Myxomatosis in 1950s Britain

Twentieth Century British History

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 83-105

  Bartrip, Peter W J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURE; ANIMAL; ANIMAL DISEASE; ARTICLE; ENVIRONMENT; EPIDEMIC; HISTORY; LEGAL ASPECT; MYXOMATOSIS; RABBIT; UNITED KINGDOM;

AGRICULTURE; ANIMALS; DISEASE OUTBREAKS; ENVIRONMENT; GREAT BRITAIN; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; MYXOMATOSIS, INFECTIOUS; RABBITS;

EID: 43449091313     PISSN: 09552359     EISSN: 14774674     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/tcbh/hwm016     Document Type: Article

References (215)

1. The National Archives: Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) MAF 131/132. Myxomatosis: Outbreak at Edenbridge, undated and unsigned notes; MAF 255/ 216. Third report of C. P. Quick, 13 October 1953
2. MAF 131/13. Minute of H. Gardner, 27 October 1953
3. Report of Major A. Franklin (DVO), 28 October 1953
4. R. H. Franklin to H. Gardner, 2 November 1953
5. MAF 131/113. L. R. Sankey to H. N. White, 28 October 1953
6. PRO MAF 131/115. County-by-County Spread of Myxomatosis (England and Wales), October 1953-October 1954
7. National Archives of Scotland (NAS) AF74/177. County-by-County Spread of Myxomatosis (Scotland), July 1954-May 1955.
8. H. V. Thompson, 'Myxomatosis for rabbit destruction' Quarterly Review of the Royal Agricultural Society of England (1953), 15-16.
9. H. V. Thompson and A. N. Worden, The Rabbit (London, 1956), viii;
10. E. Veale, The rabbit in England', Agriculture History Reviev 5 (1957), 85-90
11. J. Sheail, Rabbits and their History (Newton Abbot, 1971), 9
12. J. Marchington, Pugs and Drummers. Ferrets and Rabbits in Britain (London and Boston, 1978), 31-40
13. R. M. Lockley, The Private Life of the Rabbit (London, 1980 edn), 14.
14. Sheail, Rabbits and their History, chapters 5 and 6.
15. PP 1846 ix (2) Select committee on game laws. Report, 16, 23.
16. Report from the select committee of the House of Lords on agriculture (damage by rabbits) together with the proceedings of the committee and minutes of evidence (London: HMSO, 1937). Evidence, 66.
17. 5 Hansard (Lords) 67 (3 May 1927), 31-2
18. G. Stapledon, The Plough-up Policy and Ley Farming (London, 1939), 159.
19. The Times, 27 December 1941; 16 January 1943; 31 May 1945
20. Land at War. The Official Story of British Farming, 1939 1944 (London, 1945), 50
21. Sheail, Rabbits and their History, 202.
22. F. Fenner and B. Fantini, Biological Control of Vertebrate Pests. The History of Myxomatosis in Australia (Wallingford, 1999).
23. Lockley, The Private Life of the Rabbit;
24. Sheail, Rabbits and their History.
25. J. Sheail, 'The management of an animal population: Changing attitudes towards the wild rabbit in Britain', Journal of Environmental Management 33 (1991), 189-203.
26. H. Kean, Animal Rights. Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800 (London, 1998), 199.
27. C. J. Martin, 'Observations and experiments with myxomatosis cuniculi (Sanarelli) to ascertain the suitability of the virus to control the rabbit population', Fourth Report of the University of Cambridge Institute (1934-35), 16-38.
28. Fenner and Fantini, Biological Control, 72, 117.
