BSHS members might be interested to learn that an organization
named the ‘A. R. Wallace
Memorial Fund’ has recently been established in order to restore and protect the hitherto
neglected grave of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), one of the greatest tropical
naturalists of the nineteenth century. Wallace is best known as being the co-originator,
with Charles Darwin, of the theory of evolution by natural selection, and for his book
The Malay Archipelago, which is regarded as one of the most important of all Victorian
travel works.Wallace is buried together with his wife Annie in Broadstone Cemetery, Dorset. The
grave is marked by an unusual and striking monument: a seven-foot tall fossilised conifer
trunk from the Portland beds mounted on a large cubic base of Purbeck stone.
Unfortunately, the monument has not been properly maintained for many years and it is
now in poor condition. Furthermore, the lease on the grave has only fourteen years left to
run before it expires, after which there is a danger that the plot could be used for another
burial.The primary aims of the Wallace Memorial Fund are to restore the monument, apply
for it to be officially listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and to extend
the lease on the plot. A. R. Wallace's grandson Mr Richard Wallace (who is the treasurer
of the Fund) plans to transfer the lease to the Linnean Society of London once the
restoration work has been completed. This will ensure the grave's long-term protection.A secondary aim of our project is to commission English Heritage to produce a
commemorative ceramic plaque and install it on ‘The Dell’
(Grays, Essex), where Wallace
lived from 1872 to 1876. This is the only surviving one of three houses which Wallace built
(it is currently a convent) and he wrote his important book The Geographical Distribution
of Animals there. It is also notable in being one of the first houses in Britain to have
been constructed of concrete.The total cost of the project will be approximately £4955. Contributions to date total
£3000 leaving £1955 still to be raised. If any members of the Society would like to
make a donation then cheques should be made payable to ‘The A. R. Wallace Memorial
Fund’ and sent to Dr G. W. Beccaloni, A. R. Wallace Memorial Fund, c/o Entomology
Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London
SW7 5BD (Tel. 0207 942 5361, E-mail: [email protected]).
Turing Machines and Evolution. A Critique of Gregory Chaitin’s Metabiology
