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From the Vault: "Animal Life of the Sea"

From the Consveration and Collections Team
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Discovering Hamilton's Natural Heritage

As the leaves change colour on the trees, and this season fades to memory, we can look back on the recent months and recall beautiful blooms, intriguing wildlife, dramatic sunsets and stunning views that we might have been lucky enough to observe. Maybe we sniffed a May flower, or watched a snail slowly make its way down a stem, saw a bird take flight, or experienced another element of Hamilton’s natural heritage. If we use our imaginations to peer further into the past, all the way back to the Victorian era (1837-1901), we can step back in time and investigate the ways in which the Victorians, like us, spent their days exploring the natural world…

The date is April 30th, 1846. In about a month’s time, a statute will be passed to incorporate the Police Village of Hamilton into the City of Hamilton. Two girls, aged eleven and thirteen, are out on the grounds of the Dundurn estate, beginning work on two gardens (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 51). The girls are Minnie and Sophia MacNab, daughters of Sir Allan Napier MacNab, who is a prominent lawyer, entrepreneur and politician in Hamilton.

MacNab has gardeners planting willow trees, rose trees and flowering shrubs on the property (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 48). He intends to erect a hedge around the part of the garden where his daughters now work (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 49). The girls have planned a garden pathway, and a new kennel has been built nearby for their two poodles, Mr. Fin and Finette (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 51). Throughout the spring, Minnie and Sophia will spend many hours working on their gardens. Sophia will write in her diary about waking up early to work in her garden and going out after dinner to continue her efforts.

180 years later, in 2026, the family’s home and grounds are now parts of Dundurn National Historic Site, and Sophia’s 1846 diary entries continue to enrich the guided museum tours with details from her days.

A black and white cartoon of people beach combing. The group are all bent over, looking in tide pools.

A cartoon by John Leech, depicting Victorian seaweed collecting, which appeared in Punch magazine in 1856 (xcz1, 2021)

Collectomania

In the Victorian era, collecting things was all the rage. Victorians assembled cabinets of curiosity, which included cultural materials, mechanical tools, and medical and natural specimens, organized in efforts to classify and understand the world, during a time of rapid discovery (Sequel, 2018). Stuffed animals, such as birds, were commonly displayed in Victorian homes. Collecting hobbies became popular.

Two specific collecting hobbies that became fashionable with the public were collecting ferns and collecting shells (Norman, 2024). Specimens were found, studied, documented and displayed. These collecting crazes became so intense that they were termed Pteridomania and Conchylomania—fern fever and shell fever (Norman, 2024). These hobbies were somewhat unrestricted by gender and social class, and the collecting happened at so grand a scale that some fern species approached extinction (Norman, 2024). Women led the popularization of a new artform—elaborate sculptures and displays constructed with shells (Norman, 2024).

Sophia wrote in her diary about collecting shells with her aunt and sisters:

Aunt Sophia Anne Jane Minnie and I went out walking about the Grounds for an hour before breakfast. In our rambles we went down to the Lake Shore and Anne Jane gathered some shells. Minnie and I also gathered some for her. It was a lovely bright morning… (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 49-50)

Women in the Natural Sciences

Pages from “Animal Life of the Sea,” displaying Bryzoa—aquatic invertebrate animals that appear, here, on pieces of seaweed (City of Hamilton, DC.1969.579)
Victorian rules on gender determined the ways in which Victorian women were able to interact with and explore nature. Gender-based discrimination blocked women from participating in many natural heritage activities. Women were barred from attending public scientific meetings and from joining clubs, such as the Royal Society and the Linnean society, as these clubs viewed botany—which discussed plants’ sexual parts—and hunting—which was thought to be too dangerous for women—as being suitable only for men (Giaimo, 2016).

