Sub-sub-fonds
British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Fish Section: Correspondence
Catalogue reference: DF 233
What’s it about?
This record is about the British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Fish Section: Correspondence dating from 1906-1934.
Is it available online?
Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Can I see it in person?
Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- DF 233
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Title (The name of the record)
- British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Fish Section: Correspondence
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1906-1934
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Description (What the record is about)
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The series consists of the correspondence of successive heads of the Fish Section of the Museum. Letters are concerned with the presentation, purchase and exchange of specimens, with the enquiries of professional zoologists and members of the public, and with the research projects of Museum staff. Letters come from institutions and individuals all over the world, including The Indian Museum, Calcutta, The American Museum of Natural History, New York, and the editorial office of The Fishing Gazette, London. Along with the letters there are a sketches, diagrams, newspaper cuttings, photographs, scales and dried fish skin.
Series held at The Natural History Museum are catalogued more fully in its online catalogue (reference DF ZOO/233). Online descriptions of some individual records can also be viewed on Discovery, see DF 233.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The Natural History Museum Archives, London
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 20 boxes and files
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
- DF 233/1-2 were transferred to the archives in 1990, the remainder in 1995.
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Research
- Museums and galleries
- Fishing
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
- Boulenger's letters on reptiles, amphibians and fish were kept together in the Reptile Section until the fish letters in DF 233/3-5 were removed in about 1970.
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Fish were curated within the 'Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish Section' with George Albert Boulenger (1858-1937) as Head of Section from 1881. Although Boulenger's main achievements were with the reptiles, he published extensively on the freshwater fish of Africa, and retained responsibility for this group until his resignation in 1920. Charles Tate Regan (1878-1943), who had studied zoology at Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick, joined the Museum in 1901 and worked on fish under Boulenger until he was given charge of the separate Fish Section about 1913. He was particularly interested in geographical distribution, higher classification and phylogeny of fish. John Roxborough Norman (1898-1944) joined the Museum from Imperial College, London, in 1921, and took over responsibility for the Section on Tate Regan's appointment as Keeper of Zoology. He worked on fish collected on the 'Discovery', 'Antarctica', John Murray and Cambridge Suez Canal expeditions, and was responsible for a complete reorganisation of the Fish Gallery which was completed in 1936. At the same time he was reorganising the spirit collection from its original Gunther-order to an order devised by Tate Regan. Norman was transferred to Tring as Officer in Charge in 1939.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C15982/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
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Catalogue hierarchy
You are currently looking at the sub-sub-fonds: DF 233
British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Fish Section: Correspondence