154 EEPOKT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



bare hill sides into pleasant parks and woodland bowers, com- 

 bined always with his enthusiastic zeal in his favourite study of 

 ornithology and other branches of Natural History, gained for 

 him. the admiration and influence of his wealthy friends, many 

 of whom felt only too glad to assist the man who had given 

 them so much real and refined pleasure, and who felt gratified at 

 being able to assist him in accomplishing what had really been 

 his long desire, namely, to hand down to future generations, 

 and for the benefit of his native town and the promotion of his 

 favourite study, the unique collection of birds which, by his 

 steady perseverance he had formed, and by his intuitive skill he 

 had preserved in those inimitable and life-like forms that we 

 now see represented in the extensive and remarkable collection 

 in our Museum. 



About this time he conceived the idea of collecting funds for 

 the erection of a larger and every way more capacious structure, 

 which would be worthy to hold his own collection of stuffed 

 birds and also the other large and valuable collection of fossils, 

 minerals, recent shells, and other objects, which had been formed 

 by several local naturalists, and had been presented to the Society 

 by kind friends. By the generous aid of his endeared friend, 

 W. C. Hewitson, of Oatlands, Surrey, of Colonel and Edward 

 Joicey, Sir Lowthian Bell, and especially of those devoted friends. 

 Lord and Lady Armstrong, he was at length enabled to see his 

 way to lay the foundation of the noble structure which the 

 Society now occupies at the Barras Bridge — the most fitting 

 monument to the memory, zeal, and talent of one of the last of 

 a not large but a world-wide known band of self-taught, earnest, 

 and enthusiastic naturalists, whose works and whose unpreten- 

 tious lives and labours have earned for this city a renown for 

 natural history pursuits which does not often fall to the lot of a 

 provincial Town. 



The Committee think that it must be the wish of every mem- 

 ber of the Society to perpetuate the memory of Mr. Hancock, 

 and, as undoubtedly the Museum building itself, and its orni- 

 thological collections form his true monument, they recommend 

 to the Society that the Museum building be henceforth called 

 " The Hancock Museum." 



