written contributions; the difficulty of catering for the needs of members spread over a
large geographical area.
He also anticipated some of the problems which would come to bedevil the Essex
Field Club in later years, indeed up to the present time. Then, the Essex Field Club
was unique, and spoke with a county voice:
... in counties with many small associations, the only satisfactory
arrangement, as regards printing, is the selection of the best papers read
before the local societies by a central body, composed of delegates from each
society... Even then, local jealousy is apt to cause discontent, and ultimately
secession.
Herein hes one of our main current concerns: Essex has a plethora of local societies,
with differing strengths of linkage with the Essex Field Club. No one body can speak
for Essex. At the start of the 21st Century, interest in wildlife and conservation has
never been greater. The RSPB has more than a million members, many thousands of
which must be in Essex. The Essex Wildlife Trust has 16,000 members, the largest of
the county trusts. Yet the Essex Field Club struggles on with a paltry 250, barely more
than in 1887! Essex needs a field club - it is not a 'sexy' county which people choose
to visit for wildlife. But the wildlife is demonstrably here - it needs a dedicated field
club to record it and help shout for its protection. And the field club needs you - to get
involved, to pass on the message and get others involved. It is surely not
unreasonable to suggest that we should have a comparable membership to the 800 or
so of our equivalent across the border, the Suffolk Naturalists' Society. So, please, go
out, spread the word, and let's make sure we are not seen as the generation which
frittered away our rich legacy that is the Essex Field Club.
A last word from the 1887 Presidential Address is as appropriate today as when it was
written:
... this brief sketch of what has been done only makes the vastness of the work
yet undone the more manifest. It is evident, however, that enough has been
done to justify our assumption of the title of the Essex Field Club, and to
encourage us to further labours in this interesting but little known county.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 33, September 2000
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