Members at our 2007 BBQ

Cardiff
Naturalists' Society


Cymdeithas Naturiaethwyr
Caerdydd

 

 

Archibald Brown (?-1922) 36th President


Back to the 150th Anniversary index

Go Back to last page visited

There is not as much information available about Archibald Brown as he did not hold such a visible position in Cardiff. However we do have an obituary for him in volume LV of the Transactions for 1922

The Late Mr. Archibald Brown.

Mr. Archibald Brown was an active member of the Society for many years, and rendered excellent service in various capacities.

As a young man, he was, for a considerable time, an Inspector of Branches for the Capital and Counties Bank. During that period he was sent to Greece on business for the Bank, and was there for practically five years. On his marriage, in 1885, he accepted an appointment as Manager of the Ledbury Branch, and remained there until 1896, when he was appointed Manager of a branch of the County of Gloucester Bank at St. Mary Street, Cardiff. When that Bank was amalgamated with Lloyds Bank he was transferred to the Cardiff Docks, and was Manager of that important branch until his retirement in 1916.

Mr. Brown joined the Society in 1898, and at once took an active interest in it. He was elected a member of the Council in 1905, and three years later became President. The subject of his Presidential Address on the 15th October, 1908, was "A Visit to Cephalonia and the Sea Mills of Argostoli." During his year of office as President a vacancy arose in the office of Honorary Treasurer of the Society, and, at the earnest wish of the Council, Mr. Brown accepted the position, which he occupied, with considerable benefit to the Society, up to the time of his resignation in 1921.

On his retirement from active business, Mr. Brown moved to Clifton, but continued to keep in touch with Cardiff through various Directorships which he held, and, in fact, he travelled to Cardiff almost daily. He passed away suddenly on the 26th January, 1922, immediately on his arrival home from a visit to Cardiff.

From the few newspaper articles I have found he seems to have been a safe pair of hands for the societies activities and well respected as he carried out his duties. One event of note that he was involved with on behalf of the society was the welcoming of Arctic explorer Commander R E Peary to Cardiff

Evening Express 1st June 1910       Evening Express 1st June 1910

Evening Express 1st June 1910

Commander R E Peary event poster from the society Transactions

Commander R E Peary event poster from the society Transactions

(Note It is noted that Peary's account of reaching the pole has been largely counted as being false in that the push that was described as being carried out [25 miles per day] was not feasible and not supported by enough evidence)



Back to the 150th Anniversary index

Principal Albert Howard Trow, D.Sc., F.L.S. (1863-1939) 35th President

Next up... Ven. Archdeacon David Davies, M.A. (1858-1930) 37th President

See our Full list of Presidents

These pages are part of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society 150th Anniversary celebrations and are about our history and are celebrating the people who developed our Society and helped build the city and the cultural heritage of Cardiff. You can read more about that using the links above

If you want to read about the ways we study the wildlife and environment of the Cardiff area and its surroundings, and about the talks we have about the wildlife of the world, and find the programme of talks, walks and other events that we do then please take a look at our main website, our blog and our facebook and twitter feeds for up to date news