Ernest William Brockton Swanton (28 June 1870,
Dibden
Dibden is a small village in Hampshire, England, which dates from the Middle Ages. It is dominated by the nearby settlements of Hythe and Dibden Purlieu. It is in the civil parish of Hythe and Dibden. It lies on the eastern edge of the New Fo ...
– 21 October 1958,
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
) was an English mycologist, botanist, conchologist, naturalist, antiquarian, and museum curator. He was the president of the
British Mycological Society for the academic year 1915–1916
and the president of the
Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1921.
Biography
After an early career as a schoolmaster and private tutor, Swanton was appointed in 1897 the curator of the
Haslemere Educational Museum
Haslemere Educational Museum was founded in 1888 by the eminent surgeon Sir Jonathan Hutchinson to display his growing collection of natural history specimens. After two moves it found in 1926 a permanent home in Haslemere High Street, in the ...
.
[ He retired as curator in 1948.][
In 1898 Swanton began giving regular series of lessons in natural history to children from the local elementary schools. He illustrated the lessons by handing around specimens from his museum's collections. In 1899 he established a Haslemere Educational Museum Examination for local children after their preparation for several months by studying the museum's galleries.][
In 1898 Swanton was one of the founding members of the British Mycological Society. He was known primarily as a field mycologist, although he had a wide range of interests in natural history and antiquarian studies. He wrote several books. His 1909 book ''Fungi and How to Know Them'' was a useful and popular handbook and had a 2nd edition in 1922. He edited, with the aid of P. Woods, C.B., the book ''Bygone Haslemere: A Short History of the Ancient Borough and Its Immediate Neighbourhood from Its Earliest Times'' (1914, West, Newman & Co.).
On the 27th of September 1916 he gave the British Mycological Society's presidential address, entitled ''Education in Mycology''. In 1920 he was elected an Associate of the ]Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
. He was appointed M.B.E. Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in 1936 and O.B.E.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 1948. He was granted a Civil List pension in 1949.[
He and his wife hosted many forays of the British Mycological Society in the Haslemere district. He frequently acknowledged the help she gave him in museum work. She died in 1957.][
His papers and botanical specimens are stored at the Haslemere Educational Museum.][
]
Selected publications
Articles
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Books and monographs
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanton, Ernest William
1870 births
1958 deaths
English mycologists
Conchologists
English antiquarians
English curators
Officers of the Order of the British Empire