridge on the 13th of June 1834. He became a Scholar in 1835, and a Bachelor of Arts in 1839 and an MA in 1842.

Although he had gone to Cambridge University in order to take his degree so that he would be able to qualify to go on to take Holy Orders, he does not appear to initially have been intending to study botany. In this he was not alone as Charles Darwin, when he had gone up to Cambridge in 1828, it was only in his second year that he began to attend Professor Henslow's lectures.

These lectures did not form part of the curriculum for either student's degrees, and would have to be paid for separately. The core of the degree course in those days mainly revolved around mathematics largely based on Newton's Principia, or Newtonian Physics and moral philosophy.

Henslow's lectures soon became very successful drawing 60 to 70 people to each event. The attendees included not just students but many senior members of the university, including Adam Sedgwick, and William Whewell. [3]

Babington had attended the lectures for three years, paying for each year, but when he reappeared for the fourth year, Henslow relented and he was awarded a free course.

Carex obrubae, or False Fox-sedge collected at Stretham in June 1838

Professor Henslow was in the habit of holding an annual excursion for the students and other members of the audiences of his lectures which would go to Gamlingay Heath which is located about twenty miles west of Cambridge. Carriages were hired to transport the members of the botany club out to Gamlingay, for those members of the party who did not themselves ride. Wives and sisters of the members were also able to join the excursions, that had a strong social aspect to them.

They became a social highlight of the early summer when the lectures and exams were coming to an end.

Gamlingay Heath from the 1900 Ordnance Survey Map. In the 1830's the heath was more open, with few of the hedges shown, or indeed the brick works.

As the day drew to a close a meal was laid on in a nearby inn, and a band was hired to help the evening festivities along. Between sixteen and twenty people generally attended, at a cost of 12 shillings each. These trips which started in 1827 were so popular that they continued every year until 1852. Other trips were made taking advantage of the River Cam down towards Ely, which would have passed Little Thetford and Stretham, which was Harry Baber's family home.

John Stevens Henslow, (1796-1861)

From 1828 until 1837, Professor Henslow held "Friday Evenings" at his home in Cambridge at which many of the most highly regarded scientists of their day were frequently in attendance as well as his students.

The Modern track onto Gamlingay Heath. In the 1830's the Heath would have been much more open, and was probably given over to common grazing.

Trifolium subterraneum

As Gamlingay is only about 14 miles away from my home and with restrictions on travel slowly starting to lift, I decided to make the journey on Monday 25th May 2020.

I was in search of..

"Trifolium subterraneum Gamlingay, Prof Henslow, H Baber (in pencil), HB Churchill Babington, 1836, CGE"

This is where my difficulties began, because clover in its many forms is very common in England, but this one is different from all of the others in only one key respect only. According to Wikipedia, it is alone amongst all the other clovers in that it seeds under ground.

"Trifolium subterraneum", the subterranean clover which, is a species of Clover "native to northwestern Europe, from Ireland east to Belgium". The plant's name comes from its underground seed development geocarpy, a characteristic not possessed by other clovers. It can thrive in poor-quality soil where other clovers cannot survive, and is grown commercially for animal fodder. There are three distinct subspecies used in agriculture, each with its own ideal climate and soil type, allowing for wide distribution of the plant over varied environments.
 
Subterraneum is the generalist subspecies, and it can be grown in the widest range of environments,is grown in moist areas that are prone to flooding.T. subterraneum brachycalycinum is a more sensitive plant, requiring dry, cracked soil for its germination." 

Plants on Gamlingay Heath in May 2020

While very success as a pleasant walk in a remote part of Cambridgeshire, I am afraid that my skills as a botanist are strictly limited. Lacking the skills of a Babington or a Henslow, I have no idea if the clover I saw was the correct one.

In my defence,  Trifolium subterraneum has become very rare these days.  The reason for these is that wide scale advances in agricultural improvements during the 1840's and into the 20th Century have altered the soil pH. and fertility out of all recognition since 1839. The soil at Gamlingay is very sandy, but it is a cap only a few feet deep over lying clays. This is evidenced by the presence of 19th Century brick pits and the sites of former kilns on three of the four sides of the woods.

