and literary industry, Southend is one of the most fully recorded districts in the
whole of Britain. It is a pity that the name Whittleia, bestowed in his honour on
a genus of Psychidae, has now been reduced to synonymy. With the death in
1921 of one of the most respected and best loved entomologists, an era ended in
the history of the microlepidoptera of Essex. Whittle's collection is in the
British Museum (Natural History) and this, together with his writings, has been
a rich source of information.
William Harwood is another great name in Essex entomology (Firmin et
al., 1975:11-12). As author of the Lepidoptera section in the VCH, he collated
existing records from the county. I have been able to trace most of these to their
source, but unless I have missed something he must have received manuscript
lists for Brentwood from Burrows and for Hazeleigh from the Revd G.H.
Raynor; the latter was a macrolepidopterist who also included some 'micros' in
his collection but seldom published their records. Some of Raynor's specimens,
however, are in the Purdey collection and other collections in the British
Museum (Natural History). Harwood himself seldom recorded 'micros' after
the first flush of youth but it is probable that the VCH contains many of his
records, though he was too modest to mention his own name. Where rarities
were concerned, he was not very precise, but one can hardly expect a
professional entomologist to be too explicit about some the species which
brought him his livelihood. His specimens are to be found passim in the
nineteenth century collections, sometimes with, but all too often without, data.
His son Bernard inherited his collection and, when Bernard died, it was
purchased by Gilles.
W.S. Gilles lived at Bocking in the heart of Essex. He died in 1938 and left his
collection, by then including that of Harwood, to Cambridge University.
Unfortunately at that time the Department of Zoology was short of space and
felt obliged to refuse the bequest. Consequently the executors sold the
collection by auction, a drawer at a time, and so the most comprehensive
collection of Essex Lepidoptera ever made was dispersed. The loss may not be
as serious as appears at first sight, because Gilles, incredible as it may seem,
seldom put data labels under his specimens; as stated above, Harwood did not
always do so either. I have studied many Gilles specimens but they seldom
provide a record. The author of Gilles' obituary in the Entomologist states that
at the time of his death he was working on a list of Essex Lepidoptera which
should prove invaluable to anyone who subsequently undertook the task. I
have tried hard to trace this embryo county list but without success. The sale
took place at Stevens Auction Rooms on the 25th-26th April, 1939. Lot 382
contained "certain periodicals etc., and the MS of lectures, note books and
others: a parcel". This may have included the list. Then there is Gilles' diary
which he left to Dr R.M. Greenslade. Mr J.M. Chalmers-Hunt is convinced
that when Dr Greenslade died, he left it to the Royal Entomological Society, but
the librarian has no record of its existence. Fortunately Dr Greenslade lent the
diary to Mr Chalmers-Hunt who made extensive extracts which he has allowed
me to utilise. The diary itself and the unfinished Essex list are probably still
extant and perhaps a reader can guide me to them. It is worth noting that,
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