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James John Joicey

James John Joicey FES (28 December 1870 – 10 March 1932) was an English amateur entomologist, who assembled an extensive collection of Lepidoptera in his private research museum, called the Hill Museum, in Witley, Surrey. His collection, 40 years in the making, was considered to have been the second largest in the world held privately and to have numbered over 1.5 million specimens. Joicey was a fellow of the Zoological Society of London, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Entomological Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, and the Linnean Society of London.

James John Joicey

Born28 December 1870
Died10 March 1932(1932-03-10) (aged 61)
The Hill, Witley, Surrey, England
Burial placeHoly Trinity Church, Sunningdale
OccupationAmateur entomologist
Known forAssembling a collection of over 1.5 million Lepidoptera specimens, his Hill Museum research output, and his presentations from his collection to the Natural History Museum
Notable workThe Bulletin of the Hill Museum 1921–1932[1][2][3][4]
Spouse
Maud Muriel Fisher
(m. 1896)
Relatives1st Baron Joicey (father's cousin)[5]

Joicey employed specialist entomologists including George Talbot to curate his collection and financed numerous expeditions throughout the world to obtain previously unknown varieties. More than 190 scientific articles were produced during the active period of the Hill Museum. This body of research was described as "a contribution to the study of the exotic Lepidoptera of very great scientific value".[6]: 144 

Joicey's donations from his collection, made during his life and continuing after his death, contributed significantly to the Lepidoptera collection of the Natural History Museum in London. Joicey's obituary in The Entomologist described him as "undoubtedly the most lavish patron of Entomology, in so far as butterflies and moths are concerned, that this country has ever boasted".[6]: 142 

Life

Background

James John Joicey was born on 28 December 1870 in Newcastle upon Tyne, the only child of Major William James Joicey, a wealthy coal owner, and Mary Anne Joicey née Clark.[5][7][8] He was educated at Aysgarth School, Yorkshire, and Hertford College, Oxford,[9] and was an Associate Member of the Institute of Mining Engineers from 1891.[10] He was also a member of the Junior Carlton Club.[11]

Joicey married Maud Muriel Fisher (later Baroness de Satgé) in London in 1896.[12] He lived at The Hill in Witley, Surrey, from about 1912.[a]

Collecting

Joicey's boyhood interest in insects was encouraged by his parents, and at the age of sixteen he put together a small collection of British and foreign butterflies.[6][14] As an adult, he rediscovered his boyhood collection and was inspired to start collecting in earnest,[14] his active interest dating from 1906.[1] He used his resources to "indulge a taste for collecting butterflies and moths which remained with him throughout his life". He travelled "in the East"[15] as a young man and, although he employed experts to collect most of his specimens, also collected "on his own account both here and abroad",[14] including "Europe, India, China, Japan, Burma and America".[16][17] In 1913, he built and financed a private research museum, the Hill Museum, at his home in Witley, employing a curator and seven assistants.[15] In one twelve-month period he collected some 17,000 specimens from across the world and was spending up to £10,000 (approximately equivalent to £500,000 in 2021) a year on the collection.[14] Joicey said,

How did I manage to spend £10,000 a year on this collection? Well, these did not come from my back garden. I have had to send collectors to the far ends of the earth. ... When my work is done – that is, when I die – I will present the collection to the nation.[18]

The work has been the ruling passion of my life, ... I don't think I am extravagant, as my researches and investigations will be of great value to the nation.[16]

Joicey became a fellow of the Zoological Society of London in 1890,[19] a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1903,[20] a fellow of the Entomological Society in 1908 (council member 1920–1923),[17][21] a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1912,[22] a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1913,[23] a life member of the Société entomologique de France in 1921,[24] and a member of the London Natural History Society in 1928.[25]

Joicey was also an amateur orchidist, and exhibited at meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society.[26]

Finances

Joicey could afford to build his collection of Lepidoptera through his family connection with the firm of "Messrs. James Joicey & Co., Ltd, coalowners, Newcastle", founded by his grandfather.[5] Although described as having been "nominally on the Stock Exchange from 1896 to 1899",[27] then, in 1901, as a "coal owner & ship owner",[28] and, in 1913, as a director of the family coal mining firm,[29] Joicey effectively had no occupation and throughout his life relied on allowances from his parents. His income proved insufficient for his "extravagance in living" and the interest rates charged by money-lenders. Joicey became bankrupt in 1909 with a deficiency of over £185,000 (approximately equivalent to £20,500,000 in 2021), and again in 1922 with a deficiency of over £430,000 (approximately equivalent to £25,000,000 in 2021) despite his mother having given him £300,000 (approximately equivalent to £14,200,000 in 2021) in the interim.[30][31][32] The latter bankruptcy was discharged in October 1931.[33][34]

The son of a millionaire, for him money meant only one thing – more butterflies, still rarer specimens than he had already.

George Talbot, Joicey's head curator, 1932[35]

Joicey's father, at one time a millionaire, had left over £700,000 (approximately equivalent to £73,700,000 in 2021) in his estate in 1912, but his will ensured that no money went directly to his son.[36][37] The Witley house and estate were bought for Joicey after his first bankruptcy.[38] When sued by creditors in 1919, the judge said, "He seems hardly to have grown up. He seems to have infantile tastes which his mother helps him gratify." When counsel stated that Joicey was "susceptible to the wiles of the money-lenders", the judge responded, "And to the wiles of the butterflies."[39] During the 1922 bankruptcy hearing, Joicey said, "I think the money seems to have gone like snow in an oven."[40]

Death

Joicey's mother died in 1930, leaving an estate valued at over £300,000 (approximately equivalent to £20,200,000 in 2021).[41] Towards the end of his life, Joicey became an invalid.[35] He died of heart failure on 10 March 1932 at his home, The Hill, in Witley, Surrey, aged 61,[15][42][43] and was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Sunningdale.[44] Joicey's estate was valued at £1,151 (approximately equivalent to £85,000 in 2021),[45] his collection and museum having been principally paid for and owned by his mother.[34][46]

Collections

The primary object of Mr. Joicey in making this collection of Lepidoptera is to advance in some way our scientific knowledge. ... The formation of a large collection has its value, because without access to plenty of material studies can only be incomplete and results are often erroneous. ...
No apology should be needed for amassing large collections ...

