THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB
One Thousandth Meeting
Leades : Bernard T. Ward.
Saturday, 8th September, 1956.
FAMOUS ESSEX NATURALISTS
Great men are the guide-posts and landmarks in the State.
—Edmund Burke.
This year the Club (founded in 1880) is holding its first millenary
Meeting. To celebrate this memorable occasion the Club is
visiting the birthplaces or homes of some of the Naturalists who
have added to the glory and reputation of Essex Natural History
during the past three and a half centuries.
To this Meeting the President and Council have invited represen-
tatives of various kindred Societies and Clubs closely associated with
the Essex Field Club and its work. To all those who will be present
we tender a hearty welcome and express the hope that we shall have
the pleasure of their company at future Meetings of the Club.
Meet at Wanstead Station (Central Line) at 9.30 a.m.
Picnic lunch should be brought.
We shall proceed by motor coach to Woodford, passing on the way
the site of Mill Cottage, for many years the home of Edward
Forster. By courtesy of the Secretary and the Forest Group Hos-
pitals Committee, members will view the grounds of "Harts" and
the exterior of the present building now used as a hospital.
"Harts" was built originally in 1617 by Sir Humphrey
Handforth. Master of the Robes to King James I, and here the King
breakfasted when he came hunting in Epping Forest. The house
passed to the Onslow family, of whom Arthur Onslow was Speaker
to several Parliaments. In 1722 it was purchased by Mrs. Warner,
the widow of John Warner, Banker or Goldsmith, and together with
her second son Richard she lived here until her death in 1743.
Richard Warner was born in London in 1713. He matriculated
at Wadham College, Oxford, on 18th July. 1730, and took his B.A.
in 1731. Thereafter he spent the greater part of his life at "Harts"
and cultivated a celebrated garden. He was responsible for the
introduction to the country of many beautiful and unusual plants
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