FORMER SUFFOLK NATURALISTS II* 2.
Edmund Skepper
man is of interest to Suffolk Naturalists as the author of the Flora of Suffolk published in 1846. He was born at Oulton, on 20th October, 1825, and was trained as a druggist, probably by apprenticeship and worked at Harwich. In 1843 he was appointed as druggist to the Suffolk General Hospital in Bury St. Edmunds (now the West Suffolk General Hospital). While holding this appointment he married the daughter of Mr. Nunn, the druggist in the town and later joined the business. This business has continued up to the present time and until recently has been known by the name of Nunn, Hinneil, and Burdon. He produced his Flora and included the name of Professor John Henslow as coauthor without Professor Henslow's consent, though no doubt Professor Henslow had given much help and this was Skepper's way of acknowledging his advice and authority. The Herbarium he collected when working on the Flora was given to the British Museum. THIS
He died in 1867 and was buried in Bury St. Edmunds. This flora remained the only one available until a much more extensive volume was produced by 3.
The Reverend Doctor William Hind
This man was one of that great Company of clergymen who were also amateur naturalists. He was born near Belfast of a Yorkshire family for his father had come over and set up a cotton mill there. He was educated at Belfast Academy and Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1839. " He took Holy Orders and was appointed curate at Derriaghy, Co. Down, where he first developed an interest in botany. He came to England and was appointed curate at Pulverback (1845-48) and held various other appointments that included perpetual curate of Pinner where he went to live in 1861 and made a careful study of the plants of Middlesex, which he reported in the Journal of Botany in 1871, giving the location of many of his finds. A note, however, of his finding the fern Cystopteris fragilis (L) Bernh. so much further south than usual, says it is new to Middlesex and "the exact locality is for evident reasons withheld". He made a prolonged visit to Cornwall and listed over 500 plants that he had found, communicating this information to the Journal of Botany in 1873 and a comment is made that no similar investigation had been carried out since that done by William Turner in the 16th Century. *See also F o r m e r Suffolk Naturalists, Vol. 13, page 406.