George Talbot, 1924[1]: 5 

As an adult, Joicey began collecting Lepidoptera in 1906[b] and by 1908 was advertising as far away as Australia for:

Fresh-caught Specimens of Butterflies and Large Moths, in papers. Send Samples and state price per hundred.[48]

He acquired the Henley Grose-Smith collection in 1910. Two years later he bought the Herbert Druce collection. To house his growing collection, he founded the Hill Museum at his Witley home in 1913.[1]: 3 [15] Joicey employed curators, including Alfred Noakes (from 1906)[49][50] and George Talbot (from 1915),[51] with a staff of assistants.[6][52]

 
New butterflies from Buru and New Guinea[1]: 592  (Joicey Collection). Top left: Troides prattorum. Top right: Charaxes madensis. Both were described by Talbot at The Hill to a reporter in 1932 shortly after Joicey's death.[35]

Between 1913 and 1921 Joicey bought further collections: those of Ernst Suffert, c. 1913, Fritz Ludwig Otto Wichgraf, 1913, Col. Charles Swinhoe, 1916, Roland Trimen, 1917, Lt.-Col. C. G. Nurse, 1919, Hamilton Druce, 1919, Heinrich Riffarth, 1919, Henry John Elwes, 1920, and Paul Dognin, 1921. He added to these by sending special collectors to explore various regions on his behalf; for example, the Pratt family to South America and New Guinea, and T. A. Barns to Central Africa (Barns dedicated his 1922 book on the Eastern Congo to Joicey, his "friend and patron"[53]). W. J. C. Frost, who visited the Islands of Tenimber, Am, Key, Misol, Obi and Sula during 1915–1918, donated his collection. Another collector, C. Talbot Bowring,[54] sent many thousands of specimens from Hainan Island between 1918 and 1920.[1]: 3–4 

In 1916, when granting Joicey's curator conditional exemption from military service, General Sir J. Wodehouse described the collection as "probably the finest of its kind in England", and Oxford professor E. B. Poulton wrote that "to leave the collection without a competent head would be a national disaster".[55]

In 1919, the collection was valued at £50,000 (approximately equivalent to £2,400,000 in 2021). It consisted of 1.5 million specimens held in a room containing chests of drawers with "5000 compartments neatly arranged round the room, and in addition 4000 cases, all carefully labelled".[18] It was reported that,

Here were butterflies of all sizes, of all colours – all arranged in an effective colour grouping. In one compartment were ... great winged beauties half a foot from wing tip to wing tip. In another were creatures so small that it needed a microscope to discern their beauty.[18]

An annexe to the museum "over eighty feet long by twenty feet wide" (approximately 24 by 6 m) was built in 1920.[1]: 4  In 1927 it was reported that the main building of the Museum was "as large as a dance hall. The specimens are kept in special cabinets stacked almost to the roof. Here, all day long, Mr. Joicey and his assistants ... work at arranging and naming the fresh arrivals." Some specimens dated from the 1830s, and others were from the Stanley expedition of 1871. Some were caught 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from land, others on the Alpine snowfields. They ranged in size from 1/2 inch to 10 inches (approximately 1 cm to 25 cm) wing spread.[14] By 1930 the Hill Museum contained over 380,000 specimens.[6]

 
Butterflies from the Joicey collection in a contemporary cabinet at the Haslemere Educational Museum

Joicey and his Hill Museum colleagues published more than 190 scientific articles on world Lepidoptera and "produced some excellent work, especially on the Lepidoptera of New Guinea, Hainan Island, and Central and Eastern Africa".[47]: 4  These include the four volumes of The Bulletin of the Hill Museum, 1921–1932,[1][2][3][4] edited by Joicey and Talbot, and A Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera in the Hill Museum, 1932,[56] by Alfred George Gabriel.[57]

During his lifetime, Joicey "presented to the Nation" between 200,000 and 300,000 Lepidoptera specimens including about 75,000 to the Natural History Museum. The latter figure included 15,500 moths and a number of butterflies (1923), his whole collection of over 30,000 Hesperiidae butterflies (1926), 6,000 Lymantriidae moths (1928), and, in 1931, a series of 800 type butterflies being "the most valuable, both scientifically and intrinsically ... received for the past two decades", some thousands of moths including over 600 type and paratype moths, and 1,500 butterflies including 750 type specimens. In 1932, the collection numbered over 500,000 specimens.[15][58][59]

Shortly after Joicey's death in 1932 the Hill Museum was closed and the property sold by his mother's executors.[46] Joicey's obituary in The Entomologist stated that,

The closing of the Hill Museum and the disbanding of its staff are events which will have serious repercussions throughout the ranks of lepidopterists in all parts of the world, and will definitely retard the advance of this science. In a comparatively short space of time Mr Joicey accomplished much for his favourite study.[6]: 144 