Some Victorian women refused to have their investigations of the natural world curtailed by restrictive norms. American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) created her own herbarium, collecting and preserving over 400 specimens (Beiser, 2024). English biologist and botanical artist Marianne North (1830-1890) travelled solo around the globe, painting plant specimens in context (Marianne North, 2025).

English author, illustrator, conservationist and natural scientist Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) created hundreds of botanical illustrations, collected fungi specimens and submitted a paper on fungi reproduction to the Linnean Society, but was barred from joining the club and from attending, or presenting at, club meetings (Bennett, 2023). Potter withdrew her paper (Bennett, 2023). She extensively studied natural science and history, including archeology, entomology, geology and mycology (The Scientist, n.d.). Despite facing barriers to participation in science, Victorian women left behind invaluable research and carefully curated collections as lasting scientific legacies.
A black and white photograph of a woman sitting at an easel with painting tools and supplies. she sits in front of a large cactus and tree.

A photograph showing Marianne North painting next to tall cacti (Fitzgerald, 2019)

Animal Life of the Sea

Something that Victorian society did permit women to collect and study was seaweed. Victorian views on the seaside as a restorative environment and on seaweed collecting as a calm and appropriate pastime for women, meant that many Victorian women collected and scrapbooked seaweed (Giaimo, 2016). At a young age, Queen Victoria (1819-1901) created a seaweed scrapbook (Logan, 2001, p. 124). Novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880), widely known by her pen name, George Elliot, wrote in her journal about falling in love with seaweed on the English shores (Giaimo, 2016). Some collectors published illustrated field guides with advice for seaweed collectors (Giaimo, 2016).

Natural history specimens collected by the Victorians provided information for scientific investigation and formed the basis of many museum collections (Norman, 2024). The collection at Dundurn National Historic Site includes such specimens. Visitors to the Castle might notice shells on the Nursery mantle, shell sculptures under glass domes in the Schoolroom, stuffed birds in cases. Tucked on a shelf in the Schoolroom, visitors might spy a thin book with a red spine—Dundurn’s very own seaweed scrapbook!
A scan of two pages of an open book. The left page has hand writing, the right page has pressed samples of seaweed.

Pages from “Animal Life of the Sea,” displaying Bryzoa—aquatic invertebrate animals that appear, here, on pieces of seaweed (City of Hamilton, DC.1969.579)

The scrapbook is a wonderful example of natural heritage curiosity and collecting. Recorded in the museum’s collection under accession number DC.1969.579, the book itself is handmade from cardboard, paper and velvet. Words and letters cut from other texts form the title: “Animal Life of the Sea.” Inside the book are pages of handwritten notes. The creator references sources consulted for information, including books from the public library. The scrapbook contains seven specimens, carefully laid out and labelled. Observations and research notes accompany the specimens.

A scan of two pages of an open book. The left page has handwriting, the right page has a piece of pressed seaweed.

Pages from “Animal Life of the Sea,” displaying Hydroids—animals that are classified in the same phylum as corals, jellyfish and sea anemones (City of Hamilton, DC.1969.579)

Unfortunately, much of the history of “Animal Life of the Sea” is currently unknown. Based on the word “California” on the front cover, the location “Long Beach” recorded next to some specimens, and the species present inside the scrapbook, the artifact likely originated in California. The maker was likely a woman or girl, due to the social expectation at the time that seaweed scrapbooking was a feminine hobby.

A scan of two pages of an open book. The left page is blank and the write page has a piece of pressed coral with hand writing below.

Pages from “Animal Life of the Sea,” displaying Gorgonian—a branching coral that attaches to rocks (City of Hamilton, DC.1969.579)

Curatorial research indicates that the scrapbook was likely a part of Dundurn’s museum collection before the Castle’s 1960s restoration, back when Dundurn displayed a collection of odd and interesting pieces and had a zoo on the grounds. “Animal Life of the Sea” would have shown visitors a collection of California sea life. In 1967, following a thorough restoration, the Castle reopened as an immersive living history site, where visitors can step back in time to the year 1855, when the MacNabs lived at Dundurn.

