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WILLIAM HODGSON, A.L.S., 



THE VETERAN BOTANIST OF CUMBERLAND. 



William Hodgson was born at Raughton Head on the 7th 

 April 1824; he died at Working-ton on the 27th March 1901. 



At the early age of 17 he was appointed Head Master of the 

 parish school at Watermillock, and in 1851 he became master 

 of the parish school at Aspatria. He continued there until 

 1875, when he went to the school at Frizington, but in the 

 course of two or three years he returned to the Watermillock 

 School, where he remained until his retirement in 1884. The 

 remaining* 17 years of his life were spent in the quiet enjoyment 

 of nature by the sea-shore and amid the hills and valleys which 

 he loved so well. 



It would be difficult to find a place more fitted to nurse into 

 life a love of nature than the district in which William Hodgson 

 was born and in which he spent his youthful days, and one can 

 well imagine how he first learned, amid the rural attractions of 

 Raughton Head and the adjacent village of Gatesgill, to take 

 an interest in the wild flowers and in all the living" things around 

 him, an interest which remained with him and provided a source 

 of constant delight and happiness throughout his life of nearly 

 77 years. He loved nature in her entirety, rocks, insects, birds, 

 animals, and all, but botany was that which lay nearest to his 

 heart. He was unable to point to any particular circumstances 

 which influenced him in making botany his special study, but, 

 perhaps, the first occasion on which he became practically 

 acquainted with the difference between one species and another 

 is referred to in the following story, given in his own words : — 

 ' I remember, when a schoolboy, being elected to fill the post of 

 huntsman in a game of - hare and hounds.' Of course I must 

 have a hunting horn. A robust stem of Heracleum sphondyliu»i 

 (Hogweed) grew quite handy, and was quickly utilised for the 

 purpose, which it served admirably. The consequences were 

 decidedly unpleasant. For ten days or more my lips, were in 

 a painfully chapped and excoriated state. On explaining the 

 cause to an aged neighbour his remark was, ' Served you right ; 

 you will use the Smooth Kesh next time you want a hunting 

 horn!' I believe the man was right. The Smooth Kesh, or 

 Wild Angelica, has certainly less irritating juice than the plant 

 1 had used.' 



1901 September 2. 