Legacy

Joicey's Hill Museum produced more than 190 research articles which were published in a range of scientific journals.[6] In 1934, the Natural History Museum received more than 300,000 specimens as part of the Joicey Bequest.[60] Together with the Oberthür and Rothschild collections, the Joicey collection contributed significantly to the quality and number of the Lepidoptera collection held by the Natural History Museum, London.[15][47][61][62]

A report in Nature stated that,

During his life-time, the late J. J. Joicey probably did more to stimulate the study of butterflies and moths, especially those of Africa, than any other private individual in Great Britain.[63]

Works

Joicey and Talbot (partial list)

  • New Species of Heterocera from Dutch New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Eighth series) 15 (87): 295–301, pl. XII (1915)
  • New Lepidoptera from the Dutch New Guinea (with A. Noakes). Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 63 (3,4): 361–386, pls LV–LXII (1916)
  • New Lepidoptera from the Schouten Islands. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 64 (1): 65–83, pls 3–6 (1916)
  • New Heterocera from Dutch New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Eighth series) 20 (115): 50–87, pls 1–4 (1917)
  • New Lepidoptera from Waigeu, Dutch New Guinea and Biak. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Eighth series) 20 (117): 216–229 (1917)
  • New South-American Rhopalocera. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 259–264, pl I (1918)
  • New South-American Arctiidae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 265–270, pl I (1918)
  • New butterflies from Africa and the east. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 271–272 (1918)
  • A Gynandromorph of Papilio lycophron Hbn. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 273, pl II (1918)
  • Three Aberrations of Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 275–276, pl I (1918)
  • New forms of Indo-Australian butterflies. Bulletin of the Hill Museum 1 (3): 565–569 (1924)
  • New forms of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera. Encyclopedia of Entomology (B III Lepidoptera) 2: 1–14 (1926)
  • New forms of Rhopalocera in the Hill Museum. Bulletin of the Hill Museum 2 (1): 19–27 (1928)
  • Also see the BioNames database linking taxonomic names to their original descriptions

The majority of the papers are of a purely systematic nature, consisting of the description of new species or the revision of various genera; but there are several of principally faunistic interest, as, for example, the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Hainan. They represent a contribution to the study of the exotic Lepidoptera of very great scientific value.

Joicey's obituary in The Entomologist, 1932[6]: 144 

Associated with the Hill Museum

The Bulletin of the Hill Museum (111 articles and 80 plates[6])

Other journals (82 articles[6]) (partial list)

Notes

  1. ^ The 1911 Census of England shows another family living at The Hill in April 1911 and Joicey had notified the Institute of Mining Engineers of his address at The Hill by August 1912.[10] He is listed in London electoral registers from 1920 to 1925 at Marble Arch as Admiral Joicey.[13]
  2. ^ According to Miller,[47] Joicey first competed with Walter Rothschild to build the world's premier orchid collection but when Joicey went bankrupt the judge made him promise to abandon collecting orchids. The details of the anecdote do not match Joicey's known bankruptcies and the story is uncorroborated.

Summaries

  • Anon. 1932: [Joicey, J. J.] Entomological News 43: 140
  • Anon. 1932: [Joicey, J. J.] London Naturalist 1931: 38
  • Anon. 1932: [Joicey, J. J.] Nature 129: 535, 896
  • Anon. 1932: [Joicey J. J.] Orchid Review 40: 118
  • Anon. 1932: [Joicey J. J.] The Times (16 March) p. 9
  • Gilbert, P. 2000: Butterfly Collectors and Painters: Four Centuries of Colour Plates from the Library Collections of the Natural History Museum, London. Singapore, Beaumont Publishing Pte Ltd: X+166 S, pp. 31–33
  • Riley, N. D. 1932: [Joicey, J. J.] Entomologist 65: 142–144
  • Turner, H. J. 1932: [Joicey, J. J.] Entomologist's Record & Journal of Variation 44: 68

