292 
E. G VARENNE (1811-1887), OF KELVEDON, 
BOTANIST : SOME LOCAL ANECDOTES AND 
REMINISCENCES. 
By ALFRED HILLS, M.A. 
HE country doctor of the beginning and middle of last 
century was often—in Essex, at any rate—a man of great 
strength of character, exercising a powerful and very wholesome 
influence on the intellectual life of his neighbours, both rich 
and poor. His manner was often brusque to the verge of 
rudeness, and would be misunderstood by many in these days, 
but his patients and others knew quite well that this was merely 
a veneer which concealed the man’s real sympathies and good 
nature. Again, in many cases, his professional qualifications 
were modest in the extreme and would be regarded now-a-days 
as absurdly inadequate. Yet they sufficed for the simpler 
and less sophisticated days in which he lived and practised. 
On the whole, the old-fashioned country doctor of the period 
was a particularly useful member, and often a leader, of local 
society. 
One characteristic example of this type of man was Dr. 
Henry Dixon (1787-1876), of Witham, whose “ Reminiscences ” 
(edited by Mr. H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S.) have recently been 
published. 1 Another thoroughly-typical specimen was Dr. 
Varenne, of Kelvedon, the subject of these notes. Even our 
late respected past-President, Henry Laver (1829-1917), F.S.A., 
of Colchester, exhibited and retained to the last many of the 
attributes of the type in question. Whatever his “ bedside 
manner ” may have been, his ordinary manner was often curt 
in the extreme. Those who knew him least liked him least. 
Those who knew him best recognised in him a fine sterling 
character. He was a successful surgeon, highly respected locally 
(both for his professional and his public work), and well known 
to wider circles for his archaeological knowledge. Other 
examples will occur at once to the minds of elderly people able 
to recall the country life of the period indicated. 
An excellent article by Prof. G. S. Boulger on Varenne, 
and the botannical work he accomplished, has appeared already 
in these pages. 2 To the botanical information given therein, 
1 Essex Review, vol3. xxiii.-xx v. (1914-1916). 
2 Essex Nat., v., pp. 42-44 (1891). 
