The Hastings Rarities – from the Bristow Affair to Now
There’s a blue plaque on number 15 Silchester Road, in St Leonards, commemorating a certain George Bristow. It’s strange, but I’ve only recently noticed it. Perhaps it’s the rather gross sign beneath that distracts. But having spotted it, it brought back memories of the exhibition of The Hastings Rarities Affair held several years ago in the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. Much of the exhibition comprised stuffed bird specimens that were supposedly of rare British birds and vagrants collected in and around Hastings at the beginning of the last century. The point of the exhibition was to illustrate the extent of the hoax and fraudulent behaviour of the said George Bristow.
Who Was George Bristow?
Bristow was a gunsmith and sought-after taxidermist who followed on in his father’s trade at number 15, from the late 1800s to 1930. He specialised in the supply of specimens of rare local birds, and had a clientele of eminent ornithologists and collectors.
In those days shooting and preserving specimens was an acceptable way of studying wildlife, and ornithological clubs would encourage members to bring interesting examples along to meetings for discussion. The results enabled ornithologists to compile and publish the annual records of local birds and rarer vagrants.
Bristow paid local “observant countrymen” for specimens. They had a deep knowledge of birds and wildlife in the coastal and inland haunts around Hastings, and were keen to supplement their income in this way.
Bristow would mount the specimens and sell them on to collectors. Over the years his knowledge and tally of exceptionally rare birds grew to many hundreds. Prominent ornithologists cited his records in numerous publications.
A Reputation Destroyed
Such was the situation until 1962, when a special issue of the journal British Birds was published. The entire journal was given over to discrediting Bristow’s claim that these specimens were locally caught. The publication was a shock to the British ornithological establishment.
The basis for this assertion was a statistical analysis undertaken by John Nedler, of the occurrence of these rarities. It was deemed to be statistically improbable that so many rarities could occur in such a small locality over such a short period. The authors speculated on how he may have secretly imported his specimens, fraudulently claimed them to be locally caught, and made a handsome profit selling them on.
As a consequence, 595 records were struck off the British official lists, and much like his many specimens, Bristow’s reputation was shot.
The Role of the Media
Local, national and international newspapers leapt upon the story, exaggerated, misquoted, and made sweeping judgements (nothing changes), and the name of George Bristow became synonymous with avarice and fraud, and this persists until today in some circles.
It’s Not All that it Seems
The problem is that the case against George Bristow isn’t clear cut. At the time a number of eminent ornithologists came to Bristow’s defence, and argued that the 1962 statistical analysis was flawed. It failed to take into account critical factors, for example, that the area around Hastings had, and indeed still has, a very rich set of habitats for wildlife; that those who supplied his specimens were knowledgeable country people and skilled hunters; that many of the birds on the list of extremely rare occurrences had been spotted by others and have been subsequently seen and added again to the official list, and much more.
Books and articles were written at the time arguing against the assertions, and continue to be written, for instance Pat Morris’s 2021article which for me presents extremely convincing arguments (see below for link).
But of course, once entrenched, a sour reputation is difficult to cleanse. The current Wikipedia entries for “George Bristow”, or “The Hastings Rarities Affair” assume his guilt, and we are left with the assertion that the record of the Hastings Rarities was fabricated for profit by an unscrupulous man.
To mark the sixtieth aniversary of the publication, the Journal, British Birds, holds firm in its position that the original article sixty years ago, presents the case of “one of the greatest cases of faud in British ornithological history …” and that “regardless of the ethics of the operation, Bristow had a good eye for picking species that might, eventually, occur in Britain …”3
No doubt the arguments will rumble on for years, but as academic as these maybe, the central points of the debate are extremely relevant today to those interested in conservation in and around Hastings.
Hastings’ Wildlife Heritage
In spite of urban growth and agricultural development over the last century, Hastings remains an area rich in wildlife habitat. To the east, we have an amazing coastline, from the cliffs of Hastings Country Park, across to Pett Level, Rye Harbour, and to Dungeness, the oldest of the RSPB’s reserves, acquired in 1930.
On the western edge of Hastings, we have Combe Valley, a gem of a wetland reserve. Although, sadly, further to the west, the Eastbourne Crumbles disappeared under the development of the Sovereign Harbour complex in the 1990s.
On our northern edge there are many woodland areas such as the beautiful Marline Valley reserve (now under threat from the proposed SeaChange development on its borders) and other pockets of woodland.
Protection and Management
In Bristow’s day, of course, the countryside was very different to that of today. The agricultural systems were far less intensive, and farmers had yet to use the range of pesticides and other chemicals applied with such devastating effect on wildlife from the 1950s onwards. Consequently, rare British birds of today, such as the Turtle Dove, Nightingale, Yellowhammer, would have been common place and of little interest to a taxidermist.
But even then, all was not good. There were a number of bird species that were driven to near extinction by hunting and exploitation. Birds of prey in particular were relentlessly persecuted by gamekeepers. Red Kites, Marsh Harriers and many others disappeared completely from most parts of the British Isles.
Today many species are dependent for their survival on nature reserves and the small but growing number of conservation-minded farmers. While this cannot reverse the massive decline in overall numbers, it has brought some species back from the brink.
Many of our iconic species can now be seen again in all their amazing glory. Buzzards are now common and widespread. Combe Valley occasionally hosts Marsh Harriers, and they breed at Dungeness. Red Kites have rapidly increased in numbers since their re-introduction in the 1980s, and we now see them in parts of East Sussex.
Climate Change
Climate change is already having a negative impact on the breeding success of British birds, and this will get worse as the impact of climate change increases. One of the main effects is the disruption of the synchronisation of migration and nesting times with other natural events that are critical to breeding success. e.g. the hatching of the oak leaf caterpillars that coincide with the peak hatching time of many of our small woodland birds – see for instance:
While these changes are significant and frighteningly real, we should also remember to take time to enjoy what we do have to its fullest, and protect it wherever possible as temperatures increase.
… and there are some upsides, at least for those of us in the UK. We are now seeing birds associated with Southern Europe and classified as rarities in south of England, becoming more common place. I spent hours trying to photograph Cetti’s Warblers in Combe Valley this year. Their strident calls suggested they were almost within touching distance in the reedbeds, but I found it impossible to get a half descent view of one (my challenge for 2022!). The Cetti’s Warbler is on Bristow’s Rare Birds list!
NOTES:
- A key publication at the time was Harrison, James A.H, “Bristow and the Hastings Rarities Affair” 1968, Butler Ltd – James Harrison was an eminent ornithologist who was a client of George Bristow. He was highly critical of the attack on Bristow.
- The link to Pat Morris’s 2021 article from the Journal of the British Ornithologists Club, referred to above: file:///Users/chrissaunders/Documents/Bird%20papers/Bristow%20and%20the%20Hastings%20Rarities.html
- British Birds, August 2022 – Vol.115. Editorial – 60 years Since The Hastings Rarities Report.