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Joicey, J. J.; Talbot, G., eds. (1924). The Bulletin of the Hill Museum: A Magazine of Lepidoptera. Vol. 1. London: John Bale, Sons and Danielsson Ltd. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Joicey, J. J.; Talbot, G., eds. (1928). The Bulletin of the Hill Museum: A Magazine of Lepidoptera. Vol. 2. London: John Bale, Sons and Danielsson Ltd. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b Joicey, J. J.; Talbot, G., eds. (1929). The Bulletin of the Hill Museum: A Magazine of Lepidoptera. Vol. 3. London: John Bale, Sons and Danielsson Ltd. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Joicey, J. J.; Talbot, G., eds. (1932). The Bulletin of the Hill Museum: A Magazine of Lepidoptera. Vol. 4. London: John Bale, Sons and Danielsson Ltd. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Major Joicey Dead. His Association with Local Coal Industry. Popular Turf Personality". The Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 24 January 1912. p. 7.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Riley, N. D. (1932). "Obituary: James John Joicey". The Entomologist. 65: 142–144.
  7. ^ "Births". The Newcastle Courant. 6 January 1871. p. 8.
  8. ^ "Marriages". The Newcastle Courant. 20 March 1868. p. 8.
  9. ^ "Mr. J. J. Joicey Owner of £50,000 Collection of Butterflies". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 12 March 1932. p. 14.
  10. ^ a b "List of Members, August 3, 1912". Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. LXII: xlvi. 1913. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  11. ^ Walford's County Families of the United Kingdom. London: Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. 1919. pp. 734. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Marriages". The Standard. 20 October 1896. p. 1.
  13. ^ "London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832–1965: Paddington and St Marylebone, Polling District F, No. 5, Bryanston Square Ward, 1921–1925". ancestry.com. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d e "A £100,000 Hobby. The Rarest Pair of Wings in the World. Facing Death for a Butterfly". The Adelaide Chronicle. 24 September 1927. p. 76. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Obituary – Mr. J. J. Joicey – Gifts to the Natural History Museum". The Times. 16 March 1932. p. 9.
  16. ^ a b "£50,000 Collection of Butterflies. Death of an Eminent Naturalist". Sheffield Independent. 12 March 1932. p. 5.
  17. ^ a b Who Was Who: 1929–1940. London: Adam & Charles Black. 1960. p. 722.
  18. ^ a b c "A Fortune for Butterflies. A Collector's Mania. Spends £10,000 a Year". The Star. 6 June 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  19. ^ A List of the Fellows of the Zoological Society of London. London: William Clowes and Sons, Limited. 1924. p. 85.
  20. ^ "Meetings of the Royal Geographical Society, Sessions 1903–1904". The Geographical Journal. XXII: 709. 1903. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  21. ^ Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1915. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1915. pp. xix. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Extracts from the Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society". The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. xxxviii: xxii. 1912. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  23. ^ "December 4th, 1913". Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 126: 3. 1914. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Liste des membres de la société entomologique de France arrêtée au 10 janvier 1930". Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France. 36 (1): XXVIII. 1931. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Obituary". The London Naturalist. 1931: 38. 1932. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Obituary". The Orchid Review. 40: 118. 1932. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Unable to Live on £8,000 a Year". Framlingham Weekly News. 9 July 1910. p. 4.
  28. ^ 1901 Census of England and Wales. RG12/814
  29. ^ "James Joicey & Co. Limited". The Times. 1 December 1913. p. 10.
  30. ^ "King's Bench Division. In re Joicey". The Times. 8 July 1910. p. 3.
  31. ^ "Borrowed Half a Million. Young Man's Dealings with Moneylenders". Daily Mail. 8 February 1922. p. 6.
  32. ^ "Millionaire's Son Again Bankrupt". The Times. 10 February 1922. p. 7.
  33. ^ "Mr. J. J. Joicey's Bankruptcy". The Times. 16 October 1926. p. 4.
  34. ^ a b "Museum Bequest of Northern Bankrupt". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 7 June 1932. p. 1.
  35. ^ a b c "£10,000 A Year for Butterflies – Insects Men Died to Get – Wonder Collection for Nation". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 15 March 1932. p. 9.
  36. ^ "Man Unable to Live on £20,000 a Year". Western Morning News. 15 October 1926. p. 3.
  37. ^ "Will of the Late Major W. J. Joicey". Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 27 March 1912. p. 2.
  38. ^ "Wild Extravagance. Debts of £400,000 in Second Bankruptcy. Remarkable Figures". Western Times. 15 October 1926. p. 12.
  39. ^ "King's Bench Division. A Butterfly Collector and Moneylenders. Jacobs Brothers v. Joicey". The Times. 31 March 1919. p. 4.
  40. ^ "Money Went Like Snow in Oven". Pall Mall Gazette. 7 March 1922. p. 5.
  41. ^ Joicey, Mary (1930). "Find a will". gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  42. ^ "Milestones". Time Magazine. XIX (12). 21 March 1932.
  43. ^ "Deaths". The Times. 14 March 1932. p. 1.
  44. ^ "Arrangements for Today". The Times. 16 March 1932. p. 17.
  45. ^ Joicey, James John (1932). "Find a will". gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  46. ^ a b "Hambledon and Witley Estates". The Surrey Advertiser and County Times. 28 May 1932. p. 7.
  47. ^ a b c Miller, Lee D. (1986). "Presidential Address, 1984: A Tribute to the Amateur" (PDF). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 40 (1): 1–7. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  48. ^ "Wanted". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 30 December 1908. p. 1683. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  49. ^ "Lance-Corpl. Noakes Killed". Surrey Advertiser. 20 November 1916. p. 3.
  50. ^ "Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London for 1912: Wednesday, October 16th, 1912". Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 1912: xcvi. 1913. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  51. ^ "President's Address. 28th January 1953". Proceedings and Transactions of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society. 1952–53: 62. 1954. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  52. ^ "Natural History Society". Surrey Advertiser. 8 August 1914. p. 2.
  53. ^ Barns, Thomas Alexander (1922). The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo. London & New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. v.
  54. ^ "Weddings Today. Mr C. T. Bowring and Miss Parker". The Globe. 29 October 1908. p. 8.
  55. ^ "Expensive Butterflies". Illustrated Police News. 31 August 1916. p. 10.
  56. ^ Harvey, Julie M.V.; Gilbert, Pamela; Martin, Kathy (1996). A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Entomology Library of the Natural History Museum, London. London: Mansell Publishing Limited. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-7201-2290-2. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  57. ^ "Many Local Names in New Year Honours List. Entomologist". Harrow Observer. 9 January 1958. p. 9.
  58. ^ Harvey, Julie M.V.; Gilbert, Pamela; Martin, Kathy (1996). A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Entomology Library of the Natural History Museum, London. London: Mansell Publishing Limited. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-7201-2290-2. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  59. ^ "The Sale Room – Joicey Collection". The Times. 29 April 1932. p. 7.
  60. ^ "Natural History Museum: Gift of Butterfly Collection". The Times. 27 March 1934. p. 17.
  61. ^ "Lepidoptera collections". National History Museum. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  62. ^ "Mr. J. J. Joicey" (PDF). Nature. 129 (3258): 535. 9 April 1932. Bibcode:1932Natur.129Q.535.. doi:10.1038/129535a0. S2CID 27517031. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  63. ^ "Recent Acquisitions at the Natural History Museum" (PDF). Nature. 133 (3361): 490. 31 March 1934. Bibcode:1934Natur.133R.490.. doi:10.1038/133490b0. S2CID 4095228. Retrieved 6 December 2019.

