Entomology collections overview

Prior to the early 1900’s, Bolton Museum had a collection of fossils and molluscs, mainly acquired from the Castleton Museum, in Derbyshire. The Bolton curator, Thomas Midgley, decided to augment this and acquired the collection of Philip Brookes Mason, who lived in Burton-on-Trent.

As an enthusiast, Mason started collecting at an early age, but gathered the majority of his collection by purchasing material from well known British specialists. After his death, his widow kept the collection, and at auction, Bolton Museum acquired some fossils, the complete herbarium, and the insect collections. In the latter are specimens collected by several prominent British workers, including E.C.Rye., A.Matthews., R.W.Douglas and J.Scott.

The major part of the British Beetle collection, is that of Rye with material from the collections of:

W.G. Blatch
J. Brewer
E.Brown
G.C. Champion
H. Champion
B. Cooke
G.R. Crotch
J.W. Douglas
G.C. Dupre
R.S. Edleston
A.H. Haliday
P.H. Harper
A. Hewgill
E.W. Janson
E.G. Kraatz
J.G. Marsh
J. Pelerin
J.A. Power
D. Sharp.
E. Shepherd
G.Wailes
T. Wilkinson
T.V. Wollaston

The Lepidoptera (Butterflies and moths) are well represented with several tens of thousand of specimens covering the majority of the British fauna. There is also a reasonable selection of foreign butterflies.

The British beetle collection is the most significant portion of the entomology collection, with approximately 73,000 specimens, including about 90 types, and it is of international importance to researchers.

The Bolton Musem Entomology collection is not particularly large, with approximately 170,000 specimens, but is important.

Matthews, Andrew (18 June 1815 - 14 September 1897)

The Reverend Matthews studied some of the tiniest and difficult beetles known, in an age when every entomologist was a pioneer. In 1872 he published a monograph Trichopterygia Illustrata which dealt with the world fauna, and after acquiring his collection, P.B. Mason, published Matthews Supplement (1904), which Matthews had completed before his death, but not submitted for publication. In 1899, Mason published another Matthews manuscript titled Corylophidae and Sphaeriidae. Bolton Museum has copies of both these books.

Douglas, John William (15 November 1814- 28 August 1904)

Born in Edinburgh, and started an interest in botany after being confined to bed following an explosion of fireworks in his pocket! He later went to Kew, and stayed there until retiring at 70, after 50 years service. He started collecting insects whilst at Kew, and published many papers. In 1865, with John Scott, he published ‘The British Hemiptera, Vol 1, hemiptera-Heteroptera’.

This is regarded as a classic work, especially as this group of insects was very under studied at the time. He joined the Entomological Society in 1845, eventually becoming president in 1861. The collection of Douglas and Scott is still in the original cabinet.

Scott, John (21 September 1823 – 30 August 1887)

Scott started his working life as a civil engineer in Glasgow. Moved to Stockton-on-Tees, and then London. After a series of jobs in Spain, Plymouth and Lees–on-the-Solent, he was attacked by severe epilepsy, then taken to an asylum, where he died. He was a ‘self taught’ man, teaching himself civil engineering. He also had a good knowledge of music and English Literature. During his wanderings, Scott contributed many articles to the ‘Entomologists Weekly Inteligencer’ and co-authored ‘The British Hemiptera’ with Douglas.

Areas of Significance

The strength of the entomology collection lies in the British material. There is good coverage of the Lepidoptera and Coleoptera fauna. The latter is of interest to many researchers, and various specialists have examined a large number of specimens, resulting in mention of our collection in two recent publications. The current curator is also researching a group of species, which will result in the designation of a type, and publication.