Newman's Butterfly Farm

35mm film Black & White Silent c.1935 5:39

From:

Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre

Category: Amateur

Theme: Agriculture Animal Leisure

Locations: Bexley

Summary: Film about lepidopterist L. Hugh Newman's butterfly farm, Salisbury Road, Bexley, Kent.

Full record

From:

Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre

Category: Amateur

Theme: Agriculture Animal Leisure

Locations: Bexley

Comments

Chris Brown wrote on May 9, 2018:

I remember visiting Hugh Newman's house with my father I think around 1963, near Bexley Kent. We walk from…

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I remember visiting Hugh Newman's house with my father I think around 1963, near Bexley Kent. We walk from the station to his house which was easily identified by the muslin sleaves attached to tree branches in his front garden which I had seen in his books too. He welcomed us in and he spent a generous amount of his time showing us his live specemins of butterflies and moths at all stages, sizes and species all over the house and outside inside the muslin sleaves. We bought some chrysalises of some of the rarer British hawkmoths we gad not been able to find where we lived and with the advice he gave us were able to hatch them out and rear the progeny
Perran Newman wrote on January 2, 2018:

I could say a lot about this film which features my father aged about 26 years. The initial scene was…

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I could say a lot about this film which features my father aged about 26 years. The initial scene was filmed at Bentalls store in Kingston where my father was demonstrating and selling Vanda butterflies. This was a name that he registered to describe dead butterflies that had been sprayed with varnish and the had a wire attached with false wire antennae. The insect could then be displayed and attached as shown in the film.
His father, Leonard Woods Newman is shown in later footage with a cigarette in his mouth. He founded the Butterfly Farm at 41/42 Salisbury Road Bexley.
Lovely quality film. thanks for making it accessible.
John Bell wrote on December 9, 2017:

Memories! As an 11 year old lad in the post war years I was interested in butterflies and…

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Memories! As an 11 year old lad in the post war years I was interested in butterflies and moths. He always required live female butterflies to breed his stock and we were the source. The prices were attractive! 2/6 for a female live brimstone butterfly, 1/6 for a female comma. Good pocket money source! Once his stock of Privet Hawk Moth caterpillars was wiped out by a disease and I scoured the streets of ten square miles and earned enough to pay for a cycling holiday's accommodation. He was an extremely nice man . I did meet his father on one visit to 40, Salisbury Road, Bexley.
Robn Ford wrote on November 24, 2017:

The male assistant is my father Richard Ford who later wrote natural history books and purchased the natural history supply…

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The male assistant is my father Richard Ford who later wrote natural history books and purchased the natural history supply company Watkins & Doncaster. This is now being run by his grandaughter Amy Wells

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London's Screen Archives

Newman's Butterfly Farm

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