External links

james, john, joicey, december, 1870, march, 1932, english, amateur, entomologist, assembled, extensive, collection, lepidoptera, private, research, museum, called, hill, museum, witley, surrey, collection, years, making, considered, have, been, second, largest. James John Joicey FES 28 December 1870 10 March 1932 was an English amateur entomologist who assembled an extensive collection of Lepidoptera in his private research museum called the Hill Museum in Witley Surrey His collection 40 years in the making was considered to have been the second largest in the world held privately and to have numbered over 1 5 million specimens Joicey was a fellow of the Zoological Society of London the Royal Geographical Society the Royal Entomological Society the Royal Horticultural Society and the Linnean Society of London James John JoiceyFRGS FLS FZS FES FRHSBorn28 December 1870Newcastle upon Tyne EnglandDied10 March 1932 1932 03 10 aged 61 The Hill Witley Surrey EnglandBurial placeHoly Trinity Church SunningdaleOccupationAmateur entomologistKnown forAssembling a collection of over 1 5 million Lepidoptera specimens his Hill Museum research output and his presentations from his collection to the Natural History MuseumNotable workThe Bulletin of the Hill Museum 1921 1932 1 2 3 4 SpouseMaud Muriel Fisher m 1896 wbr Relatives1st Baron Joicey father s cousin 5 Joicey employed specialist entomologists including George Talbot to curate his collection and financed numerous expeditions throughout the world to obtain previously unknown varieties More than 190 scientific articles were produced during the active period of the Hill Museum This body of research was described as a contribution to the study of the exotic Lepidoptera of very great scientific value 6 144 Joicey s donations from his collection made during his life and continuing after his death contributed significantly to the Lepidoptera collection of the Natural History Museum in London Joicey s obituary in The Entomologist described him as undoubtedly the most lavish patron of Entomology in so far as butterflies and moths are concerned that this country has ever boasted 6 142 Contents 1 Life 1 1 Background 1 2 Collecting 1 3 Finances 1 4 Death 2 Collections 3 Legacy 4 Works 4 1 Joicey and Talbot partial list 4 2 Associated with the Hill Museum 5 Notes 6 Summaries 7 References 8 External linksLife EditBackground Edit James John Joicey was born on 28 December 1870 in Newcastle upon Tyne the only child of Major William James Joicey a wealthy coal owner and Mary Anne Joicey nee Clark 5 7 8 He was educated at Aysgarth School Yorkshire and Hertford College Oxford 9 and was an Associate Member of the Institute of Mining Engineers from 1891 10 He was also a member of the Junior Carlton Club 11 Joicey married Maud Muriel Fisher later Baroness de Satge in London in 1896 12 He lived at The Hill in Witley Surrey from about 1912 a Collecting Edit Joicey s boyhood interest in insects was encouraged by his parents and at the age of sixteen he put together a small collection of British and foreign butterflies 6 14 As an adult he rediscovered his boyhood collection and was inspired to start collecting in earnest 14 his active interest dating from 1906 1 He used his resources to indulge a taste for collecting butterflies and moths which remained with him throughout his life He travelled in the East 15 as a young man and although he employed experts to collect most of his specimens also collected on his own account both here and abroad 14 including Europe India China Japan Burma and America 16 17 In 1913 he built and financed a private research museum the Hill Museum at his home in Witley employing a curator and seven assistants 15 In one twelve month period he collected some 17 000 specimens from across the world and was spending up to 10 000 approximately equivalent to 500 000 in 2021 a year on the collection 14 Joicey said How did I manage to spend 10 000 a year on this collection Well these did not come from my back garden I have had to send collectors to the far ends of the earth When my work is done that is when I die I will present the collection to the nation 18 The work has been the ruling passion of my life I don t think I am extravagant as my researches and investigations will be of great value to the nation 16 Joicey became a fellow of the Zoological Society of London in 1890 19 a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1903 20 a fellow of the Entomological Society in 1908 council member 1920 1923 17 21 a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1912 22 a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1913 23 a life member of the Societe entomologique de France in 1921 24 and a member of the London Natural History Society in 1928 25 Joicey was also an amateur orchidist and exhibited at meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society 26 Finances Edit Joicey could afford to build his collection of Lepidoptera through his family connection with the firm of Messrs James Joicey amp Co Ltd coalowners Newcastle founded by his grandfather 5 Although described as having been nominally on the Stock Exchange from 1896 to 1899 27 then in 1901 as a coal owner amp ship owner 28 and in 1913 as a director of the family coal mining firm 29 Joicey effectively had no occupation and throughout his life relied on allowances from his parents His income proved insufficient for his extravagance in living and the interest rates charged by money lenders Joicey became bankrupt in 1909 with a deficiency of over 185 000 approximately equivalent to 20 500 000 in 2021 and again in 1922 with a deficiency of over 430 000 approximately equivalent to 25 000 000 in 2021 despite his mother having given him 300 000 approximately equivalent to 14 200 000 in 2021 in the interim 30 31 32 The latter bankruptcy was discharged in October 1931 33 34 The son of a millionaire for him money meant only one thing more butterflies still rarer specimens than he had already George Talbot Joicey s head curator 1932 35 Joicey s father at one time a millionaire had