FORMER SUFFOLK
NATURALISTS
FRANCIS SIMPSON
ARTHUR MAYFIELD, FLS (1869-1956) When Arthur Mayfield passed away on the 9th May, 1956, the Society lost not only one of its Original Members but an outstanding naturalist. He was known to few members as he rarely attended meetings, but his extensive and expert knowledge was sought by those studying the Cryptogamic Flora and the Molluscs of the county; he was the Recorder for both these sections until his death. His records of Suffolk fungi were published in our Transactions and those of Hepatics, Mosses and Lichens in the Journal of the Ipswich & District Natural History Society in 1930. These species lists have been little revised in subsequent years. Arthur Mayfield was born in Norwich and became a teacher there. At the age of 27 he was appointed Headmaster of Mendlesham School, arriving in a pony-trap driven by a local farmer. He stayed in this post until his retirement in 1931. Like John Stevens Henslow of Hitchin in the last Century, he taught and interested the village children in natural history and thoroughly searched and recorded the flora of Mendlesham. Mayfield was also an authority on earthworms and possessed a wide knowledge of local history and archaeology. I remember him as distinguished-looking, yet modest and retiring, and a little lacking in ambition for I am sure that if he had sought promotion he would have earned high honours for his work. He attended the field meetings of the Ipswich Naturalists and led fungus forays, but he used public transport or a cycle as he did not possess a car. His daughter, Mrs Lucas, told me that as a girl she would cycle with him to Redgrave Fen, where many of his records were made. The countryside then had more hedges, and in spring the air would be filled with the scent of the flowering Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola L.) as they cycled along the lanes. One of the last things he did for me was to identify the 41 species of shells I had collected from the Shell Beach of Herrn. His herbarium is at the Castle Museum, Norwich, and a cabinet of Land and Freshwater Shells, mainly from Suffolk, is at the Ipswich Museum. STEPHEN JOHN BATCHELDER, FLS (1870-1949) Stephen Batchelder was also a teacher, and was a friend of Mayfield. He taught biology and botany, first at Norwich, and from 1906 until his retirement in 1934 at Ipswich. He was born at Yarmouth, where his father was an artist, and he inherited some of his father's artistic qualities, as can be seen from some of his illuminated testimonials and certificates. He helped found the Ipswich Field Club in 1906, and was the leader of many of the field meetings of that Society. From 1924 he also led field meetings of the Ipswich Naturalists. I found him very helpful in my early days when working on the Suffolk Flora. He was kind and unassuming. Both Stephen Batchelder and Arthur Mayfield wrote in the beautiful copybook style then taught in schools.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 22
63
FORMER S U F F O L K N A T U R A L I S T S
Photograph:
A r t h u r M a y f i e l d ( r i g h t ) a n d Stephen Batchelder i n S h r u b l a n d P a r k , C o d d e n h a m , 26th June, 1937. T h i s is the o n l y k n o w n p h o t o g r a p h of the t w o naturalists together.
Francis Simpson 40 R u s k i n R o a d , Ipswich I P 4 1PT
Trans. Suffolk
Nat. Soc. 22