Birmingham Philosophical Society
| Founded | 1858 |
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| Type | Learned society |
| Registration no. | 500819 |
| Focus | Study of natural history |
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Area served
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Birmingham, England |
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Key people
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| Website | bnhsoc |
Birmingham Natural History Society is a learned society for the study of the natural history of Birmingham, England, and in the surrounding midlands region, and beyond. It was founded in 1858, and is a registered charity. The Society has had various names, e.g. in the 1870s it was called the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, and from 1894 to 1963 the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society.
The Society was founded in 1858. For a considerable part of its early life, it was called the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society. In 1877, the Society played the lead in forming the Union of Midland Natural History Societies, which published the journal The Midland Naturalist. Some of the societies in the union later merged with the Birmingham Natural History Society. The Birmingham Philosophical Society, founded in 1876, merged in 1894, when the title of the Society was changed to the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society. The Midland Malacological Society and the Birmingham Entomological Society were amalgamated in 1906 and 1908 respectively. The society's activities were greatly reduced by world war one but activity had picked up again by 1920. In 1924 the society carried out an extensive survey of Hartlebury Common.
The Society rooms suffered bomb damage on October 25, 1940 and as a result the society suspended its activities for the remainder of hostilities. The society began to meet again in 1945 and restarted publication of its proceedings in 1950.
The current title of the Society was first used in its Proceedings in 1964.
Important early members of the society included the botanist James Eustace Bagnall (1830-1918), who produced the first Flora of Sutton Park (now a national nature reserve) and later the first Flora of Warwickshire.
The society was responsible for the designation of Edgbaston Pool as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and until 2012 was formally involved in its management.
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