29. PRO MAF 112/181. Rabbit destruction campaign, paper no. 6, 20 July 1950.
30. See also MAF 131/2. W. M. Gracie's paper, Control of wild rabbits, 16 December 1949; Fenner and Fantini, Biological Control, 118-19.
31. Ibid, chap. 6.
32. Ibid, 217.
33. See e.g. E. J. Moynahan, 'Myxomatosis', Practitioner 174 (1955), 709-14
34. R. M. Lockley, 'Has the rabbit a future?' Countryman 53 (1956), 658-60
35. P. W. Brown et al., 'Rabbits and myxomatosis in the north east of Scotland', Scottish Agriculture 35 (1956), 204-7.
36. J. Wentworth Day, Poison on the Land. The War on Wildlife and some Remedies (London, 1957), 43
37. Marchington, Pugs and Drummers, 109
38. Sheail, 'The management', 196
39. H. V. Thompson, 'The rabbit in Britain', in H. V. Thompson and C. King (eds), The European Rabbit. The History and Biology of a Successful Colonizer (Oxford, 1994), 73
40. F. Fenner and J. Ross, 'Myxomatosis' in Thompson, and King, The European, Rabbit, 208
41. PRO MAF 255/216. Third report of C. P. Quick, 13 October 1953
42. see PRO MAF 131/12. I. Thomas to B. Engholm, 23 June 1958.
43. Shooting Times, 28 November 1953, 764
44. Gamekeeper's Gazette 275 (1953), 4092
45. Southern Weekly News, 20 January 1956. In fact, the presence of myxomatosis in Britain was confirmed more than eight months before meat was de-rationed.
46. PRO MAF 131/2. W. M. Gracie's paper, Control of wild rabbits, 16 December 1949
47. MAF 112/181. Rabbit destruction campaign, paper no.6, 20 July 1950
48. FT 1/2. R. M. Lockley to E. M. Nicholson, 17 October 1953.
49. Author's taped interview with Cyril Skinner, 14 December 2005.
50. Scotsman, 21 July 1954
51. Press and Journal, 5 August 1954
52. Farmers Weekly, 29 October 1954, 85.
53. PRO MAF 131/12. Minute of J. N. Ritchie, 13 October 1953
54. MAF 131/113. L. R. Sankey to H. Gardner, 14 October 1953
55. L. R. Sankey to H. N. White, 16 October 1953
56. L. R. Sankey to H. N. White, 10 October 1953 (sic)
57. Unsigned and undated note no. 5 to H. N. White;
58. L. R. Sankey to H. N. White, 28 October 1953
59. L. R. Sankey to H. N. White, 3 November 1953
60. MAF 131/132. Myxomatosis-situation report by Major C. J. Armour, 5 February 1954.
61. 5 Hansard (Lords) 184 (11 November 1953), 257.
62. PRO MAF 131/113. MAC paper 11; minutes of fifth meeting of MAC, 23 February 1954; Report of the Advisory Committee on Myxomatosis (London, 1954), 4-5.
63. PRO MAF 255/216. R. Franklin to H. Gardner, 2 November 1953; H. Gardner to A. C. McCarthy, 3 November 1953; First meeting of MAC, 4 November 1953. Undated and unsigned notes for the chairman's opening statement. Author's taped interview with Lord Carrington, 23 May 2005.
64. PRO MAF 131/113. L. R. Sankey's note on Action by Infestation Control Division, 3-6 December 1953; Minutes of third meeting of MAC, 10 December 1953.
65. PRO MAF 131/113. MAC (evidence) no. 9.
66. Report of the Advisory Committee, 9.
67. 5 Hansard 526 (9 April 1954), 83.
68. I. S. Macadam (ed.), Annual Register of World Events, 1954 (London, 1955), 47, 65.
69. PRO MAF 131/115. County-by-County Spread of Myxomatosis (England and Wales), October 1953-October 1954
70. NAS AF74/177. County-by-County Spread of Myxomatosis (Scotland), July 1954-May 1955.
