Miss J. E. Linter (1844-1909)
Miss J. E. Linter’s collection of land-snail shells is outstanding in its breadth and quality.
She was born in Teignmouth to a well-known musical family. At an early age she went to study in London and was a regular reader at the British Museum.
Miss Linter started her collecting in the 1880s. The basis of her collection was formed by the acquisition of collections from Mr Theobald and Colonel Skinner. Skinner’s collection had many specimens belonging to the order Helices (Miss Linter’s favourite order of molluscs) as well as rare specimens from Mr Wollaston’s collection.
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She communicated regularly with the conchologists of the day and could almost have been described as a shell dealer. In communications with a curator at Exeter Museum in 1902 she described herself and her collections as follows:
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‘For many years I have been collecting exotic land shells, in fact, my collection is about as complete as it can well be, and I have spared no expense or labour in making it and keeping it up to date, by securing representatives in the finest condition of all new species found and described.’ |
Miss Linter died at home in Twickenham on August 30th 1909. A letter from Miss Florence Jewel (her executer and fellow conchologist) expressed Miss Linter’s wish that her collection be donated to the Museum:
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‘I bequeath to the Exeter Albert Memorial Museum my collection of Foreign Land Shells and the cabinet containing them, and also my collection of British Shells; upon condition that the same are kept in a separate and distinct collection and labelled or described ‘The Linter Collections’, and are made accessible and open to the public within twelve months of the same being handed over to the Museum authorities.’ |
Her wishes were duly followed and some of her many specimens will be on display in our new galleries when the Museum reopens. Her collection of fossils was also donated to the Museum.