A Visit to Dundurn Castle

Today, “Animal Life of the Sea” helps populate the girls’ Schoolroom, adding to the illusion that the room is set up for their lessons. Paints, books, a piano, two abacuses, a flute, two birds made from shells, and illustrations of exotic animals are placed around the room, providing clues to the kinds of lessons that the girls would’ve had with their tutors. Tucked on a shelf, “Animal Life of the Sea” endures as a reference to Victorian collecting hobbies and as a symbol of women’s contributions to science, past and present.

The Schoolroom feels almost as if Sophia and Minnie have just stepped away from their lessons. Perhaps, they’ve gone outside to work on their gardens, to walk their poodles, or to pick fruit with friends and family:

After dinner I went down in the Carriage for Miss Harvey (from Toronto) and Uncle Jonas who were coming up to spend the evening with us. We took them down to the garden and gave them plenty of Cherries. Uncle Jonas said to Papa “Come MacNab get up this tree and get us some Cherries.” And Papa not wishing to be out done immediately got the steps and got up into the tree. He through us down lots of Cherries and also met with a great many adventures, he stained his shirt sleeves with Cherries, he tore his coat sleeve nearly half out and got some Cherries juice on his coat, and as a finale he sat down on a lot of Cherries. (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 66-67)

 While the inside of Dundurn Castle looks very much as it would’ve in 1855, the objects inside are no longer for use, but for education and research. These artifacts are carefully maintained, so that they can last through time and visitors can continue to learn about the MacNabs and parts of Hamilton’s history. The Castle grounds, however, can be very much enjoyed in the same ways, now, as the MacNabs enjoyed them in the 1800s.

 In the present, when you come to Dundurn Park, you can sit on benches under the large trees. You can follow the path to the Kitchen Garden, and, if you’re lucky, taste a ripe piece of fruit. Just like a Victorian, you can observe nature and marvel at its abundance, have a picnic, walk your dog. You can connect with these lands, just like people have been doing at this spot for thousands of years.

Sophia wrote about how the grounds welcomed her back, after time away:

We were delighted to get home. Finn and Finnette quite well and the garden looking beautiful, the Cherries are ripe enough to eat and the roses are in full bloom, the hay has just been mown and smells so sweet and altogether Dundurn is quite a little paradise in itself. You prize it so much more when you have been absent from any time and return to it again. (Carter & Bailey, 1968, p. 64)

Why not stop by Dundurn and let the park welcome you, whether for the hundredth, or for the very first, time?

Sources

Beiser, E. (2024, May 8). Emily Dickinson’s Collection of Plants and Flowers Now Viewable Online for Free. My Modern Met. https://mymodernmet.com/emily-dickinson-herbarium/

Bennett, M. (2023, July 5). Beatrix Potter - Undiscovered mycologist? - British Ecological Society. British Ecological Society. https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/beatrix-potter-undiscovered-mycologist/

Giaimo, C. (2016, November 14). The Forgotten Victorian Craze for Collecting Seaweed. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-forgotten-victorian-craze-for-collecting-seaweed

Logan, T. The Victorian Parlour: A Cultural Study. Cambridge University Press. (2001).

MacNab, S. (1974). The Diary of Sophia MacNab: Written at Dundurn Castle (C. H. Carter and T. M. Bailey, Ed.). W.L. Griffin, Limited. DC.1969.579

Marianne North. (2025, August 4). Marianne North. https://mariannenorth.com/

Norman, A. (2024, April 17). An Obsession with Natural History and Victorian Collecting Crazes. Joel Oppenheimer Gallery. https://www.audubonart.com/an-obsession-with-natural-history-and-victorian-collecting-crazes/

The Scientist. (n.d.). The Beatrix Potter Society. Retrieved August 21, 2026, from https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/beatrix-potter/the-scientist/

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