Transcript

of

John Edward Lee  [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1888, Vol XX, pp.34-36.

by

Rev. W. Harpley

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1888 Exeter meeting. A potted biography of Ironmaster and Antiquarian; John Edward Lee together with his photograph is presented here. Torquay’s splendid Headland Hotel was originally named The Villa Syracusa, sometime home to Mr and Mrs Lee. It was initially a private home built for the Russian Romanoff family. While the Romanoff family were in residence, they entertained the family at the Villa. During their absences, the villa was often let privately. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

John Edward Lee was born at Newland, Hull, December 21st, 1808. His father having died when he was very young, he was brought up by two uncles, Avison and John Terry, and at sixteen he entered their shipping office, in HulL From the earliest period of his life he took an interest in science, beginning with Entomology, and while living at Hull he took an active part in the Royal Institution there. Frequently, at the end of the day's work, he would shut himself in the Museum, and stay far into the night arranging the specimens it contained.

His health failing, he travelled abroad, first in Norway and Sweden, afterwards in Russia and other parts of the Continent. During these tours he sketched, and also mastered French and German thoroughly.

In 1841 he entered the Iron Works of J. J. Cordes & Co., Newport, Monmouthshire, where he spent the best years of his life.

In 1846 he married Miss Gravely, of Torquay, and they resided at the Priory, Caerleon, till 1868, when anxiety for Mrs. Lee's health decided his removal to Villa Syracusa, Torquay; but he still constantly went back to Monmouthshire for many years.

During all the years of his residence at Caerleon, and later at Torquay, until failing health compelled him to abandon many of his cherished pursuits in life, he worked steadily and uninterruptedly at various branches of science, principally at Geology and Archaeology.

He was one of the founders of the Monmouthshire and Caerleon Antiquarian Society, to the Proceedings of which he frequently contributed. He also aided in the formation of the Museum at Caerleon, publishing, under the title of Isca Silurum, an Illustrated Catalogue of the Roman remains discovered at Caerleon, the ancient capital of the "Silures."

He exchanged fossils with geologists in all parts of the world, and carried on a large correspondence with many foreigners, who had either visited his collection at Caerleon or Torquay, or whom he had met during his numerous Continental travels, or others in America and elsewhere with whom he had no personal acquaintance. All his journeys were undertaken with a scientific object, and he was in the habit of carrying small sketch-books with him when travelling, the contents of which he utilized in his publications, many of his sketches appearing in The Note-Book of an Amateur Geologist, published in 1881. His principal work was a translation and revision (assisted by the author) of Dr. Keller's Lake Dwellings of Switzerland, printed in 1866, and a second edition (in two volumes) in 1878. All the plates for this work, 206 in number, were drawn by Mr. Lee for the English edition, and illustrate more than 2500 objects, obtained from between two and three thousand separate lake dwellings. Mr. Lee's other works are: Roman Imperial Photographs and Roman Imperial Profiles (the latter being a series of more than 160 lithographic profiles, enlarged from coins), both published in 1874.

A translation of Conrad Merck's Excavations at the Kesslerloch, near Thayingen, Switzerland, a cave of the reindeer period, followed in 1876; and an English version of Prof. Roemer's Bone Cave of Ojcow, in Poland, in 1884.

One of Mr. Lee's most interesting geological expeditions was made to Italy in 1868, in company with one of his earliest friends, Prof. J. Phillips, of Oxford, to study the phenomena of Vesuvius, then in active eruption. Ten years later (1878) he visited the Eifel district, where, being joined by Prof. Ferdinand Roemer, of Breslau, the historian of the Devonian rocks of this region, a delightful fortnight was spent in collecting the fossils of Georlstein, Prüm, and other localities.

Mr. Lee contributed several important papers to the Geological Magazine on points in Devonian geology, which he had worked out. He was the original discoverer of many fossils described by the late Mr. J. W. Salter, F.G.S., as Homalonotus Johannis, &c. He gave his most valuable and extensive collection, contained in thirty-one cabinets, and comprising upwards of 21,000 specimens, to the British Museum (Natural History) in 1885. This collection embraces not only a large series of British fossils from all formations, many of which have been figured and described, but a most valuable and instructive collection from almost every important European locality where fossils abound.

Mr. Lee was a Member of the British Association, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He became a Member of this Association in 1872, and in 1874 he read a paper entitled “Notes on Trappean Rocks." He was also a Member of the Torquay Natural History Society, &c.

Although his bodily powers began of late years to fail, his intellect remained bright, especially on all matters of science, to the last, and after he failed^ to write he dictated and signed many letters, giving clear tmd accurate scientific information to correspondents, and he was full of plans and ideas for the furtherance of science up to the end. He died at his residence, Villa Syracusa, on 18th August, 1887.