left over 700 000 approximately equivalent to 73 700 000 in 2021 in his estate in 1912 but his will ensured that no money went directly to his son 36 37 The Witley house and estate were bought for Joicey after his first bankruptcy 38 When sued by creditors in 1919 the judge said He seems hardly to have grown up He seems to have infantile tastes which his mother helps him gratify When counsel stated that Joicey was susceptible to the wiles of the money lenders the judge responded And to the wiles of the butterflies 39 During the 1922 bankruptcy hearing Joicey said I think the money seems to have gone like snow in an oven 40 Death Edit Joicey s mother died in 1930 leaving an estate valued at over 300 000 approximately equivalent to 20 200 000 in 2021 41 Towards the end of his life Joicey became an invalid 35 He died of heart failure on 10 March 1932 at his home The Hill in Witley Surrey aged 61 15 42 43 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church Sunningdale 44 Joicey s estate was valued at 1 151 approximately equivalent to 85 000 in 2021 45 his collection and museum having been principally paid for and owned by his mother 34 46 Collections EditThe primary object of Mr Joicey in making this collection of Lepidoptera is to advance in some way our scientific knowledge The formation of a large collection has its value because without access to plenty of material studies can only be incomplete and results are often erroneous No apology should be needed for amassing large collections George Talbot 1924 1 5 As an adult Joicey began collecting Lepidoptera in 1906 b and by 1908 was advertising as far away as Australia for Fresh caught Specimens of Butterflies and Large Moths in papers Send Samples and state price per hundred 48 He acquired the Henley Grose Smith collection in 1910 Two years later he bought the Herbert Druce collection To house his growing collection he founded the Hill Museum at his Witley home in 1913 1 3 15 Joicey employed curators including Alfred Noakes from 1906 49 50 and George Talbot from 1915 51 with a staff of assistants 6 52 New butterflies from Buru and New Guinea 1 592 Joicey Collection Top left Troides prattorum Top right Charaxes madensis Both were described by Talbot at The Hill to a reporter in 1932 shortly after Joicey s death 35 Between 1913 and 1921 Joicey bought further collections those of Ernst Suffert c 1913 Fritz Ludwig Otto Wichgraf 1913 Col Charles Swinhoe 1916 Roland Trimen 1917 Lt Col C G Nurse 1919 Hamilton Druce 1919 Heinrich Riffarth 1919 Henry John Elwes 1920 and Paul Dognin 1921 He added to these by sending special collectors to explore various regions on his behalf for example the Pratt family to South America and New Guinea and T A Barns to Central Africa Barns dedicated his 1922 book on the Eastern Congo to Joicey his friend and patron 53 W J C Frost who visited the Islands of Tenimber Am Key Misol Obi and Sula during 1915 1918 donated his collection Another collector C Talbot Bowring 54 sent many thousands of specimens from Hainan Island between 1918 and 1920 1 3 4 In 1916 when granting Joicey s curator conditional exemption from military service General Sir J Wodehouse described the collection as probably the finest of its kind in England and Oxford professor E B Poulton wrote that to leave the collection without a competent head would be a national disaster 55 In 1919 the collection was valued at 50 000 approximately equivalent to 2 400 000 in 2021 It consisted of 1 5 million specimens held in a room containing chests of drawers with 5000 compartments neatly arranged round the room and in addition 4000 cases all carefully labelled 18 It was reported that Here were butterflies of all sizes of all colours all arranged in an effective colour grouping In one compartment were great winged beauties half a foot from wing tip to wing tip In another were creatures so small that it needed a microscope to discern their beauty 18 An annexe to the museum over eighty feet long by twenty feet wide approximately 24 by 6 m was built in 1920 1 4 In 1927 it was reported that the main building of the Museum was as large as a dance hall The specimens are kept in special cabinets stacked almost to the roof Here all day long Mr Joicey and his assistants work at arranging and naming the fresh arrivals Some specimens dated from the 1830s and others were from the Stanley expedition of 1871 Some were caught 1 000 miles 1 600 km from land others on the Alpine snowfields They ranged in size from 1 2 inch to 10 inches approximately 1 cm to 25 cm wing spread 14 By 1930 the Hill Museum contained over 380 000 specimens 6 Butterflies from the Joicey collection in a contemporary cabinet at the Haslemere Educational Museum Joicey and his Hill Museum colleagues published more than 190 scientific articles on world Lepidoptera and produced some excellent work especially on the Lepidoptera of New Guinea Hainan Island and Central and Eastern Africa 47 4 These include the four volumes of The Bulletin of the Hill Museum 1921 1932 1 2 3 4 edited by Joicey and Talbot and A Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera in the Hill Museum 1932 56 by Alfred George Gabriel 57 During his lifetime Joicey presented to the Nation between 200 000 and 300 000 Lepidoptera specimens including about 75 000 to the Natural History Museum The latter figure included 15 500 moths and a number of butterflies 1923 his whole collection of over 30 000 Hesperiidae butterflies 1926 6 000 Lymantriidae moths 1928 and in 1931 a series of 800 type butterflies being the most valuable both scientifically and intrinsically received for the past two decades some thousands of moths including over 600 type and paratype moths and 1 500 butterflies including 750 type specimens In 1932 the collection numbered over 500 000 specimens 15 58 59 Shortly after Joicey s death in 1932 the Hill Museum was closed and the property sold by his mother s executors 46 Joicey s obituary in The Entomologist stated that The closing of the Hill Museum and the disbanding of its staff are events which will have serious repercussions