Founder of the Swansea Field Naturalist’s Society in June 1906. His eldest daughter Elsie was Chief Mycologist at Kew for many years. Wakefield was an all-round naturalist but in his fifties turned principally to Coleoptera collecting mainly in Wales and particularly Breconshire on which he published a paper ‘Breconshire Coleoptera’ Proc. Swansea Fld nat Soc. (Information from John Bratton). His collection of some 10,000 specimens was donated by his daughters to Swansea Museum in 1951 (but not fully accessioned until 1985). According to Fenscore ‘in the Museum register, the collector of the specimens is listed as J.R.leB Tomlin, but this contradicts details given in the paper ‘Breconshire Coleoptera’. The collector intended to produce a survey of beetle life in Breconshire comparabke to that carried out for Glamorgan by Tomlin... the beetles were collected during several excursions made into the county by the Swansea Scientific and Field Naturalists Society and during short holidays spent by the collector at some considerable distance from one another. Whilst the collection does contain specimens from Tomlin, it also contains material collected by Wakefield’s other associates as listed in the introduction to his paper, the only other major associated collector apart from Tomlin was Mr J.Williams Vaughan of Erwood.’ (MD 12/04)
Dates
1861 – 19480