For Club and Country

'For Club and Country’: Geologists, The Sedgwick Club and World War 1

February 2015

In 2014 research was undertaken at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, supported by Arts Council England (ACE), investigating members of the Sedgwick Club who contributed to the war effort. A small exhibition, including specimens and archives opened in February 2015.

The concept was conceived following the donation in 2012 of records from the family of Professor William Bernard Robinson King (1889-1963). During WW1 he supervised and interpreted many of the 400 ‘borings’ which were put down behind the Western Front, which had been investigated for water supply. He was subsequently awarded an OBE for his services. The Archive, which includes notebooks, maps, medals and a photograph album were catalogued and repackaged with the kind assistance of the late Dr Colin Forbes (1922-2014). Archives Hub link..

The Sedgwick Club, reported to be the oldest student geological club in the world, ceased its regular meetings with the outbreak of war, indicated in the club minute book. A ‘war-list’ was written in February 1915 and displayed in the Museum; College affiliation and military rank of members were provided. Of the 43 members listed, 7 sadly lost their lives, whilst several others were wounded.

During cataloguing staff uncovered a photo, from a Sedgwick Club excursion to Wales in 1911. It was labelled – WBR King, A.Don, TC Nicholas. It transpired that Archibald Don had been a natural sciences student at Trinity College, although switched to Medicine just before the War.

Don’s biography revealed that he had written to the Woodwardian Professor of Geology, Thomas McKenny Hughes in 1916. He had sent mammoth bones and other items to the Museum that the 10th Battalion Black Watch had found in the trenches in Salonika [Thessaloniki], where he was stationed. The bones were located on display in the Museum, as were the original letters and sketches (still in their envelopes!). Sadly Don died of malignant malaria 11th September 1916, aged just 25.

A series of 8 panels were produced to tell the stories that had been uncovered (including the lives of female Sedgwick club members), and to bring specimens and records together. The exhibition, entitled ‘For Club and Country’ was designed in-house by Rob Theodore (Museums Collections Assistant).

From starting out as a ‘simple’ archive cataloguing/preservation project, and some research into WW1, it became so much more, not least providing much needed context to the specimens which had been on display in the gallery since they arrived in 1916. It also highlighted the relevance of archives to specimens of potential scientific interest.