Summary

This item is one of our 50 Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of James Cook University.

Liz Downes answers the question 'Why is this significant?'

The collection and preservation of seaweed specimens might seem an unusual pastime today but in Victorian times it became fashionable, particularly among women and particularly in Britain. Indeed, it has been popularly claimed that, as a young girl, even Queen Victoria indulged in this hobby – although this has never been substantiated.

Flower-collecting and flower-pressing had long been considered an acceptable artistic activity for women who had the leisure to spend time in their gardens or the surrounding countryside. But the collection of seaweeds offered opportunities for something rather more adventurous – with slippery rocks to be clambered over and lurking crabs, surging waves or incoming tides to be avoided. For some of these women there was an added appeal: the collection and display of specimens in leather-bound albums offered the chance to participate in the world of science from which by and large they were otherwise excluded.

Well-known British seaweed collectors of the time included Amelia Griffiths, who collected along the Devonshire coast, and Margaret Gatty who did most of her collecting around the Sussex town of Hastings. Both took a scientific approach to their work and gained recognition from the male-dominated scientific community.

But towards the end of the century a young woman, living close to where Amelia had made her collections in Torbay, was following in her footsteps. The 1884 album, British Marine Algae, came to the Library as part of the prestigious C. M. Yonge Collection. A brilliant English marine biologist, Sir Maurice Yonge had led the first scientific expedition to the Great Barrier Reef in 1928-29, widely recognised as having laid the foundations for much future coral reef research. Yonge was also a passionate bibliophile who frequented antiquarian bookshops, so perhaps he came across the album during his time at the at the Marine Biological Association's laboratory in Plymouth - not far from Torbay - early in his career?

There is a lovely simplicity in the album's presentation of thirty-five delicate specimens of what one poet of the time dubbed 'the flowers of the sea', while the remarkable colour and clarity of the specimens, collected from distant shores nearly 140 years ago, cannot fail to engage and delight today's viewers.

The album's inscription indicates that it was presented as a gift to much-loved friends of its young compiler, 23-year-old Annie Slade. But the fact that each specimen is identified by its contemporary scientific name and its place of collection, suggests an understanding and respect for basic scientific practice.

Given James Cook University's emergence as a leader in marine science teaching and research, it is appropriate to celebrate this rare example of 19th century female activity, in the same field, as one of the Library's special treasures.