After a boyhood in inner London, Walthamstow must have felt like an idyllic rural retreat. Early times were not forgotten, though, since many contacts acquired during William’s time with the family firm seem to have been maintained: the Uruguayan species included among the four below was sold through Browning, and other slides of material sent from Montevideo (but not with William’s writing) had been made by the Normans at City Road. One of several Norman slides in my collection from Montevideo: the label handwriting may be that of John Norman senior. The “Challenger” spent ten days at Montevideo, and this may be the provenance of material on this and other such Norman slides. I have mentioned a butterfly scale arrangement sold via Baker: other retailers continued to be involved in sales, as in the examples below. Another specimen from afar (there were not many vulture parasites in Epping Forest), sold via Beck in the USA, with an insect sold via Stanley, insect eggs sold by Watson before 1882 and a shell mount sold via Steward As shown, mounts include some exotic species, but he probably caught most of his later specimens close to his home. The slide below seems to emphasise this, being may fly exuvia unlikely to survive more than a short journey from collection to mounting. Those below he may have caught in his own house.
After a boyhood in inner London, Walthamstow must have felt like an idyllic rural retreat. Early times were not forgotten, though, since many contacts acquired during William’s time with the family firm seem to have been maintained: the Uruguayan species included among the four below was sold through Browning, and other slides of material sent from Montevideo (but not with William’s writing) had been made by the Normans at City Road. One of several Norman slides in my collection from Montevideo: the label handwriting may be that of John Norman senior. The “Challenger” spent ten days at Montevideo, and this may be the provenance of material on this and other such Norman slides. I have mentioned a butterfly scale arrangement sold via Baker: other retailers continued to be involved in sales, as in the examples below. Another specimen from afar (there were not many vulture parasites in Epping Forest), sold via Beck in the USA, with an insect sold via Stanley, insect eggs sold by Watson before 1882 and a shell mount sold via Steward As shown, mounts include some exotic species, but he probably caught most of his later specimens close to his home. The slide below seems to emphasise this, being may fly exuvia unlikely to survive more than a short journey from collection to mounting. Those below he may have caught in his own house.
pp-William.docx