172 OBITUARY NOTICES. 



he often lectured on Bees and Beekeeping. He was also engaged by the 

 Technical Instruction Committees of Essex, Suffolk and Yorkshire for the 

 same work. He took an active part in the management of the Chelmsford 

 Museum as secretary, and established there a series of lectures in connection 

 with the University Extension movement. When the Essex Field Club made 

 the attempt to re-establish the Museum on a scientiBc basis he acted as 

 Librarian, and did all in his power to promote the welfare of the institution. 

 Ikit the deadly apathy of the town in such matters doomed the scheme to 

 failure from the very beginning, and the Field Club was compelled to move 

 its head-quarters to a more promising sphere of work. Mr. Durrant always 

 took greit interest in the Club and in the Essex Archaeological Society, and 

 he was a frequent attendant at their meetings when held in his part of the 

 county. 



In 1892 he established the Hssex Revietc, which has been so ably edited 

 from its commencement by our Vice President, Mr. E. A. Fitch, but which 

 owed much of its early success to the energy and enthusiasm which Durrant 

 threw into the work. He frequently coi^lributed to it, and was always active 

 in securing local matter for the enrichment of its pages. The whole pecuniary 

 liability of this venture also rested with him. It is pleasant to know that 

 both his pet hobbies will be continued on the lines he laid down. The " Odde 

 Volumes " still flourish, and the ii?d";'/V?i' will be continued under its present 

 directors as a limited liability company. 



Mr. Durrant was a consistent churchman, a synodsman of the parish 

 church, an active member of the Kuridecanal Conference, and for the last few 

 years one of the lay representatives of the Chelmsford Deanery at the 

 Diocesan Conference. He was one of the managers of the Victoria Schools, 

 and helped to found the present Chuxxh of England Institute at Chejmsford. 

 In short, all good movements found in him a fervent partisan, but curiously 

 enough he took no active part in municipal matters — it was the intellectual 

 and educational phase of life which attracted him. 



Durrant was a voracious reader, and in his little study, which liis friends 

 knew so well, he surrounded himself with many choice books and a very fine 

 set of works relating to the history and productions of the County. It is 

 rumoured that these have been left in trust for the benefit of his native town, 

 when one of his aspirations, a public library, shall have been realised. His 

 personal appearance was curiously clerical, with the slight stoop of the 

 student, and utter absence of ostentation, and with every indication of a 

 quiet, reserved, but withal amiable and courteous disposition. He lived in 

 Chelmsford in philistine times, but it is to be hoped that one day some of his 

 ideals may be reached ; meanwhile the town has lost a familiar figure, a 

 kindly friei d, antl a worker whose energies it will be difficult to replace. 



For the loan c-f the characteristic portrait, from which our plate is taken, 

 we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. H. Nicholas. 