Improving farmers during the 18th Century like my four x great grandfather Josiah Rodwell had already worked out that by digging up the underlying clays, and mixing the clays with the sands they would produce a very great improvement to the soils fertility, and this increase in fertility wiped out many of the highly specialised plants that had formerly grown on this heath.

In 1837 Henslow decided to move his permanent place of residence to Hitcham in Suffolk, only travelling back to the University at Cambridge for the Spring Term, when he gave his lectures.

It is not known when Harry Baber first began his interest in botany, however it probably arose from his living in an apartment attached to the British Library where his father the Rev. Henry Hervey Baber was Keeper of the Printed Books at the British Library until 1837.  Harry's father also had responsibility for the natural history collection.

At that time there was no Natural History Museum, and a natural history collection had formed part of the British Museum's collection since 1758 when the Rev. Andrew Planta who had come from Switzerland was appointed Assistant Librarian of Natural History.

Planta's son Joseph, also worked on natural history as an Assistant Librarian in the Department of Printed Books. In 1814 Joseph Planta accompanied Henry Hervey Baber on his trip to Munich where Baber purchased a major botanical collection from Baron Von Moll.

The Apartments in the entrance quadrangle to the British Library where Harry Baber lived with his father.  The museum and library entrance was just off to the right of this picture. 

Both the British Library and the British Museum were located in a single building that stood on the site of the existing British Museum, and Harry who was born in 1817, would have lived with his parents in a flat built in the courtyard to the front of the museum that came with the post of Keeper of the Printed Books.[4]  This would have allowed Harry access to one of the largest collections in Britain at that time.

The earliest collecting expedition in which Harry is known to have taken part in, that we are aware of took place in April 1837, when he found and example of Arabis turrita which is preserved in the Herbarium at the Perth Museum in Scotland.

"The Perth collection also includes an example of Grape-hyacinth Muscari neglectum which is recorded as having been collected in Cherry Hinton, in May 1837.

On "May 29. [1837, Babington] Went with Baber to Madingley.  Lamium Galeobdolon was just come into flower.  We noticed Cerastium arvense in flower, and Arenaria tenufolia just come up, in the gravel pit near to the Observatory.  Leontodon palustre was in flower in Madingley chalk pit."

The gravel pit at Madingley subsequently became abandoned and overgrown. It now forms the eastern most point in the grounds of the American War Cemetery at Madingley.

During June 1838, Harry appears to have been staying in his father's rectory at Stretham near Ely, where he was able to collect an example of Carex obrubae, or False Fox-sedge.  He then pressed the sample to dry it. Harry then arranged for the sample to be sent to his friend at the Royal Botanical Garden at Edinburgh, where it survives to this day. [5]

Stretham is located in the Fens directly to the north of Cambridge, on the main road towards Ely.  During the winter, the village was almost an island, as the surrounding area became flooded by winter runoff from the catchment of the Ouse.  Harry was witnessing one of the last summer's before the installation of a major new steam pumping engine at Stretham would draw down the waters, destroying the wetlands for every, and allowing most of the land to be turned over to arable land.

Cardamine Amara collected by Harry Baber, July 1838, Mildenhall.

Harry Baber's time at Cambridge began a year or more after Charles Darwin left.  It is largely due to modern interest in Charles Darwin that the records that allow me to follow Harry Baber's botanical interests have survived.

It is at this point that from the records of Charles Darwin, that a really intriguing set of connections begin to emerge, and these have deep roots into the Suffolk countryside.

Some of the most interesting records of Darwin's time at Cambridge come from the anecdotes recorded by my great x 4 uncle the Revd. John Medows Rodwell who was a student at Cambridge at the same time as Darwin. I will further explore these connections in a second blog post which hopefully will follow shortly.

After leaving University Harry was Ordained as a Deacon at Norwich Cathedral on the 26^th of July 1840.  On the following day, 27^th July 1840 Harry was appointed curate of Barham in Suffolk.  He had been nominated by the Revd. William Kirby Rector of the adjacent parish of Claydon.

Revd William Kirby by Spence

The selection of the Rev. William Kirby as a suitable mentor for Harry Baber as he took up his new role as Curate is an interesting one.  The Revd William Kirby was a very highly regarded lepidopterist.

