John Stevens Henslow - A Country Clergyman

A Country Clergyman

In 1833 Henslow was appointed vicar of Cholsey-cum-Moulsford in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He continued to live in Cambridge, only visiting the parish during vacations; no doubt he appointed a curate to conduct services and parish business during term-time.

However, his appointment in 1837 to the remunerative Crown living at Hitcham, Suffolk marked a turning-point in his life. This time, in 1839, he moved to the parish, and as Rector of Hitcham he lived at the Rectory. He worked there, endearing himself to all who knew him, until the end of his life. His energies were devoted to the improvement of his parishioners, but his influence was felt far and wide. Botany at Cambridge suffered, attendance at lectures fell, and we have records of complaints made within the university. Henslow did not resign his Chair, and continued to give lectures, set and mark exams, and take part in university affairs. Nevertheless, his influence there was naturally much reduced.

Henslow's work in Hitcham, over and above the normal duties of a Rector, can be summarised as follows:

1. The Parish School and other charities. Hitcham was a poor parish, and most people would have been illiterate. Education had to be paid for, and so Henslow both raised funds and donated his own money to support a school. The school was founded in 1841, and Henslow himself gave a series of volunteer classes on Monday afternoons for some of the older children. Botany and general scientific thinking were part of the fare. The botanical curriculum was printed: it was rather heavy with morphology and technical terms.
The botany taught in this school had effects throughout Britain, because important people at the centre, such as Prince Albert and Lyon Playfair kept in touch and rightly regarded Henslow as an authority on the subject.

2. Adult education in the Village. The Hitcham Labourers' and Mechanics' Horticultural Society was the vehicle used by Henslow to 'improve' the labouring and agricultural workers in the village and its surrounds. Competitions, shows and excursions were the attractions, and the intent was practical, to improve agriculture by improving the parishioners. Again Henslow made use of gifts and facilities provided by his friends.

3. Tackling the farmers. Surprising to us now, in those days the farmers were something of an obstacle to progress. They had not yet caught on to the advances made by Justus von Liebig in Germany, who began to apply chemistry to the needs of agriculture. Despite this, Henslow pressed on with ideas about field experiments which would try out various fertilisers and measure the resulting product. Questions such as "Should gypsum be added to manure heaps to fix the ammonia?" were proposed, no doubt to much muttering sotto voce, and head-shaking from the farmers. It is only fair to add that Henslow did eventually get a good deal of help and acceptance for his ideas.

4. Museums. The big town of Ipswich is twelve miles from Hitcham. As a result of his Cambridge experiences, Henslow believed in the value of museums as vehicles for education. The museum at Ipswich, which was established in 1847, owed much to Henslow, who was elected President in 1850. The museum was based on natural history, construed in the broadest sense. A conflict between the Curator, a Dr Clarke, and the "vile and disorderly mob that contaminates our room on public nights" with their "obscene conversations indelicate and blasphemous retorts" reminds us that delivering education to the people can be a challenging undertaking!

Alongside this work he remained an inquiring scientist at heart. In 1843 he discovered nodules of coprolitic origin in the Red Crag at Felixstowe in Suffolk, and two years later he called attention to those also in the Cambridge Greensand and remarked that they might be of use in agriculture. Although Henslow derived no benefit, these discoveries led to the establishment of the phosphate industry in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; and the works proved lucrative until the introduction of foreign phosphates.

Henslow died on 16 May 1861 at Hitcham.