neW roles for naTure^133Local literary and philosophical societies had existed since the early
eighteenth century, and these became more common as larger urban
centres developed: Manchester gained one in 1781, Birmingham in 1800
and Leeds in 1819. In the 1820s and ‘30s, societies devoted entirely to
natural history were also widely established, holding regular meetings
and publishing transactions.^108 In addition to these essentially middle-
class societies, however, groups largely or entirely involved in the study of
botany appeared among the working-class populations of some industrial
towns in the second half of the eighteenth century, especially in north-west
England.^109 In 1811 an observer thought that there were ‘very considerable’
numbers of ‘mechanical’ botanists in the villages around Manchester.^110
Their meetings took place in pubs – ‘the very heart of popular culture’^111
- and those that crystallized into more formal associations often – like the
Black Cow Botanical Society in Manchester – took their name from their
original meeting place (conversely, some pubs in the Manchester area have
names reflecting their association with these groups, such as the ‘Botanical
Tavern’ in Ashton or the ‘Railway and Naturalist’ in Prestwich).^112 Unlike
the middle-class societies, which met on a week-day evening, these groups
normally assembled on Sundays, the only day of rest afforded to working
people. Members would compare specimens collected in the field and pool
their resources in order to acquire the latest books on natural history. Artisan
interest in botany was closely related to an enthusiasm for horticulture and
herbalism, and the development of these groups is a testament to the powers of
the industrial working class – mainly men but also, to some extent, women –
to organize and educate themselves.^113 But it is also a sign that industrial
cities did not yet form vast and continuous conurbations from which much
of the flora of the countryside had been squeezed. The fieldwork of such
men was, perforce, limited to areas which could be reached by horse-drawn
tram or on foot. The countryside still lay near at hand, interdigitated with
housing, factories and mills.
There was an increasing interest in the natural sciences at the small
number of English universities in the middle decades of the century, but
amateurs continued to dominate the study of the natural world, and the
Botanical Society of London, which lasted from 1836 to 1856, attempted
to expand its membership into the provinces by establishing a system of
Corresponding Members and Local Secretaries. This was part of a scheme,
directed by the great naturalist C. Watson, to create a country-wide network
of collectors who would exchange specimens, using a standard checklist
to ensure a common system of nomenclature. Watson himself pioneered
the scientific study of plant distributions, dividing the country for this
purpose into eighteen provinces which were later subdivided to create 112
‘vice-counties’, a system which served to facilitate the integration of local
knowledge into wider schemes of understanding.^114
The 1850s and ‘60s were perhaps the peak decades for popular interest in
natural history, and the great age of the ‘field clubs’. These groups originated