Natural History was also a professional interest of Henry Hervey Baber, especially when they were attacking his precious religious texts, his primary interests, as the following letter in John Freeman’s book Life of Rev. William Kirby M.A. Rector of Barham, published in 1852 demonstrates. In this letter dated April 25th 1817, Dr Leach wrote to Rev. Kirby: -

“Mr Baber also Director of the library in the British Museum, sent me another species that had perforated a manuscript from Mount Sinai”

The insect was apparent a Dermestides [6] of a type that was hitherto unknown, and it had shot out of the bindings of an ancient text that had been collected from the famous library at St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai.

The Dr Leach who wrote the letter was William Elford Leach (1790-1836) Assistant Librarian of Natural History from 1813 to 1822, who worked under Henry Baber at the British Library. [6] 

The recipient William Kirby of the letter was a natural historian of great ability, who was a member of the Royal Society and the Linnaean Society.  From his rectory in Suffolk he corresponded with naturalists in Sweden and South America. It is not clear from the letter how well if at all he knew Henry Baber, but he was later to become closely related to Henry Baber, when Henry’s son Rev. Harry Baber married Sarah Rodwell. Kirby’s second wife was Charlotte Rodwell, Sarah’s aunt.

Henry’s daughter Anne Maria was to marry the Rev Philip Freeman the younger brother of the Revd. John Freeman, the author of Kirby’s life. This earlier link is probably how Henry’s children came to meet their respective wives from the Gipping Valley in Suffolk.

The close nature of the friendship, and that it was maintained over many years is suggested by the following codicil in William Kirby's will (from the Suffolk Record Office) as follows:

"to my dear friend Ann Maria Baber, daughter of the Revd H. H. Baber late of the British Museum Ten Pounds as a token of my regard" Jan 10th 1844 [7]

William Kirby and his wife Charlotte paid a social visit to Cambridge and Stretham in January 1841. This is recorded in Freeman's Life of Kirby.

“After spending a week at the latter place (Cambridge) and Stretham very pleasantly, we packed ourselves into the Ipswich Coach.”

Edward Stanley, (1779 – 1849) [8] Bishop of Norwich

That the Bishop of Norwich was involved in Harry Baber's early career as a curate is interesting.
Harry Baber's father Henry Hervey Baber occupied a living that was in the Diocese of Ely, and was located within sight of Ely, which was only about six miles from Stretham. However for reasons that are unclear, Harry was ordained by the Bishop of Norwich located much further away.

Botany may well have been the reason for Bishop Edward's interest in Harry Baber's career. The Bishop was a very keen botanist.  He became President of the Linnean Society in 1837, and remained so until his death in 1849.  He was also the original Patron of the Ipswich Museum and presided at its opening in 1847. 

The printed licence from Edward Stanley, (1779 – 1849) [8] Bishop of Norwich appointing Harry Baber to his first curacy is endorsed in handwriting: -

“You residing at Claydon about half a mile distant being allowed to reside out of the parish of Barham aforesaid on account of the Rector being resident in the parsonage house there.”

I am by no means an expert on either botany or on the history of natural philosophy as it was described at the time. If you are aware of other information on this subject, or know more about aspects of the above, I would very much like to hear from you.  My email is balmer.nicholas@gmail.com

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[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/17/gigi-crompton-obituary Mrs Crompton sadly died early in 2020.

[2] Janet Brown, Charles Darwin, Voyaging, pages 117-140.

[3]http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=BBNN825CC&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50

See also S.M. Walters & E.A. Stow, Darwin's Mentor, John Stevens Henslow 1796-1861.

[4] The apartments were all located in two wings of red brick buildings that lined either side of the courtyard in front of the museum. Before the existing library was built, these blocks of apartments were demolished. 

[5] See http://herbariaunited.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12933

[6]Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are approximately 500 to 700 species worldwide.

[7] Doctor Leach who was six years older than Henslow had recognised Henslow's abilities as a naturalist before Henslow went up to Cambridge. It is very possible that Leach would have shown Henslow the botanical collections inside the British Library.

[8] E-mail from Greg Finch 02/2001, original of Kirby’s will in Suffolk Record Office.

[9] Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich was also President of the Linnaean Society.