News Archive
2011
January
Joan
Navarre’s paper, ‘Oscar Wilde, Edward Heron-Allen, and the Palmistry
Craze of the 1880s’ was published in English Literature in
Transition 1880-1920, Vol.54, no.2, 2011, 174-84.
The
Chairman gave
a talk entitled, ‘The Singular Life of Edward Heron-Allen’ to the Chichester Science Group, at
the New Fishbourne
Centre,
near Chichester on Tuesday, 11 January 2011.
March
Professor
Angela McLean, Professor of Mathematical Biology, Department of Zoology,
Oxford will deliver the annual Heron-Allen Lecture on ‘Emerging
Infections’
at Simkins Lee Theatre, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, at 5.15pm. on Friday 4 March 2011.
Joan
Navarre delivered a lecture entitled, ‘The Tinned Dinner Party: Edward
Heron-Allen’s Curious Celebration of Food in the First World War’ at
the British Scholar's Fourth Annual Conference at the Harry Ransom
Center, the University of Texas at Austin on 31 March 2011.
April
The
Chairman will be giving a talk entitled, ‘The Singular Life of Edward Heron-Allen to the Waterlooville U3A at St.
George’s Hall, Waterlooville, Hampshire, on Wednesday 27 April 2011.
May
The
Society’s Newsletter No.18 was published. Articles included: ‘The
Plausibility of Edward Heron-Allen’s Duelling Affair’ by John
P. Mahoney; ‘Flappers, British Empire Leaguers and Foraminiferists on
Clare Island in 1911’ by Timothy J. McCann; ‘Edward Heron-Allen, Oscar
Wilde and the Ring of Death’ by Timothy J. McCann; and ‘A Fatal Fiddle:
Fiction: Sound and Silly: A Book Review’ by John P. Mahoney.
June
The Society’s Eleventh Annual Symposium was held on Saturday 25 June
2011 at the Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Street, London, when
the theme was ‘Edward Heron-Allen and Music’. Papers delivered
included: ‘Edward Heron-Allen’s visit to Downside in 1886’ by Timothy
J. McCann; ‘Edward Heron-Allen as a Music Critic’ by Peter Horton;
‘Edward Heron-Allen and his Family’ by Bill Coleby; and ‘The
Resurrection of the Edward Heron-Allen Violin No.2, modelled after the
Joseph Guanerius Del Gesu 1734, ex-Sainton’ by John P. Mahoney. Brian
Norris, accompanied by Craig Greene, played Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E
Minor and four of Shostakovich’s preludes from 24 Preludes, Opus 34,
arr. Tsyganov, for violin and piano, on the Guarneri violin made by
Heron-Allen and then played the four Preludes again on Heron-Allen’s
other violin (modelled after Stradivarius).
July
The
Society’s Opusculum XVI was published, entitled 'Edward Heron-Allen,
Archaeology and Local History'. The Opusculum, edited by Timothy J.
McCann and John E. Whittaker, published the proceedings of the Tenth
Heron-Allen Symposium at West Sussex Record Office in Chichester in
July 2010, including: ‘Edward Heron-Allen and the Geology of Selsey’ by
David Bone; ‘Edward Heron-Allen and the Quaternary Geology of the
Manhood Peninsula. A View from the 21st Century’ by Martin Bates; and
‘Edward Heron-Allen, L.F. Salzman and ‘The Mound’ at Selsey, 1911’ by
Timothy J. McCann.
Garry Garrard’s paper, ‘Edward Heron-Allen: A polymath’s approach to
Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’, was published in Adrian Poole,
Christine Van Ruymbeke, William H. Martin and Sandra Mason, (eds),
Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Popularity and Neglect (Anthem
Press, 2011), 109-126.
August
The
Society organised a trip to Clare Island, off the west coast of Ireland
from 14 to 16 August 2011 to commemorate the visit by Edward
Heron-Allen and Arthur Earland in 1911 as part of the original Clare
Island Survey. Society members stayed at O’Grady’s Guest House on Clare
Island, enjoyed guided walks around the island looking at all the
archaeological features and visted the Abbey and the Lighthouse. Talks
were givem by Tim Collins on 'Praeger and the Natural History Societies
in Ireland' and by Tim McCann on 'Flappers and Foraminiferists on Clare
Island'. We were able to visit Granuille’s Castle and McCabe’s, where
Heron-Allen stayed in 1911, and reconstruct some of his photographs. We
were richly entertained by the islanders and at the Bayview Hotel and
O’Grady Guest House.
September
On
2
September, “Yesterday” (Channel 12) showed, as part of their series
entitled “Museum Secrets”, a film on The Natural History Museum,
London. It featured Edward Heron-Allen and the 'Purple Sapphire' and
included interviews with both Ivor Jones and John Whittaker about the
‘cursed stone’. Some of the programme can still be seen on the
internet. For the full interview with John Whittaker, go to ‘Museum
Secrets’, then ‘Episode 5 - Cursed
Amethyst’ and he can be seen in the video segment entitled ‘unexplained
evidence’. Unfortunately John
is cited as a curator named Richard Savin!
October
On
Friday 28 October in the Flett Theatre, The Natural History Museum is
hosting a conference to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the birth of
Charles Davies Sherborn entitled: ‘Anchoring Biodiversity Information
from Sherborn to the 21st Century and beyond’. Edward Heron-Allen was a
contemporary of his and spent many years striving to obtain copies of
all the books and references listed in Sherborn's 'A Bibliography of
the Foraminifera, Recent and Fossil, from 1565-1888', published in
1888. The latter's beautiful bookplate was described and illustrated by
Clive Jones in our Opusculum VII. A recent article in the Telegraph
and the NHM house journal "Evolve" begins the celebration of Sherborn
in
this anniversary year.
November
The Society’s Newsletter No.19 was published. Articles included:’The
Eleventh Annual Symposium at the Royal College of Music’, by Peter
Horton; ‘The Eleventh Annual Symposium: The Australian Connection’ by
Bill Coleby; ‘The Heron-Allen Society Visit to Clare Island, 14-16
August 2011’ by Alison McCann; ‘A Pilgrimage to Clare Island’ by Aine
Ryan; ‘Richard Savin hit by Purple Sapphire Curse – Shock!’ by John E.
Whittaker and ‘Heron-Allen’s recipe for Punch’ by Ivor E. Jones
December
The Society’s Opusculum XVII was published, entitled The Le Gallienne
versus Heron-Allen Incident by John P. Mahoney and Barbara P. Mahoney.
The Opusculum included talks delivered at the ninth and tenth
Heron-Allen Symposiums at the Natural History Museum, London, July 2009
and West Sussex Record Office, Chichester, June 2010.