‘Send me a moss’
30th November 1814, ‘On This Day’ 210 years ago, Ellen Hutchins wrote to Dawson Turner. This is the last letter of their seven and a half year correspondence. Read the letter HERE
‘Send me a moss’
Ellen ends poignantly with ‘Send me a moss anything just to look at’. There is no record to show us whether Dawson Turner did select a moss, fold it into a paper ‘envelope’ and send it to Ellen.
I asked a leading Irish bryologist, Rory Hodd, to show me what he would send, if asked to do so now. He sent me the photo above and this note:
“The moss is Sematophyllum substrumulosum, which I discovered new to West Cork a couple of weeks ago, near Leap. Maybe not a species that Turner would have sent to Ellen back then (it wasn’t known in Britain or Ireland at the time), but it seemed apt, as both Jubula hutchinsiae and Cephaloziella turneri were growing nearby.”
It does seem very apt. Both the liverworts Rory mentions growing nearby were new discoveries that Ellen found in West Cork. They were named by William Jackson Hooker, and at the time were called Jungermannia (not Jubula and Cephaloziella). Hooker gave Jungermannia hutchinsiae pride of place as the first entry in his book Jungermanniae Britannica with a lovely dedication to Ellen. In his description of Jungermannia turnerii, he thanked Dawson Turner for all the support he had given, and said that he was delighted to be able to link two notable botanists, Dawson Turner and Ellen Hutchins by naming the plant she found after Turner.
Bryophytes and bryologists in Ellen’s story
Mosses and liverworts (bryophytes) are as significant in Ellen’s story as seaweeds. The seaweeds tend to be given more attention as they are visually dramatic and we have Ellen’s paintings of them as well as her specimens and descriptions. Ellen wrote that she was drawing mosses, however no drawings or paintings of them have been found.
Many of the botanists with whom she worked most closely were very keen bryologists (studying mosses and liverworts) including Dr Whitley Stokes, Dawson Turner, William Jackson Hooker and her cousin Thomas Taylor. James Mackay was delighted that Ellen chose to focus her attention on mosses (and lichens) after her initial foray into seaweeds. They all, Ellen included, found mosses to be beautiful things but also puzzling.
Recent research by Mark Hill and Chris Preston, published by the British Bryology Society (which covers Ireland) shows that Ellen Hutchins was the only female Irish or British bryologist before the 20th century to find new species. (Matilda Knowles is the notable female Irish 20th century bryologist.)
Ellen’s final illness
Ellen wrote that she had been ill for 16 months but that she was now recovering. Unfortunately this did not prove to be the case and she died at Ardnagashel, just over two months after writing her last letter, on 9th February 1814, shortly before her 30th birthday.
‘My dear companion’
Ellen was referring to her mother who had died in March 1814. Ellen cared for her mother for at least nine years.
‘The best pleasure’
It is clear how much Ellen valued her correspondence with Dawson Turner. In total 120 letters have survived, 70 from Ellen to Dawson Turner and 50 from Dawson Turner to Ellen. The full text of 40 letters appeared in Michael Mitchell’s paper for Glasnevin – Early Observations on the Flora of Southwest Ireland: Selected Letters of Ellen Hutchins and Dawson Turner 1807 – 1814. This was published in 1999 and is out of print.
Work has been underway over the past few years preparing transcriptions of the whole of the correspondence. This is nearly complete. You can read the letters from 1807 to 1809 and 1811 to 1814 on the website HERE 1810 will be finished soon and should be available by the beginning of February 2025 and possibly before that.
Moss, magnificent moss
Turning back to end on moss, as that seems apt. If you are interested in looking at moss yourself, the Ellen Hutchins website has resources on mosses and liverworts (bryophytes) including Rory’s book, a free leaflet to download, family Moss Hunting activities as well as the story of how and why some of Ellen’s bryophyte specimens are in the Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden. HERE
A beautiful new book, Moss and Lichen, by Elizabeth Lawson, is being published by Reaktion Books on 16th December and can be pre-ordered now. HERE The author, Elizabeth Lawson, made contact with the Festival some years ago asking for images to illustrate Ellen’s story. She wrote recently to say that Ellen has a place of honour in the book and other female bryologists covered include Matilda Knowles. We are delighted that Elizabeth Lawson will be giving a talk at the 2025 Ellen Hutchins Festival (16th to 24th August).
Read the 30th November 1814 letter from Ellen HERE
Madeline Hutchins
30th November 2024