throughout the ranks of lepidopterists in all parts of the world and will definitely retard the advance of this science In a comparatively short space of time Mr Joicey accomplished much for his favourite study 6 144 The Hill Museum Hill Museum Exterior Hill Museum Annexe Hill Museum A part of the interior Hill Museum Photomicrographic Department under Mr H J Campbell Joicey second from left and other entomologists at the Hill Museum in 1920Joicey collection examples Delias joiceyi Delias maudei Delias mariae Ornithoptera goliath samson f joiceyi Ornithoptera joyceyi male two Delias Ornithoptera joiceyi female Deudorix maudei Deudorix littoralis male amp female types New Delias from Buru New Delias from New Guinea and Buru New Delias from New Guinea New butterflies from Buru and New Guinea New Sphingidae New Sphingidae New Zygaenidae Milionia four others South American Papilio South American Papilio detail Legacy EditJoicey s Hill Museum produced more than 190 research articles which were published in a range of scientific journals 6 In 1934 the Natural History Museum received more than 300 000 specimens as part of the Joicey Bequest 60 Together with the Oberthur and Rothschild collections the Joicey collection contributed significantly to the quality and number of the Lepidoptera collection held by the Natural History Museum London 15 47 61 62 A report in Nature stated that During his life time the late J J Joicey probably did more to stimulate the study of butterflies and moths especially those of Africa than any other private individual in Great Britain 63 Works EditJoicey and Talbot partial list Edit New Species of Heterocera from Dutch New Guinea Annals and Magazine of Natural History Eighth series 15 87 295 301 pl XII 1915 New Lepidoptera from the Dutch New Guinea with A Noakes Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 63 3 4 361 386 pls LV LXII 1916 New Lepidoptera from the Schouten Islands Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 64 1 65 83 pls 3 6 1916 New Heterocera from Dutch New Guinea Annals and Magazine of Natural History Eighth series 20 115 50 87 pls 1 4 1917 New Lepidoptera from Waigeu Dutch New Guinea and Biak Annals and Magazine of Natural History Eighth series 20 117 216 229 1917 New South American Rhopalocera Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917 259 264 pl I 1918 New South American Arctiidae Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917 265 270 pl I 1918 New butterflies from Africa and the east Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917 271 272 1918 A Gynandromorph of Papilio lycophron Hbn Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917 273 pl II 1918 Three Aberrations of Lepidoptera Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917 275 276 pl I 1918 New forms of Indo Australian butterflies Bulletin of the Hill Museum 1 3 565 569 1924 New forms of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera Encyclopedia of Entomology B III Lepidoptera 2 1 14 1926 New forms of Rhopalocera in the Hill Museum Bulletin of the Hill Museum 2 1 19 27 1928 Also see the BioNames database linking taxonomic names to their original descriptions The majority of the papers are of a purely systematic nature consisting of the description of new species or the revision of various genera but there are several of principally faunistic interest as for example the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Hainan They represent a contribution to the study of the exotic Lepidoptera of very great scientific value Joicey s obituary in The Entomologist 1932 6 144 Associated with the Hill Museum Edit The Bulletin of the Hill Museum 111 articles and 80 plates 6 1921 1921 1924 1924 1928 1929 1931Other journals 82 articles 6 partial list 1914 1916 1916 1921 1921 1924 1924 1927Notes Edit The 1911 Census of England shows another family living at The Hill in April 1911 and Joicey had notified the Institute of Mining Engineers of his address at The Hill by August 1912 10 He is listed in London electoral registers from 1920 to 1925 at Marble Arch as Admiral Joicey 13 According to Miller 47 Joicey first competed with Walter Rothschild to build the world s premier orchid collection but when Joicey went bankrupt the judge made him promise to abandon collecting orchids The details of the anecdote do not match Joicey s known bankruptcies and the story is uncorroborated Summaries EditAnon 1932 Joicey J J Entomological News 43 140 Anon 1932 Joicey J J London Naturalist 1931 38 Anon 1932 Joicey J J Nature 129 535 896 Anon 1932 Joicey J J Orchid Review 40 118 Anon 1932 Joicey J J The Times 16 March p 9 Gilbert P 2000 Butterfly Collectors and Painters Four Centuries of Colour Plates from the Library Collections of the Natural History Museum London Singapore Beaumont Publishing Pte Ltd X 166 S pp 31 33 Riley N D 1932 Joicey J J Entomologist 65 142 144 Turner H J 1932 Joicey J J Entomologist s Record amp Journal of Variation 44 68References Edit a b c d e f g h Joicey J J Talbot G eds 1924 The Bulletin of the Hill Museum A Magazine of Lepidoptera Vol 1 London John Bale Sons and Danielsson Ltd Retrieved 6 December 2019 a b Joicey J J Talbot G eds 1928 The Bulletin of the Hill Museum A Magazine of Lepidoptera Vol 2 London John Bale Sons and Danielsson Ltd Retrieved 6 December 2019 a b Joicey J J Talbot G eds 1929 The Bulletin of the Hill Museum A Magazine of Lepidoptera Vol 3 London John Bale Sons and Danielsson Ltd Retrieved 6 December 2019 a b Joicey J J Talbot G eds 1932 The Bulletin of the Hill Museum A Magazine of Lepidoptera Vol 4 London John Bale Sons and Danielsson Ltd Retrieved 6 December 2019 a b c Major Joicey Dead His Association with Local Coal Industry Popular Turf Personality The Newcastle Daily Chronicle 24 January 1912 p 7 a b c d e f g h i j Riley N D 1932 Obituary James John Joicey The Entomologist 65 142 144 Births The Newcastle Courant 6 January 1871 p 8 Marriages The Newcastle Courant 20 March 1868 p 8 Mr J J Joicey Owner of 50 000 Collection of Butterflies Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 12 March 1932 