292
E. G. VARENNE (1811-1887), OF KELVEDON,
BOTANIST : SOME LOCAL ANECDOTES AND
REMINISCENCES.
By ALFRED HILLS, M.A.
THE country doctor of the beginning and middle of last
century was often—in Essex, at any rate—a man of great
strength of character, exercising a powerful and very wholesome
influence on the intellectual life of his neighbours, both rich
and poor. His manner was often brusque to the verge of
rudeness, and would be misunderstood by many in these days,
but his patients and others knew quite well that this was merely
a veneer which concealed the man's real sympathies and good
nature. Again, in many cases, his professional qualifications,
were modest in the extreme and would be regarded now-a-days
as absurdly inadequate. Yet they sufficed for the simpler
and less sophisticated days in which he lived and practised.
On the whole, the old-fashioned country doctor of the period,
was a particularly useful member, and often a leader, of local
society.
One characteristic example of this type of man was Dr.
Henry Dixon (1787-1876), of Witham, whose "Reminiscences"
(edited by Mr. H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S.) have recently been
published.1 Another thoroughly-typical specimen was Dr.
Varenne, of Kelvedon, the subject of these notes. Even our
late respected past-President, Henry Laver (1829-1917), F.S.A.,
of Colchester, exhibited and retained to the last many of the
attributes of the type in question. Whatever his "bedside
manner" may have been, his ordinary manner was often curt
in the extreme. Those who knew him least liked him least.
Those who knew him best recognised in him a fine sterling
character. He was a successful surgeon, highly respected locally
(both for his professional and his public work), and well known
to wider circles for his archaeological knowledge. Other
examples will occur at once to the minds of elderly people able
to recall the country life of the period indicated.
An excellent article by Prof. G. S. Boulger on Varenne,
and the botanical work he accomplished, has appeared already
in these pages.2 To the botanical information given therein,
1 Essex Review, vols. xxiii.-xxv. (1914-1916).
2 Essex Nat., v., pp. 42-44 (1991).