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WALTER POTTER'S
CURIOUS WORLD of TAXIDERMY
with Dr Pat Morris
Thursday 7th August 2014
Doors open at 6:30 pm, Talk commences at 7:00 pm and ends at 8:00 pm
Walter Potter is the most famous Victorian taxidermist, displaying his creations in his museum in his hometown of Bramber, West Sussex. The museum was kept open long after his death, at the age of 83 in 1918, run by his daughter and her husband, and then their son and his wife, enjoying visits from the Bloomsbury group, Diana Dors and Queen Mary. Eventually sold, it ended up at Jamaica Inn in Cornwall, sharing the space with a collection of Daphne du Maurier memorabilia, but then in 2003 was auctioned off piecemeal, a reported £1m bid by Damien Hirst to preserve the collection intact for the nation apparently arriving too late to save it.
Dr PAT MORRIS
Dr Pat Morris is best known for his studies on hedgehogs over the last 40 years. He was a Vice President of the London Wildlife Trust, and is a member of two other county wildlife trusts, the RSPB, various other Natural History and conservation organisations and Honorary Life Member of the Guild of Taxidermists.
Pat Morris has published over 80 scientific papers and has written many books, mostly about mammals. He was Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Royal Holloway, University of London, and for many years contributed to radio programmes for the BBC and helped to make the TV films 'The Great Hedgehog Mystery' and 'The Incredible Edible Dormouse'.
In his spare time he has pursued a longstanding interest in the history of taxidermy and has published papers and 8 books on this topic. On the recommendation of the Guild of Taxidermists, he has been appointed one of DEFRA's taxidermy inspectors for the purpose of assessing age and authenticity of antique taxidermy. In 2012 he was awarded the Founder's Medal by the Society for the History of Natural History.
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