The British Naturalist's Association

Wild Plants as Herbs and The Coxhead Bequest of British Botanic Illustrations

By Roger Tabor

Following the death of Mrs Joan Coxhead (nee Nisbet) the collection of watercolour botanical illustrations painted by her husband, George William Hebden Coxhead, have been generously donated to The British Naturalists’ Association by their nephew Derek W. Everard in accordance with his aunt’s wishes. The Council and members of the Association are most grateful to Derek Everard, Joan and Will Coxhead for this invaluable collection.

Will and Joan were long time members of the Association, and most of Will’s illustrations were made from live specimens seen during BNA (then BENA) rambles. They were both active members of Kent Branches.

The BNA is also grateful to Alan Major who provided both Derek and BNA Council with additional information and materials on Will’s life, and has presented one of Will’s collecting boxes to the BNA’s archive collection.

Will was born on 12 January 1884, and died on 16 April, 1962. Will had a younger brother and sister, George and Catherine (who was the mother of Derek Everard). Will’s first wife was Gertrude Maria Kennedy, and they married in 1910. Two years later their only son, George Douglas, was born. Sadly aged just 18 he died of meningitis, and the grief weakened Gertrude’s health. They lived in Bromley, Kent, and Will was employed at the Westminster Bank for most of his working life.

Alan Major’s collection tin Photo © Roger Tabor

During the Second World War they moved down to Paignton in Devon, but later returned to Bromley. In 1951 Gertrude died, and in the following year when he was 68, Will married his cousin Constance, who was 67, and a widow herself. Unfortunately she was not in good health, and Will nursed her until her death in 1957.

Wild Thyme drawn by Will Coxhead Photo © Liz Artindale/BNA

One year later Will married Joan Nisbet, who was 21 years younger, and unmarried. They had met through their mutual membership of their local BNA branch in Kent. They were to enjoy nearly four years of happy married life until Will died aged 78 at their Bromley home in 1962. Joan lived on until April 2000 when she died aged 95.

Some long term members of BNA remember Joan well, such as our Membership Secretary, Yvonne Griffiths. Rosa Davis, a long term stalwart of the West Kent Branch went on a BNA holiday together with Joan during the Second World War, and remained friends at the branch over the years. Rosa accompanied Doris Hutchins, the Secretary of the West Kent Branch for many years, on a visit to see Joan at a nursing home in Sevenoaks shortly before she died in 2000.

Joan herself was secretary of the Mid Kent Branch of BNA in the late 1940’s early 1950’s and kept the branch portfolios. She was a regular attendee at BNA meetings and conferences. Alan Major joined the mid Kent branch in 1947, a little after joining BNA. Alan was at Rochester Art School as a student, when by chance he came across a copy of "Country-side" containing a small advertisement with a plea for help in gathering botanic specimens put in by Will.

For many years Will had dedicated a large part of his free time to drawing and painting a representative collection of the British flora. After what had been virtually a normal lifetime’s work. Will was devastated when his collection of illustrations were destroyed by an incendiary bomb, that crashed through the roof of his home. However, his resolve was undaunted, and he began again even though in his mid-60’s.

Will’s wife of that time was bed-ridden, and it made it hard for Will to travel about. Both Alan and Joan answered Will’s call for help and he gave them 2 metal collecting boxes each (10" x 4" x 2"). One was used to send specimens to him through the post, while the other was for field collecting.

When a specimen was provided by Alan or Joan, Will noted this on his paintings with their initials (AM for Alan Major, and JN for Joan Nisbett). When Alan went into the Air Force he was able to gather specimens from Barnack and other areas near to his Northampton posting. He continued to collect for Will until the end of the 1950’s.

Alan has a collection of typed letters from Will from their period of collaboration, some of which he has kindly given to the BNA archive. They reveal a dedicated naturalist who loved plants but one who modestly underestimated his skill.

5 Rochester Avenue
Bromley, Kent
5th July, 1953.

Dear Alan,

A short note to thank you for box of flowers and name them as well as I am able. - Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea L.) A lovely sight when it covers a hillside, half hidden by grass, as it did last year near Otford.

- Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigra). The hairs on the anthers make the flower a thing of stupendous beauty under a pocket lens.
- Common Storksbill (Erodium circutarium)
- Field Woundwort (Stachys arvensis)
- Sharp-fruited Cornsalad (Valerianella rimosa)

By the same post Joan sent me the Great Burnet Saxifrage. Have been trying to paint it ever since received! I think you need a dark ground for those Umbels. Can’t get it right.

Yours, Will

Another note dated 30th October, 1955, shows he went to BNA (then BENA) meetings when he could:

The BENA Jubilee show was very good. Didn’t stop for tea when Mrs. Seth-Smith was going to cut the cake as I don’t like leaving home too long, but the films – Hornets, Buzzards, and Dippers – were magnificent. Magnificent sketches too. Didn’t see you but there was a crowd.

Yours, Will

Alan regarded Will as a father figure, and says he will ever be grateful to him for having taught him botany, and for encouraging him to paint and to write natural history articles and books.Alan wrote articles for ‘Country-side’, and other magazines, and went on to become a journalist and author of 18 books. However, Alan regrets that Will did not live to see the publication of his first book.

I chose a selection of 42 plates from the Coxhead Bequest that were exhibited at the annual conference to show the breadth of species and the remarkable quality of illustrations and attention to botanic detail. Will was a vegetarian, and a great believer in natural herbal cures. I also chose some to be compatible with Will’s trust in healing plants. Some plants such as Tansy and the Wild Carrot were drawn at Paignton during the War after Will and his wife’s move to Devon.