p 14 a b List of Members August 3 1912 Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers LXII xlvi 1913 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Walford s County Families of the United Kingdom London Ballantyne amp Co Ltd 1919 pp 734 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Marriages The Standard 20 October 1896 p 1 London England Electoral Registers 1832 1965 Paddington and St Marylebone Polling District F No 5 Bryanston Square Ward 1921 1925 ancestry com Retrieved 2 December 2019 a b c d e A 100 000 Hobby The Rarest Pair of Wings in the World Facing Death for a Butterfly The Adelaide Chronicle 24 September 1927 p 76 Retrieved 22 November 2019 a b c d e f Obituary Mr J J Joicey Gifts to the Natural History Museum The Times 16 March 1932 p 9 a b 50 000 Collection of Butterflies Death of an Eminent Naturalist Sheffield Independent 12 March 1932 p 5 a b Who Was Who 1929 1940 London Adam amp Charles Black 1960 p 722 a b c A Fortune for Butterflies A Collector s Mania Spends 10 000 a Year The Star 6 June 1919 p 4 Retrieved 20 November 2019 A List of the Fellows of the Zoological Society of London London William Clowes and Sons Limited 1924 p 85 Meetings of the Royal Geographical Society Sessions 1903 1904 The Geographical Journal XXII 709 1903 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1915 London Longmans Green amp Co 1915 pp xix Retrieved 6 December 2019 Extracts from the Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society xxxviii xxii 1912 Retrieved 6 December 2019 December 4th 1913 Proceedings of the Linnean Society 126 3 1914 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Liste des membres de la societe entomologique de France arretee au 10 janvier 1930 Bulletin de la Societe entomologique de France 36 1 XXVIII 1931 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Obituary The London Naturalist 1931 38 1932 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Obituary The Orchid Review 40 118 1932 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Unable to Live on 8 000 a Year Framlingham Weekly News 9 July 1910 p 4 1901 Census of England and Wales RG12 814 James Joicey amp Co Limited The Times 1 December 1913 p 10 King s Bench Division In re Joicey The Times 8 July 1910 p 3 Borrowed Half a Million Young Man s Dealings with Moneylenders Daily Mail 8 February 1922 p 6 Millionaire s Son Again Bankrupt The Times 10 February 1922 p 7 Mr J J Joicey s Bankruptcy The Times 16 October 1926 p 4 a b Museum Bequest of Northern Bankrupt Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 7 June 1932 p 1 a b c 10 000 A Year for Butterflies Insects Men Died to Get Wonder Collection for Nation Dundee Evening Telegraph 15 March 1932 p 9 Man Unable to Live on 20 000 a Year Western Morning News 15 October 1926 p 3 Will of the Late Major W J Joicey Newcastle Daily Chronicle 27 March 1912 p 2 Wild Extravagance Debts of 400 000 in Second Bankruptcy Remarkable Figures Western Times 15 October 1926 p 12 King s Bench Division A Butterfly Collector and Moneylenders Jacobs Brothers v Joicey The Times 31 March 1919 p 4 Money Went Like Snow in Oven Pall Mall Gazette 7 March 1922 p 5 Joicey Mary 1930 Find a will gov uk Retrieved 14 November 2019 Milestones Time Magazine XIX 12 21 March 1932 Deaths The Times 14 March 1932 p 1 Arrangements for Today The Times 16 March 1932 p 17 Joicey James John 1932 Find a will gov uk Retrieved 14 November 2019 a b Hambledon and Witley Estates The Surrey Advertiser and County Times 28 May 1932 p 7 a b c Miller Lee D 1986 Presidential Address 1984 A Tribute to the Amateur PDF Journal of the Lepidopterists Society 40 1 1 7 Retrieved 20 November 2019 Wanted The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser 30 December 1908 p 1683 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Lance Corpl Noakes Killed Surrey Advertiser 20 November 1916 p 3 Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London for 1912 Wednesday October 16th 1912 Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1912 xcvi 1913 Retrieved 6 December 2019 President s Address 28th January 1953 Proceedings and Transactions of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society 1952 53 62 1954 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Natural History Society Surrey Advertiser 8 August 1914 p 2 Barns Thomas Alexander 1922 The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo London amp New York G P Putnam s Sons pp v Weddings Today Mr C T Bowring and Miss Parker The Globe 29 October 1908 p 8 Expensive Butterflies Illustrated Police News 31 August 1916 p 10 Harvey Julie M V Gilbert Pamela Martin Kathy 1996 A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Entomology Library of the Natural History Museum London London Mansell Publishing Limited pp 114 115 ISBN 0 7201 2290 2 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Many Local Names in New Year Honours List Entomologist Harrow Observer 9 January 1958 p 9 Harvey Julie M V Gilbert Pamela Martin Kathy 1996 A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Entomology Library of the Natural History Museum London London Mansell Publishing Limited pp 114 115 ISBN 0 7201 2290 2 Retrieved 6 December 2019 The Sale Room Joicey Collection The Times 29 April 1932 p 7 Natural History Museum Gift of Butterfly Collection The Times 27 March 1934 p 17 Lepidoptera collections National History Museum Retrieved 15 November 2019 Mr J J Joicey PDF Nature 129 3258 535 9 April 1932 Bibcode 1932Natur 129Q 535 doi 10 1038 129535a0 S2CID 27517031 Retrieved 22 November 2019 Recent Acquisitions at the Natural History Museum PDF Nature 133 3361 490 31 March 1934 Bibcode 1934Natur 133R 490 doi 10 1038 133490b0 S2CID 4095228 Retrieved 6 December 2019 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to James John Joicey Works by or about James John Joicey at Internet Archive James John Joicey at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title James John Joicey amp oldid 1144468590, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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