The Earth Museum and Darwin's Apprentice-The John Lubbock Collection

In 1980 when I moved to live in Farnborough Kent  one of the first places I discovered was Bromley Museum in Orpington. I was by this point in my life an experienced genealogist and record transcriber and archive researcher. The museum displays lead me to discover the John Lubbock collection and the history of High Elms Downe the country home of Sir John Lubbock Baronet. I was fascinated by the collection of stone flint and other minerals fashioned by "Stone Age" hands into implements. Over the years two excellent Museum Directors educated visitors about the collection
In 2012 I volunteered as a Kent Online Parish Clerk for Downe and in 2019 for Farnborough.
Sadly Bromley Museum was closed to the public and its collection in storage became less accessible. The John Lubbock Collection which is extensive was reduced to a display case to illustrate the array of countries John Lubbock had visitd himself on his travels or been given by other archaeologists and collectors of ethnographic cultural items.
The John Lubbock gallery within a corner of Bromley Historic Collections is seldom visited despite the best efforts of a part time curator to involve student and history groups.
I was very happy to read Doctor Janet Owen's book entitled Darwin's Apprentice several years ago when it was published. Janet as a young teenager had volunteered at Bromley Museum and handled collection items. She later used the collection to form her Durham University PHD thesis 2010 The Collecting Activities of Sir John Lubbock which can be read online in a PDF file Durham e theses
Doctor Janet Owen went on to found The Earth Museum and I now have the opportunity to volunteer for the Earth Museum mapping project to add the complete Lubbock Collection online and tell the remarkable story of this international resource.
John Lubbock natural scientist, politician,banker,entomologist,social reformer,archaeologist and anthropologist has been correctly described as Darwin's apprentice and Doctor Owen in her book traces three stages of the apprenticeship:

1. Prior to 1859 when Darwin published On the origin of the Species.
2. John's collection of objects as supporting evidence of Darwin's theories
3. the latter part of John's life when the large collection served as a traditional museum collection at High Elms Downe.

The "Catalogue of my Collection" contained handwritten details of acquisitions over a thirty year period. There are number of articles on the Earth Museum website which introduce online Sir John Lubbock and his travels to acquire items  see The Earth Museum website.
It seems only fitting that I now volunteer to bring the places,objects and stories of this collection to a worldwide online audience and contribute to the development of the Earth Museum website development. I am looking forward to handling and describing the objects of this internationally important collection. Our first training session has been held and Bromley Historic Colections curator Jane Cameron will be directing volunteers to begin work in March 2019.

© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020