IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 378 LDGSL/82
Held at: Geological Society of London
Title: WINCH, Nathaniel John (1768-1838)
Date(s): [1808]-1820
Level of description: Series
Extent: 3 files
Name of creator(s): WINCH | Nathaniel John | 1768-1838 | botanist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Nathaniel John Winch was born on 20 December 1768 at Hampton, Middlesex. He was apprenticed to Robert Lisle, hostman, in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1780. Winch developed an interest in the study of botany, particularly the geographical distribution of species around the Northumberland, Cumberland and Durham areas. Indeed his devotion to the subject was considered to be behind the failure of his merchant businesses in 1808 when he was declared bankrupt.
He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1803, became an honorary member of the Geological Society in 1808, and was an active member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle. He died on 5 May 1838, leaving his manuscripts, library and herbarium to the Linnean Society. His valuable mineralogical collection was left to the Geological Society.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Nathaniel John Winch, [1808]-1820, comprising:
Drawing of a plan of the dykes in Montagu Main Colliery, [1808]; Sketches of sections showing dykes in Whitley Quarry and Walbottle Dean, [c 1814]; Letter to Thomas Webster describing a fossil plant found near Whitby, 1820.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The original arrangement of the LDGSL series was not hierarchical. Material by the same creator/author was not collected together, instead each file or distinct item was given a different reference (not always sequential). In order to make them easier to find, where possible the papers relating to Winch are placed together, however there will be other material relating to him elsewhere in the collection.
Conditions governing access:
Access is by appointment only, daily readership fee is applicable unless you are a member of the Society. Please contact the Archivist for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.
Finding aids:
Detailed, online catalogue will be available shortly.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
Nathaniel John Winch's fossil collection, which was gifted to the Society, is now held by the British Geological Survey, Keyworth; Winch's herbarium is now held by the Hancock Museum, Newcastle.
1413 items of correspondence, held by the Linnean Society, London; 31 letters to Sir William Hooker, 1830-1838, held by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Library and Archives; Letters to Sir Walter Trevelyan, 1822-1835, held by Newcastle upon Tyne University: Special Collections (ref: WCT); 17 letters to members of the Sowerby family, 1801-1829, held by the Natural History Museum, London (ref: L Sowerby Coll A ).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Source: obituary, 'Proceedings of the Geological Society of London', vol 3, no.61 (1839) p67; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Description by Caroline Lam
Date(s) of descriptions: August 2012