It's been rather difficult trying to find biographical information about the Reverend William Houghton. Some interesting details have come to light which seem to indicate a connection with Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace and John Ruskin, amongst others.

Work in progress! Notes so far, more details to follow...

William Houghton was born in Liverpool on 8th October 1848, the son of Richard Houghton and Jane Eleanor Houghton née Chapman. Richard was a Liverpool gentleman merchant. The family resided mainly at the Houghton's estate at Ashfield Hall, Neston, Cheshire. Ashfield Hall was demolished in 1958. Jane's illustrious ancestors, from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth century, included John Charlton (the First Lord Charlton of Powys), Lewis Charlton (Bishop of Hereford), Edward Charlton (Fifth Baron Charlton of Powys) and Sir Job Charlton (Chief Justice of Chester and Speaker of the House of Commons). William Houghton married Margaret Anne Masefield on 9th September 1858. Margaret's uncle, George, was the grandfather of poet John Masefield.

Houghton was a true 'Parson Naturalist' with a rigorous scientific approach to his studies and to his publications unlike others who were of the 'populist' persuasion. Both approaches have their place. Bringing science and the arts to a wider audience was a major achievement of the Victorian period exemplified by the collaboration of Fawcett, Morris and Lydon.

Houghton's expertise covered a broad spectrum, he specialised in the study of the natural world as documented by ancient civilisations and the flora and fauna of his local area, the Welsh Marches. He also specialised in mycology (the study of fungi), three species were named after him - Clitocybe houghtonii, Hygrophorus houghtonii and Pezicula houghtonii.

In the Victorian period there was a deep split in the religious establishment over Darwinism and the theory of evolution. F O Morris was a vociferous opponent of Darwinism whereas Houghton embraced this new scientific concept. Houghton had a close and friendly relationship with Charles Darwin. In a letter to Darwin of 18th October 1867 Houghton writes "...I hope to be in London next January, and to have the pleasure of once more seeing you at that time... I sincerely trust your health improves, and with kindest regards I am Yours most sincerely W. Houghton."

William Houghton wrote an extensive review on works by Alfred Russel Wallace, Joseph D Hooker, Rev W Ellis, Dr G Hartwig and Henry Walter Bates in the London Quarterly Review of July 1865. It was entitled "Gleanings from the Natural History of the Tropics". Charles Darwin was very interested in this review and wrote to Hooker in October 1865. In the letter, Darwin asks "Do you know who wrote the article in July Quarterly on Bates, Wallace and you?" The review was actually published anonymously and, as far as I can ascertain, was attributed to Houghton following correspondence between Houghton and Huxley in 1868.

Benjamin Fawcett collaborated on four of Houghton's books - Country Walks of a Naturalist with his Children (1869), Sea-side Walks of a Naturalist with his Children (1870), Sketches of British Insects (1875) and British Fresh-water Fishes (1879). Houghton's Fishes is one of Fawcett's most sought-after books, probably second only to Parrots in Captivity.

British Fresh-Water Fishes was originally published in 1879 in two volumes. It was re-issued in 1884 as a single volume. A second edition lacking colour plates was published in 1893. The illustrations in Fishes are superb and were quite revolutionary at the time, showing fish in a representation of their natural habitat. This, yet again, was Lydon at his best - an artist producing exquisite representations of the natural world with the ability to analyse the nuances of colour and to translate that into colour separations for engraving and printing using Fawcett's unique combination of Turkish boxwood blocks and inks. In the context of books about fish, the illustrations in Fishes have been described as "the very best ever published." The book was exhibited at the London International Fisheries Exhibition of 1883. I am fortunate to have in my collection a copy of Fishes inscribed by the author, which he presented to his younger brother, Arthur.

Surprisingly, the children's books Walks of a Naturalist with his Children caused a bit of a stir in certain quarters. The great Victorian social thinker and anti-Darwinian, John Ruskin, devoted several pages in his 1875 Fors Clavigera Volume 5 to a vicious attack on the author, without even mentioning his name. The basis of Ruskin's criticism was that Houghton should have portrayed an idealised "rose-tinted spectacled" vision of the natural world not a realistic one. Ruskin used several examples. A description of a parasite on the body of a salmon put him off eating salmon. Houghton chose to illustrate nature in the raw by describing a great tit feeding on a small warbler and by including a coloured illustration of a great grey shrike ("butcher bird") devouring blue tits and shrews. Ruskin thought that the inclusion of something charming like the nest of a long-tailed tit (which he did describe in any case) was more appropriate. Fors Clavigera ("Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain") is a rather ranting and rambling work - "the darkest, most complex, and least understood of Ruskin's works." It consisted of 84 letters followed by associated correspondence written over seven years from 1871. This was followed by another 12 letters over a further seven years written as his physical and mental health was deteriorating. In language historians have used to describe the work, lecturing the working class on how they should live their lives in Ruskin's idea of a world order with self-indulgent, incoherent bigotry doesn't go down too well!