Warwickshire Museum Service hold an impressive collection of natural history specimens collected in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological Society (WNHAS). Interestingly, the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry also has a small collection of WNHAS specimens, transferred to them long ago.
A puffer fish and two pangolins
In late November 2024, I paid a visit to the Herbert to better understand this transferred material. I saw a puffer fish, a little penguin, two pangolins, starfish, shells, horn of a narwhal, kiwi birds, a frilled lizard and more!
Some of this collection, in particular many of the shells, no longer had their associated labels which was a shame as this means we are unsure when it came in to the museum or who donated it to us. However, some did have this information which was very exciting! An example is a starfish which was donated by a Miss Mello.
Tracing back the donation
A look back at the Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological Society’s donation books at the Warwickshire County Record Office in Warwick allowed me to trace this donation back to 1914. The book also tells us that the starfish was collected by her late father, Reverend John Magens Mello.
This visit was very useful for both museums and we hope that some of the research uncovered as part of the Unlocking Collections project will help to improve the Herbert’s documentation, as well as ours.
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