Page 77 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #05

ROTHSCHILD AT 150

The Walter Rothschild
Zoological Museum
at Tring in 1899.

B
But is it still relevant today? What can buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery in
V
Victorian cabinets full of taxidermic London. On his death, the museum and
s pecimens teach us now? everything in it was bestowed to the British
“They’re used by researchers worldwide,” Museum (of which the Natural History
s ays Alice. “Specimens help us to better Museum was then a division). The gift
u
understand the natural world. You can use remains its largest acquisition ever.
th Walter had no lawful offspring (he never
hem to study evolution, environmental
ch married but did have a couple of lovers,
hange and the impact of humans.
P lus, new advances let us delve into the with one of whom he had a daughter) and
co ollections in ways that Walter never his younger brother Charles died before
im him, so the barony was assumed by his
magined. For example, we can analyse the
pecimens’ chemical isotopes and DNA.”
sp nephew Victor. It didn’t matter. His greatest
But some people in the Home Counties legacy was Tring, and that was ultimately
ha ave other reasons for remembering Walter bequeathed to the public.
– including difficulty getting to sleep. After “Walter’s desire to share his love of the
a sojourn to Hungary in 1902, he returned natural world drove the creation of the
with half-a-dozen edible dormice. A few public museum,” Alice says. “The public
of them escaped and promptly set about galleries are world-class and attract around
multiplying in the wild. There are now 140,000 visitors a year. The Rothschild
around 10,000 of these noisy nocturnal Room display, which we opened in 2015,
rodents scurrying about and gnawing celebrates the man and helps put the
things in people’s attics in Aylesbury, collection in context.”
Beaconsfield and Luton. And Walter himself – does he still
exert an influence over the museum?
Rothschild’s lasting legacy “Absolutely!” says Alice. “The specimen-
In 1932, Walter was pressured into selling rich, taxonomically ordered displays were
over 300,000 bird specimens to the his concept. What’s more, the galleries have
American Museum of Natural History changed little since he died. To me, they
in New York, after being extorted by an epitomise his wish to inspire people of all
erstwhile paramour. Today, these form part ages and further scientific knowledge.”
of that museum’s research collections. Five
di d t T i
W lt
d 6
years l t ater, aged 69, Walter died at Tring ED HUTCHINGS is a nature
Park and was writer, keen birdwatcher and
wildlife tour guide.
c
Rothschild
accidentally + FIND OUT MORE
n
introduuced
the edible To visit Walter Rothschild’s collections at
dormouse Tring, go to: www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring
to England.
Spring 2018 BBC Wildlife 77