Tansy, which Will drew of a South Devon plant, appropriate for the conference as it was from Woodhuish, only 6 miles up the coast from Slapton. It has yellow button flowers, and the leaves of this toxic plant are powerful insect repellents.

The plant Will calls Strong Scented Lettuce, is commonly just called Wild Lettuce today, and has a traditional use as a sedative. Will called Senecio squalidus Inelegant Ragwort when he drew it in 1942, while today this now widespread alien is normally called Oxford Ragwort. He often showed his fascination with fine detail and microscope work with a layout of flower components, superby drawn for the Oxford Ragwort. Lime flowers from the flowers of Common Lime, so well drawn by Will, makes a traditional calming sedative tea, very popular in France. Colourful and clove-scented, Will’s specimen of Soapwort originated just 10 miles from Slapton, at Goodrington, at the southern end of Paignton. It’s a showy plant packed with saponins, which have made its dried roots a useful source of a gentle soap. The Round-leaved Mint of Scabbacombe Sands is the delightfully scented Apple-leaved Mint.

The tireless dedication and delight of botanic illustration for its own sake meant that Will Coxhead gradually built up an impressive, systematic collection. Both Will and Joan (and Alan too) enjoyed years of taking active part in BNA activities and rambles, which give rise to many of his specimen plants. The Coxhead Bequest has become a wonderful resource for BNA. It also shows BNA at its best, with support for Will’s project provided by co-operative dedication of branch members, plus Will’s enthusiasm and expertise provided excellent training for Alan Major as a young naturalist, to such an extent that the experience transformed Alan’s life, and he became a natural history author.

The Selection of Illustrations from the Coxhead Bequest on Exhibition at the BNA Annual Conference 2002:

Index No.
49-383-3 Senecio aquaticus, Water Ragwort, Wrotham, Kent 1949.
49-377-1 Tanacetum vulgare, Common Tansy, Woodhuish, S. Devon 1942.
49-428-2 Tragopogora pratensis, Yellow Goats Beard, Goodrington, 1942.
49-391-1 Carlina vulgaris, Common Carline Thistle, Goodrington, 1943.
49-425-1 Lactuca virosa, Strong-scented Lettuce, Bromley, Kent, 1946.
49-427-2 Sonchus arvensis, Corn Sowthistle, Borough Green, Kent, 1950.
49-409-1 Cicorium intybus, Chichory, Goodrington, 1942.
49-383-7 Senecio squalidus, Inelegant Ragwort, Goodrington, 1942.
42-282-1 Daucus carota, Wild Carrrot, Paignton 1942/44.
42-274-1 Angelica sylvestris, Wild Angelica, Cockington, 1942.
31-153-3 Medicago sativa, Lucerne Alfalfa, Guernsey, 1955.
31-153-5 Medicago maculata, Spotted Medick, Goodrington, 1942.
25-137-1 Euonymus europueus, Common Spindle, Compton, 1941/42.
22-127-11 Geranium rotundifolium, Round-leaved Crane’s-bill, Compton, 1941.
19-123-2 Tilia intermedia, Common Lime, Bromley, Kent, 1946.
19-123-3 Tilia cordata, Smal-leaved Lime, Sheepscombe, Glos. 1953.
13-95-1 Saponaria officinalis, Common Soapwort, Goodrington, 1942.
9-87-3 Helianthemum polifolium, White Rockrose, Torquay, 1942.
6-77-1 Cakile maritima, Purple Sea Rocket, Paignton, 1942.
82-632-2 Mercurialis annua, Annual Mercury, Twickenham, 1943.
76-618-14 Rumex acetosa, Common Sorrel, Goodrington, Devon, 1943.
76-618-56 Rumex acetosella, Sheep’s Sorrel, Bovey Tracey, 1943.
62-503-1 Pulmonaria officinalis, Common Lungwort, Compton, Devon, 1941.
64-522-1 Daturna stramonium, Thorn Apple, Paignton, 1943.
65-535-4 Scrophularia nodosa, Figwort, Guernsey, 1954.
70-558-1 Mentha rotundifolia, Round-leaved Mint, Scabbacombe Sands, 1942.
70-539-1 Lycopus europaeus, Gypsy-wort, Richmond, Surrey 1943.
70-576-1 Marrubium vulgare, Common White Harehound, Paignton, 1943.
70-581-10 Lamium galeobdolon, Yellow Weasel-snout/Archangel, Marldon, 1941. 76-615-14 Polygonum aviculare, Common Knot-grass, Paignton, 1943.
55-463-2 Lysimachia vulgaris, Great Yellow Loostrife, Richmond, Surrey, 1943.
91-672-3 Ophrys apifera, Bee Orchid, Borough Green, Kent, 1948.
91-674-1 Gymnadenia conopsea, Fragrant Orchid, Rainham, Kent, 1948.
91-674-7 Habenaria bifolia, Lesser Butterfly Orchis, Denbury, Devon, 1941.
92-676-1 Iris pseudacorus, Yellow Iris, Compton, Paignton, 1943.
95-689-1 Ruscus aculeatus, Common Butcher’s Broom, Denbury, Devon, 1941-1959.
95-694-1 Convallaria majalis, Lily of the Valley, Bromley, 1946.
95-706-2 Scilla autumnalis, Autumn Squill, Berry Head, 1942.
95-708-1 Lilium martagon, Purple Martagon Lily, Ridley, Kent, 1948.
106-795-1 Arrhenatherum avenaceum, False Oat Grass, Windermere, 1944.
106-835-1 Hordeum secalinum, Meadow Barley, Kent, 1955.

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