Naturalists and Visitors - Gower - page 16

in the Neighbourhood of Swansea and in 1840 he privately printed his Contributions Towards a History
of Swansea , which included a list of the rarer flowering plants that had been found within 20 miles (32
kilometres) of the town. The list was apparently compiled in great haste and 300 copies were printed for
sale at a bazaar in aid of Swansea Infirmary. As Carter (1952) noted, 'Perhaps this is the only occasion
upon which a Flora has been compiled with such a charitable end in view.'
In1848theBritishAssociationhelditsannualmeetinginSwanseaandDillwyn,whowasChairofthe
Natural History Section, privately published his Materials for a Fauna and Flora of Swansea. The botan-
ical section of this was an expansion of his 1840 list and included localities for 267 species of flowering
plants, ferns and stoneworts. Gower plants recorded in the topic include stinking hellebore Helleborus
foetidus from Parkmill, where it still grows, and herb-paris Paris quadrifolia , which is recorded from a
number of woods including Nicholaston. Also included was a list of 93 bird species, and this relatively
small total reflects the limitations of his contacts and their interests. Interestingly the topic also contains a
short list of beetles collected by Alfred Russel Wallace, the celebrated naturalist, evolutionist, geographer
and anthropologist, who at that time was engaged in helping his brother survey the ground for the new
railway line through the Neath valley. It is not clear if any of the beetles collected were from Gower.
FIG 8. Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778-1855), an inspiring local naturalist who encouraged and supported many oth-
ers. (Swansea Museum)