The
Arts In Berwick -- Natural History
Dr. George Johnston
Based in Berwick from 1818, Dr.George Johnston (1797-1855) was one of
the leading naturalists of 19th.Century Britain. From his medical practice
in Woolmarket, Berwick he travelled throughout the Borough treating patients,
but also studying the local botany.
His Flora of Berwick upon Tweed (1829-31) was the beginning of a distinguished
scientific career. Developing an interest in marine biology he became
Britain's leading expert on sponges and was commissioned to catalogue
the British Museum's collection of worms.
A memorial tablet in Berwick Church vestry shows his head in profile surrounded
by local plants and shells.
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Illustration
from Johnson's A history of British Sponges and Lithophytes
1842
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