A Piece of Natural History

Our new collection of 1830s watercolours—depicting flowers, leaves, butterflies and other insects—were exquisitely painted by Louisa Hare (1776–1853), who was married to Captain James Hare (1772–1826) of Whittern estate at Lyonshall in Herefordshire. They are a mixture of subjects observed locally from nature and what appear to be decorative compositions combining native and more exotic species. As such, the paintings reflect the varied threads of popular naturalism in the early 19th century. Interpreted through the female domestic sphere, where natural history was learnt alongside literature and the arts, some of the paintings also incorporate quotations from Romantic poetic verse.

Interestingly, it was at Kington (less than three miles from Lyonshall) in 1839 that the young naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS (1823–1913) was first inspired by the natural landscape and flora around him and began to develop an interest in natural history subjects. Living at Kington, Wallace became associated with the newly formed Kington Mechanics' Institution—and went on to become one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century.