With help of a grant from the Royal Society, members of Tenby Museum and Art Gallery have been able to organise a programme of research and talks based on the life and collection of ‘local hero’ William Lyons.

Lyons lived in Tenby from about 1796 until his death in 1849 and created one of the most important collections of shells in Wales.

This was donated to the museum by his family just at the moment the museum was starting in 1878. It includes a small bivalve shell identified by him, which bears his name; Lyonsia Norwegica. However, William Lyons and his family are hardly known in the town now, but he is a real hero for having worked so hard to collect thousands of special shells which are stored and conserved at the Museum. There is one memorial to the family in St. Mary’s Church at the bottom of a series of three windows.

Dr. Graham Oliver, well-known conchologist, from the Department of Natural Sciences at the National Museum of Wales has been carrying out research into Lyons’s significant collection and will be giving a talk at the museum on Wednesday, September 20, 7 pm. His talk will explore the Regency Natural History in Pembrokeshire and consider not only William Lyons, but also John Adams, a contemporary of Lyons, who lived at Holyland, Pembroke. He tragically drowned off the South Pembrokeshire coast at the age of only 30 while hunting for shells.

This talk promises to be an excellent insight to the amazing early collectors’ work and those interested should contact Tenby Museum to reserve places, tel. (01834) 842809.