266 



THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



That relatively few contacts were made amongst 

 specialists is the more puzzling not only in the light 

 of Hamilton's clear recognition of the inadequacy 

 of much of the reference material in the Society's 

 library, but also given his belief in the importance 

 of developing contacts with other schools. In their 

 brief eulogium the writers of the 1948 Report noted 

 that he was 'a keen supporter of the Association of 

 School Natural History Societies and it is mainly 

 through his efforts that the activities of our own 

 society are known, we think, by other members of 

 the Association. ITH was a strong advocate of 

 meetings between the natural history societies of 

 different schools. . .'. Marlborough, with its extensive 

 library of up-to-date literature as well as reference 

 collections, was only a few miles away and it is 

 surprising that there was apparently no 

 communication between the two until 1958 when 

 their first joint meeting was held in the Farmer 

 Laboratory. Of course it is quite possible that earlier 

 overtures may have been made by Dauntsey's which 

 were rebuffed. 



While Hamilton's departure was undoubtedly 

 a major factor in the sudden decline of the 

 Dauntsey's Society, in another sense it could be 

 said to have merely hastened the inevitable. The 

 rise of ecology as a science, together with the growth 

 of interest in physiology, genetics, DNA and 

 biotechnology undoubtedly had a dramatic effect 

 on the way students were encouraged to look at 

 their environment. No longer was the focus so much 

 on individual species. At the same time, the 

 difficulties for the amateur in determining species 

 were becoming greater as techniques became more 

 demanding, equipment more expensive, and the 

 quantity of literature burgeoned. In addition, greater 

 attention on budgets and the broadening of the 

 curriculum forced a hard look at expenditure, and 

 the use of premises. Spaces occupied by activities 

 not deemed to be 'core' could no longer be justified. 

 Dauntsey's Natural History Society was not the 

 only one to suffer, that of Marlborough and many 

 other schools also disappeared during the next two 

 decades. 



After leaving Dauntsey's David le Cren went 

 on to become Director of the Freshwater Biological 

 Association, and Amyan Macfadyen to be Professor 

 of Biology at the University of Ulster and President 

 of the British Ecological Society. Like Desmond 

 Morris and Anthony Huxley (who was a pupil at 

 the school in the 1 930s), they clearly benefited from 

 the broad based teaching advocated by Hamilton 

 and Coulson, as well as the 'hands on' experience 



provided by membership of the Natural History 

 Society. Now, the emphasis on biodiversity, and 

 the recognition of the destruction caused to the 

 environment by dubious practices and policies at 

 the end of the last millennium, is seeing a renewal 

 of interest in species recording at the local level. 

 The Bee Club at Dauntsey's still survives - a small 

 ending, which also holds out the possibility of a 

 new beginning. 



LIST OF TYPESCRIPT 

 'PUBLICATIONS' BY DAUNTSEY'S 

 SCHOOL NATURAL HISTORY 

 SOCIETY (Includes those by both the 

 School House Natural History Society 

 and the Manor House Natural History 

 Society) 



Fauna Lists 



(Note: Pages are un-numbered unless stated and blank 

 sides have not been included. Unless mentioned all items 

 exist in the WANHS archive) 



1. Dauntsey Fauna List 1920 - 1939 



(pp.27. Includes introduction, Map of the District and 

 description of The District around Dauntsey's School.) 



2. A Check List of the Spiders Recorded in the Immediate 

 Neighbourhood of Dauntsey's School, Wilts. Revised up 

 to 31st Dec. 1946. (pp.1 1 of which ten are numbered 2- 

 11) 



3. A Check List of Harvestmen, Mites, and Water Mites 

 Recorded in the Immediate Neighbourhood of Dauntsey's 

 School, Wilts. Revised up to 31st Dec. 1946. (pp.4 

 numbered 13-16) 



4. A Check List of the Dragonflies and Damsel-Flies 

 Recorded in the Immediate Neighbourhood of Dauntsey's 

 School, Wilts. Revised up to July 31st. 1947 (pp.4 three 

 of which are numbered 31-34) 



5. A Check List of Those Animals commonly known as 

 "Worms" (Flatworms, Roundworms and Leeches.) 

 Recorded in the Immediate Neighbourhood of Dauntsey's 

 School, Wilts. Revised up to July 31st. 1947. (pp.6 

 numbered 34-39J 



6. A Check List of the Vertebrates (Excluding Birds) 

 Recorded in the Immediate Neighbourhood of Dauntsey's 

 School, West Lavington, Wilts. Revised up to 31st 

 December, 1947. (pp.9 eight of which are numbered 40- 

 46) 



