Seaweed imported to Warwickshire

[Andrew Duff]

This may sound like a strange question, but it is perfectly serious. I am a specialist in the study of beetles (the insect, not the car) and for years my fellow coleopterists and I have been puzzled by the occurrence in Warwickshire (and incidentally neighbouring Leicestershire), during the latter part of the 19th century, of some beetle species that are otherwise only known from banks of decaying seaweed at the coast. Specimens still exist in museums and there is no doubt that some of them, at least, are correctly identified. But what on earth are seaweed beetles doing in Warwickshire? We think that mislabelling of specimens or deliberate fraud is very unlikely, especially as three different species in two counties are involved.

My friend Steve Lane (formerly of Coventry Museum) and I have formulated a working hypothesis but it needs some in-depth local historical knowledge to substantiate it. We think that perhaps seaweed could have been loaded onto barges at the coast and transported by canal to Warwickshire, either for use as a fertiliser ("sea-manure") or as a raw material in the production of iodine or agar, or for some other industrial use. It is telling that one of the sites where these beetles occurred, a mossy bank near the village of Knowle, is less than a mile from the Grand Union Canal.

Please could members rack their brains and raid their collective libraries for any reference to the importation of seaweed into Warwickshire. There might be just a passing reference in a history of the canal network, history of farming or industrial history in the county. If we can find that last link in the chain of reasoning then a long-standing zoogeographical puzzle will have been solved at last!

Hoping you can help.

Best wishes,

Andrew Duff, Ph.D.
110 Cromer Road
West Runton
Norfolk
NR27 9QA

 

[mw0njm.]

or even transported to make Lava bread/ cake.

 

[A Sparks]

Interesting!
I hope someone can help with your enquiry.

 

[Pedrocut]

Just taking a look at the use of seaweed for agriculture around the middle of the 1800s it seems it was mostly
used in coastal areas.

1862...
“In England generally seaweed is little valued by agriculturists as an actual fertilizer, and appears to be regarded as an economical and useful covering to protect turnips and other roots from winter frosts. Farmers object to its bulk and expensive carriage...”

What are the species of beetle ?

 

[Ken_R]

I've just viewed part of an episode of Great Railway Journeys (or whatever)? In it there was a visit to York and the Chocolate Industry and I'm sure I heard mention of seaweed being used to make Cocoa. Cadbury's?

 

[Andrew Duff]

What are the species of beetle ?

Since you ask, three species of omaliine rove beetle: Omalium laeviusculum, O. riparium and O. rugulipenne.

 

[Pedrocut]

The information concerning the beetles found on the mossy bank near Knowle is quite specific. Do you know the date and by whom they were found ?

As an aside, in March 1883 Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society exhibits two species of Clavicorn beetle Cryptarcha Striagata and C. imperialis found at Knowle and new to the district.

 

[Andrew Duff]

The information concerning the beetles found on the mossy bank near Knowle is quite specific. Do you know the date and by whom they were found ?

As an aside, in March 1883 Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society exhibits two species of Clavicorn beetle Cryptarcha Striagata and C. imperialis found at Knowle and new to the district.

The key beetle collector was W.G. BLATCH (1840-1900) who was appointed Secretary at the Midland Counties Lunatic Asylum at Knowle, and collected extensively around the village. See: https://www.coleoptera.org.uk/biographical-dictionary?title=blatch. He found many beetles new to the district, but for the purposes of this enquiry we're only interested in the three aforementioned species of seaweed beetle.

 

[Pedrocut]

Yes, it was Blatch who discovered the above mentioned Clavicorn beetles. Now we have his name we may be able to look for other info and discoveries by the man himself.

The title and introduction to the thread pose other interesting questions for a History Forum, not only the three species of beetle.

Was seaweed shipped over the canal and railway networks to somewhere as far from the sea as can be found in England? Was seaweed used for any purpose in Birmingham and the surrounding area, and was Bratch a notable Brummie?

