05 Jan 2026
Posted at 08:36
in Harpenden
A world-renowned naturalist whose pioneering work in zoology, paleontology, and biogeography redefined scientific thinking in Victorian England is remembered in a new exhibition at Harpenden Museum.
Richard Lydekker (1849-1915), whose family lived at Harpenden Lodge, worked extensively in cataloguing fossil vertebrates and describing new species, particularly from India, where he spent several years studying the region’s prehistoric fauna, and was responsible for the 10-volume record of the fossil mammals, reptiles, and birds in the Natural History Museum.
He delineated the biogeographical boundary through Indonesia – known as Lydekker’s Line – that separates Wallacea on the west from Australia-New Guinea on the east, establishing the effect of geology on the region by marking the change in animal and plant species based upon their differing environments..
He also prompted the tradition in The Times newspaper of letter writers commenting on the sound of the first cuckoo of the year, after mistakenly believing he heard one on February 4, when it was in fact a bricklayer’s labourer.
Curator at the Harpenden Museum in the Eric Morecambe Centre, Pamela Doran, said: “Richard Lydekker travelled widely despite the era in which he lived. He wrote a number of books, some of which we are lucky to have in our exhibition, about the flora and fauna of the world in the late Victorian times.”
Richard Lydekker
Focusing mainly on his work, the new exhibition includes examples of the beautiful illustrations in his books – now photographed and enlarged.
The Lydekker family’s local contributions also includes the park which bears their name.
The land of Lydekker Park was formerly part of the grounds of Harpenden Lodge, which was built in 1803 and bought by the Lydekkers in 1857.
The last surviving member of the Harpenden branch of the Lydekker family, Miss Hilda Lydekker, lived in Harpenden Lodge until 1979. In 1937 she entered into an agreement with the former Harpenden Urban District Council that the 11 acres of land attached to Harpenden Lodge should become private open space. It was her intention that part of it be preserved as a memorial to her loved ones lost in the First World War.
The Museum is ordinarily open 11am-3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
