214
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
OBITUARY NOTICES
GULIELMA LISTER
Miss G. Lister, F.L.S., passed away on May 18th, 1949, as the result of a
stroke, deeply mourned by all those fellow-members of our Club who had
shared the privilege of her acquaintanceship ; she died in the house in Leyton-
stone in which she had been born more than 88 years before and in which
she had passed her whole life except for occasional absences.
The deceased lady came of a family highly distinguished for its scientific
erudition, her uncle being Lord Lister the famous surgeon. In her younger
years she collaborated with her father, Arthur Lister, F.R.S., in his Mono-
graph of the Mycetozoa, later editions of which, after his death in 1908, were
wholly her personal work ; she thus became an acknowledged world-authority
on the Mycetozoa, with many correspondents all over the globe. Among
other distinctions received by her was the cherished gift of a handsome
pair of porcelain vases from the reigning Emperor of Japan, sent as a per-
sonal tribute for her assistance to the Emperor, who was interested in this
mysterious group of animals. Her writings on this special subject are
monuments of intimate knowledge and the drawings which illustrate the text
show both skilled artistry and perfection of detail.
Miss Lister's knowledge was indeed remarkable, almost encyclopaedic,
in all branches of natural history. Her personal study and wide reading
made her a well of information which was ever available for the benefit of
others less well informed, while her superb draughtsmanship was gladly
utilised by other authors for their volumes, as for instance, Hanbury's
Illustrated Monograph of British Hieracia and Dallimore and Jackson's
Handbook of Coniferae.
It is chiefly with her relationship to our Club that we are here concerned.
Elected to membership as long since as 1907, in 1916 Miss Lister became our
first Lady-President and thereafter remained a Permanent Vice-President
until her decease. Her active interest in the work of the Club and its Strat-
ford Museum was abundantly manifested, not only by her regular visits, made
weekly until advanced years imposed a check on her outdoor activities, by
the communications and exhibits with which she enriched our meetings and
by her assistance in the correct identification of critical specimens, but also
by many gifts to the Museum, which included a full series of the Mycetozoa
to be found in Epping Forest and an important collection of twigs, leaves and
fruits of coniferous trees, all accurately named.
Her attendances at the Club's Council meetings were most regular, the
last one being as recent as October 25th, 1947.
In 1918 Miss Lister wrote an abridged account of The Mycetozoa which
was duly published by the Club as one of its Special Memoirs. In March
1933, the Club received from her a donation of £25 to a Special Research
Fund then being established.
On December 15th, 1904, she was elected to the Fellowship of the Linnean
Society of London, being one of the first fifteen ladies to be admitted to that
august body; in 1915, and again in 1927, she was elected to the Council of
that Society, and in 1929, she became a Vice-President.
By Miss Lister's own desire, her remains were cremated privately, only a
few near relatives being present; the ashes were scattered over her mother's
grave in the burial ground of the Friends' Meeting House at Wanstead, in
which Meeting-house a memorial service was held on May 24th, which was
attended by a number of representatives of our Club.
The photograph appended hereto is an enlargement from a snapshot
taken in August, 1947, by Mr. John Barkus, the Leytonstone housekeeper.
It is a characteristic likeness. P. T.