THOMAS SOUTHWELL. 175 



secretary for several years, was elected President of the 

 Society in 1879, and again in 1893. In 1872 he was 

 elected a F.Z.S., and in 1881 M.B.O.U. He was one 

 of the founders of the Museums' Association. 



He retired from the bank in 1896, just fifty years from 

 the time he entered the Lynn branch. 



While at Lynn and Fakenham, in spite of long bank 

 hours, he pursued his study of natural history, often 

 getting up in the morning as early as five to take long 

 walks for observing bird-life before the bank opened ; 

 and made a large collection of birds' skins and skeletons 

 and of eggs. He seems to have given up shooting from 

 about the time he went to Norwich. He was always fond 

 of making skeletons and dissections, excelling in anything 

 that required neatness and delicacy of touch. The 

 confinement of the bank was very irksome and uncon- 

 genial to him. 



Southwell was a fairly prolific writer, but never wrote 

 for writing's sake, but always because " out of a full 

 heart the mouth speaketh." He was a most interesting 

 companion, being stored with zoological knowledge, and 

 besides his numerous published writings, has left some 

 large MS. volumes filled in his methodical and careful 

 manner with facts which cannot fail to be of interest 

 and value, if, as is sincerely to be hoped,, they are some 

 day extracted and published by a competent editor.* 



His published writings include a second edition of 

 Lubbock's " Fauna of Norfolk," originally published in 

 1845, containing much original matter (Norwich, 1879) ; 

 " The Seals and Whales of the British Seas " (London, 

 1881), an excellent handbook of those somewhat neglected 

 orders, and although our knowledge of them has increased 

 very considerably (thanks largely to Southwell himself) 

 in the twenty-eight years since it was published, it 

 remains the only work of its kind and is still very useful ; 



* With respect to his cetacean notes he remarked in a letter to the 

 present writer, dated September 22nd, 1903 : — " The subject is such a 

 large one, and I have such a mass of original information in the shape 

 of letters, logs, etc., that I hardly know how to select." 



