| Description | Papers of Nathaniel John Winch, [1808]-1820, comprising:
Drawing of a plan of the dykes in Montagu Main Colliery, [1808]; Sketches of sections showing dykes in Whitley Quarry and Walbottle Dean, [c.1814]; Letter to Thomas Webster describing a fossil plant found near Whitby, 1820; drawing of a fossil fish from the Magnesian Limestone, Sunderland (Chaetodon), [c.1814]. |
| Administrative History | Nathaniel John Winch was born on 20 December 1768 at Hampton, Middlesex. He was apprenticed to Robert Lisle, hostman, in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1780. Winch developed an interest in the study of botany, particularly the geographical distribution of species around the Northumberland, Cumberland and Durham areas. Indeed his devotion to the subject was considered to be behind the failure of his merchant businesses in 1808 when he was declared bankrupt.
He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1803, became an honorary member of the Geological Society in 1808, and was an active member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle. He died on 5 May 1838, leaving his manuscripts, library and herbarium to the Linnean Society. His fossil collection was left to the Geological Society. |