British Museum (Natural History): Department of Palaeontology: Fossil and Recent...

This series contains the correspondence of members of Fossil and Recent Protozoa Section and its predecessors. Although the earliest papers date from 1894, most postdate 1920. The series deals with enquiries from other institutions and occasionally from the public on the subject of the classification of Foraminifera and other Protozoa.

There is some correspondence from oil and gas companies in the Middle East seeking professional advice.

Series held at The Natural History Museum are catalogued more fully in its online catalogue (reference DF PAL/125). Online descriptions of some individual records can also be viewed on Discovery, see DF 125.

The series is arranged in alphabetical order and all correspondence has been amalgamated. There is a partial index of correspondents in item 1.

Related papers are held in the Heron-Allen Library and in the Sponge correspondence of Maurice Burton.

Topics

Oil and gas

Museums and galleries

Middle East

The Section originated in the Zoology Department and underwent a series of changes in administrative structure and function. Although there were important collections of Protozoa in the Museum by the end of the 19th century, a distinct section did not appear until 1932 with the 'Sponges, Protozoa and Marine Deposits Section', under the charge of Maurice Burton (1898-1992). The name was changed to 'Sponges and Protozoa Section' in 1933, and in 1956 it was divided into separate Sponge and Protozoa sections when Ronald Henderson Hedley (b 1928) joined the staff. Cameron Darrell Ovey (1909-1978) had been appointed to the Section in 1939 to specialise in Foraminifera, and the collection of fossil specimens were transferred from the Geology Department for him to study. This led to the creation of a separate 'Foraminifera Section' in 1945, which was led successively by Ovey, Norman Tebble and Charles Geoffrey Adams (b 1926). In 1968 the Foraminifera Section and its collections were transferred to the Department of Palaeontology, to become the 'Protozoa Section', changing its name to 'Micropalaeontology and Palynology Section' in 1990.

Two unofficial workers have made important contributions in this area. Edward Heron-Allen (1861-1943) served as Honorary Curator of Foraminifera in the Zoology Department from 1925 until his death, and sold much of his library and collections to the Museum. Arthur George Davis (1892-1957) was an Honorary Associate working on Foraminifera in the Geology Department from 1948 to 1957.