I think you will have to put up with these side issues

 

[cba]

My husband, who worked as a scientist with alginate in the 70s, says that sodium alginate is used as a stabilizer in chocolate milk and drinking chocolate. Alginate is extracted from seaweed.(makes the foam on the sea!) Perhaps the connection is with Bournville?

 

[Andrew Duff]

Yes, it was Blatch who discovered the above mentioned Clavicorn beetles. Now we have his name we may be able to look for other info and discoveries by the man himself.

The title and introduction to the thread pose other interesting questions for a History Forum, not only the three species of beetle.

Was seaweed shipped over the canal and railway networks to somewhere as far from the sea as can be found in England? Was seaweed used for any purpose in Birmingham and the surrounding area, and was Bratch a notable Brummie?

I think you will have to put up with these side issues

My husband, who worked as a scientist with alginate in the 70s, says that sodium alginate is used as a stabilizer in chocolate milk and drinking chocolate. Alginate is extracted from seaweed.(makes the foam on the sea!) Perhaps the connection is with Bournville?

Please thank your husband for the information as it sounds like a plausible explanation. We now have to establish whether raw seaweed or sodium alginate (manufactured close to the seaweed source) was transported to Bournville and if the former then by what route. A question for the industrial historians?

 

[Morturn]

We do know that seaweed was used for fertiliser, but have you thought about other uses? Oysters are now seen as luxury food but were once a big part of our staple diet. The Lancashire hotpot had oysters, now they use kidneys.

Oysters were transported in barrels packed with seaweed.

I should also add, there was a significant mother of peal trade in Birmingham too

 

[Andrew Duff]

We do know that seaweed was used for fertiliser, but have you thought about other uses? Oysters are now seen as luxury food but were once a big part of our staple diet. The Lancashire hotpot had oysters, now they use kidneys.

Oysters were transported in barrels packed with seaweed.

I should also add, there was a significant mother of peal trade in Birmingham too

This is a very interesting suggestion. It's plausible to think that once the oysters had all been sold the seaweed would be dumped somewhere, forming a suitable habitat for the beetles. Do you know of any published references on this trade, ideally into Warwickshire, which mention the use of seaweed packing? Where would the oysters have been imported from, and would they have been transported by canal? If you can point me to any academic research on this it would be good solid evidence for the importation of seaweed. Best regards, Andrew

 

[Radiorails]

There are many types of seaweed and its uses:

What Products Are Made From Seaweed?

Hidden under the ocean are large quantities of plant life called seaweed. There are many different kinds that have been used for food, fertilizer, medicines and animal feed since ancient times. In the 20th century, emphasis has shifted from using whole seaweed to using the different molecules...

sciencing.com

 

[Andrew Duff]

There are many types of seaweed and its uses:

What Products Are Made From Seaweed?

Hidden under the ocean are large quantities of plant life called seaweed. There are many different kinds that have been used for food, fertilizer, medicines and animal feed since ancient times. In the 20th century, emphasis has shifted from using whole seaweed to using the different molecules...

sciencing.com

Thanks, however we need to focus on what (if any) uses were made of seaweed in Warwickshire in the second half of the 19th century. General accounts such as this do not provide any supporting evidence for their use in the midlands at that time.

 

[Pedrocut]

William Batch comes to Knowle

 

[Radiorails]

Thanks, however we need to focus on what (if any) uses were made of seaweed in Warwickshire in the second half of the 19th century. General accounts such as this do not provide any supporting evidence for their use in the midlands at that time.

But the search comes over as though seaweed was a singular item. It is not as the article mentions. One or more types would have found there way to Warwickshire but not all of them. I suggest you find which type came (or by product thereof); then how it arrived.

 

[Pedrocut]

We know the three species of beetle and presume that they were only found in certain coastal areas. But do we know the whereabouts of the mossy bank in Knowle?

 

[Richard Dye]

Please thank your husband for the information as it sounds like a plausible explanation. We now have to establish whether raw seaweed or sodium alginate (manufactured close to the seaweed source) was transported to Bournville and if the former then by what route. A question for the industrial historians?

Andrew, why could we not approach Cadbury’s or some other chocolate maker tosee if seaweed were used previously or possibly still?

