Paul Hockings: The Amateur Anthropologist. G. W. Willis and his Precursors
Abstract
The thinkers who founded anthropology and prehistory in the nineteenth century were almost entirely untrained in the subject, and indeed had often distinguished themselves in other professions altogether. Their efforts, along with the development of local field clubs in Britain and elsewhere, led to the founding of many museums, regional journals, and to the development of public interest in culture history. G. W. Willis, FSA, a clocksmith and Mayor of Basingstoke, was one example of an amateur who did a great deal of field study during 1920–1970 and created a new museum.
[Hampshire, antiquarianism, local museums, origins of anthropology, G. W. Willis]
© ANTHROPOS