QUEEN VICTORIA WOULD BE AMUSED BY TOWNSVILLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY RARITY

 As a young girl Queen Victoria was an avid collector  of  seaweed  which  was  dried , pressed  and  placed in  an album. It is  highly likely that the young Queen  invited Albert  to come up  and see  her  pressed seaweed collection  , which  would  have impressed  the  red-blooded Teuton  no end  . 

 

 During  the Victorian era  seaweed  collecting  became  popular   with  women , enabling many to  escape the  domestic  bondage of  the  times  , enjoy strolls along the  foreshores  ,  some  engaging  in  scientific  research . While the book shown below  appears to have been written by a  woman , Shirley  Hibberd, the author was a man,James, who played a  large part  in  popularising  gardening for the masses  , collecting  seaweed , edited  early   magazines which dealt with the  subjects .  

Another collector of  seaweed  was novelist, poet and  journalist  Mary Ann  Evans  , sub editor of  The Westminster   Review ,  whose  pen name was  George Eliot . She not only pressed  seaweed  but  a  philosopher  to  her  bosom . Seaweed caused  Wordsworth  to wax lyrical ; seaweed inspired   artist and philosopher , William  Morris (1834-1896) , of the Arts and Crafts movement , and featured  on  wallpaper  and   china .

A prominent "seaweeder " , Margaret Gatty , a children's book author , married to a vicar , took up the hobby while convalescing  after childbirth  by  the seaside at Hastings in l848. Her  epic  study of the  subject , called  algology , British Seaweeds, was described and illustrated in 86 coloured plates. A species of Australian algae , Gattya pinella ,was  named  after  her .  

In the Special Collections  section  of  the  Eddie  Koiki  Mabo Library , James  Cook  University , Townsville , is the  above impressive 1884  album containing exquisite  full page  pressed  seaweed.   It  is  a presentation  copy with an inscription  that  reads :

 

The address ,"Simla "  in  Paignton, Devon , raises a possible link with  India , Simla  being  the  place  where the  British   went  to escape the hot Indian summers  during  the time of  the Raj .   A quick check  showed  that  Annie Slade,  born   1861,  had been  the daughter  of  a tea merchant , who on his death in  1917  left  an estate valued  at more than  9000 pound ;  Simla House  , at one time  occupied by  the  Bailey family , was  bombed by the Germans  during WWll. No readily available info could be found  about the recipients of  the  collection , the  Slatters.

 

Going on the  title of the album it  at first raised  the possibility  that it could  have been  so  named  by  a  scientist  who  came  into possession of  the collection  at  a later  date ,  or else  Annie  was deeply scientific in her approach to  seaweed  collecting  ,  not only naming   each specimen  but the place  from whence it  was  gathered  , Torquay one  source  .

 The  volume came  from  the   library  of  English marine zoologist   Sir Maurice Yonge  (1899-1986) , who led the  Great Barrier Reef  expedition of  1928-1929,  one of  the first  scientists to undertake  rigorous  exploration of  reef organisms  in  the field . The  collection was   bought by  Townsville's  Australian Institute of Marine Science , later  transferred  to the university library . Late in life , Sir Maurice  and  his  wife  visited  Townsville .


 Acquisition  of the invaluable  library  is  covered in  amusing  detail  in the recently published book , A Life Underwater , by  Doctor Charlie Veron , the Australian called the Godfather of Coral ,  one  of  Tim  Flannery's  heroes and likened  to  Charles  Darwin  by  Sir  David  Attenborough . 

More about  the interesting and  vital   contents  of  this  book , the  author  ,  the Great  Barrier  Reef , climate  change   and   Adani    upcoming .