 

[pjmburns]

Cadbury's still use sodium alginate as a gelling agent - listed as an ingredient in their choc chip brownies - probably other things as well.

 

[Andrew Duff]

But the search comes over as though seaweed was a singular item. It is not as the article mentions. One or more types would have found there way to Warwickshire but not all of them. I suggest you find which type came (or by product thereof); then how it arrived.

With respect, I think you have misunderstood the problem. I am not interested in seaweed products being imported, as these are unable to support living seaweed beetles. I am simply looking for any *documentary* evidence that *any* kind of untreated (still damp) seaweed was imported into Warwickshire during the latter half of the 19th century. So far I have seen none.

 

[Andrew Duff]

Andrew, why could we not approach Cadbury’s or some other chocolate maker tosee if seaweed were used previously or possibly still?

Thanks for the suggestion. The question is whether untreated seaweed was imported into Bournville by Cadbury during the late nineteenth century. It's possible, but only an industrial historian is likely to have the answer.

 

[Andrew Duff]

We know the three species of beetle and presume that they were only found in certain coastal areas. But do we know the whereabouts of the mossy bank in Knowle?

Yes, I understand that the mossy bank location has been identified but the habitat has now been entirely destroyed by a farmer.

 

[mw0njm.]

Just taking a look at the use of seaweed for agriculture around the middle of the 1800s it seems it was mostly
used in coastal areas.

1862...
“In England generally seaweed is little valued by agriculturists as an actual fertilizer, and appears to be regarded as an economical and useful covering to protect turnips and other roots from winter frosts. Farmers object to its bulk and expensive carriage...”

What are the species of beetle ?

 

[Pedrocut]

Bournville is some distance from Knowle.

We are looking for evidence between around 1868 to 1900 and so the the state of the location today is not relevant, but the knowing the exact area may help. Is the beetle only found in a specific type of seaweed?

Without any documentary evidence of raw seaweed being imported to Warwickshire...

 

[Andrew Duff]

Bournville is some distance from Knowle.

We are looking for evidence between around 1868 to 1900 and so the the state of the location today is not relevant, but the knowing the exact area may help. Is the beetle only found in a specific type of seaweed?

Without any documentary evidence of raw seaweed being imported to Warwickshire...

Bournville is indeed some way from Knowle but both sites are close to canals and the hypothesis is that seaweed-laden barges might have been regularly using the canal network. The exact site of the mossy bank is unimportant because the beetles are mobile; it's sufficient to know that the beetles were found near Knowle and so near to a canal. As far as I know any bank of decaying seaweed will suit Omalium. As you say, the question is whether there is any evidence at all of untreated seaweed being imported to these inland counties, and if so how it was transported.

 

[mikejee]

I agree that the fact that knowle is near a canal may well be significant , but, as an ex- employee of cadburys,with a great interest in the history of the company, I think it unlikely that the firm themselves transported seaweed to the factory. The canal was mainly used for transport of coal, milk, chocolate crumb, cocoa beans . To my knowledge alginates were not used in the early days in their products, and if they had been would not I think, have been manufactured by the firm.

 

[Pedrocut]

Mr Blatch was lucky to find 412 species of beetle in one mossy bank near his day job.

 

[Radiorails]

Evidence of how kelp or other species got to central England seems elusive. It could have been brought for agricultural use by canal and later trains. It was used for the manufacture of iodine at one time.
Whilst posters in this thread may not be interested in seaweed some readers may be, so I post this link:

Kelp - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It also apperas that it was fashionable to collect seaweed back in Victorian times. There is, therefore, the possibility that seaweed collected by those well heeled ladies that could afford a holiday by the sea side did, in fact bring back samples for their collection which may well have included other species such as beetles.
The area under some focus is also that of the late Edith Holden, although not a seaweed collector, it illustrates the area, at her time of the early 20th. century, where she lived.

The Forgotten Victorian Craze for Collecting Seaweed

Victorian women were excellent at it.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[mw0njm.]

i like having a look under the weed, never know whats lurking there.