Hornsey Personalities of the Past

This is the first article in a new series for 2022 – Hornsey Personalities of the Past

The birds and the bees in 19^th century Muswell Hill

The 19^th century naturalist who immediately comes to mind is Charles Darwin whose seminal work, The Origin of Species, (1859) rocked the sedate world and beliefs of the Victorian Establishment. It is, therefore, surprising to learn that Darwin rated W B Tegetmeier an authority on several species of birds and on bees and corresponded with him for years. Indeed, Tegetmeier’s house in St James’s Lane, Muswell Hill, came to be known as ‘The Bee House’ as a result of his extensive work studying and breeding them.

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