71. 5 Hansard 529 (1 July 1954) 1501; (8 July 1954) 188; 531 (22 October 1954) 1556; (Lords) 189 (22 November 1954) 1756;
72. PRO MAF 131/114. Minutes of seventh meeting of MAC, 20 October 1954; MAF 131/115. Research report of the MAC's Scientific Sub-Committee, December 1953-December 1955.
73. See e.g. The Times, 17, 25 June 1954
74. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 27-28 April 1954, 76; 22-23 June 1954, 27
75. Shooting Times, 14 May 1954, 314; 28 May 1954, 338, 352; 23 July 1954, 482, 485
76. Farmers Weekly, 25 June 1954, 40
77. Western Morning News, 10, 24 June 1954.
78. Press and Journal, 14 July 1954.
79. See also Courier and Advertiser, 15 July 1954
80. Glasgow Herald 15 July 1954
81. Scotsman, 19, 21 July 1954
82. Scottish Farmer, 24 July 1954, 1119.
83. NAS AF70/784. Annual Report of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture, 1953-4.
84. Shooting Times, 28 May 1954, 352; 16 July 1954, 46
85. Daily Mirror, 3 August. 1954
86. The Times, 6, 28 July, 2, 6 17, 20 September 14, 18, 25 October 8 November. 1954
87. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 13-14 July 1954, 51.
88. N. Rose, Churchill. An Unruly Life (London, 1994), 142, 203.
89. PRO PREM 11/585. D. Pitblado to R. Guppy, 7 July 1954; R. Guppy to D. Pitblado, 10 July 1954.
90. PRO MAF 131/114. Minutes of joint meeting of MAC and LPAC, 26 July 1954.
91. PRO MAF 131/22. L. Sankey to D. Westlake, 14 September 1954
92. MAF 131/114. Minutes of seventh meeting of MAC, 20 October 1954
93. Daily Mirror, 31 August 1954
94. The Times, 31 August 1954
95. Glasgow Herald, 31 August 1954
96. Kent & Sussex Courier, 3 September 1954
97. Veterinary Record, 4 September 1954, 516
98. Shooting Times, 10 September 1954, 621
99. Press and Journal, 23 September 1954
100. RSPCA Annual Report, 1954, pp. 19-20
101. Day, Poison, pp. 44-5.
102. PRO MAF 131/114. Minutes of seventh meeting of MAC, 20 October 1954.
103. 5 Hansard 531 (22 October 1954), 1526, 1537-8, 1546-9.
104. Ibid, 532 (10 November 1954) 1308.
105. Ibid, 1314-17
106. The Times, 11, 22 November 1954; 2 & 3 Eliz. 2c.68.
107. PRO MAF 131/14. Dundee to D. Amory, 16 November 1954
108. H. Woolley to D. Amory, 16 November 1954
109. The Times, 18, 19, 22 Nov 1954.
110. 5 Hansard (Lords) 189 (22 November 1954), 1756-70.
111. PRO PREM 11/585. J. Colville to G. Wilde, 12 August 1954.
112. PRO PREM 11/585. G. Wilde to J. Colville, 14 August 1954.
113. PRO PREM 11/585. Minute 2, Cabinet Meeting 10 November 1954
114. Second Report of the Advisory Committee on Myxomatosis (London, 1955), 2.
115. Hansard 572 (1 July 1957), 71
116. PRO MAF 131/115. Minutes of eleventh meeting of MAC, 3 Dec 1957
117. The Times, 23 April 1958
118. Farmers Weekly, 25 April 1958 53
119. Shooting Times, 3 May 1958, 351.
120. Report of the Advisory Committee, 8.
121. PRO MAF 131/30. H. White to H. Gardner, 18 February 1954; Myxomatosis-mopping-up. Draft notes for a circular to CAECs, undated;
122. note of a meeting held on 25 Febuary; minute of G. V. Smith, 23 March 1954; MAF 131/114. Memorandum to CAECs. Myxomatosis in rabbits, 9 April 1954.
123. BBC Written Archives Centre (BBC WAC) R19/1560/3, A. D. Bird to G. Baseley, 31 August 1955.
124. PRO MAF 131/30. H. White to H. Gardner, 29 January 1954
125. H. White to H. Gardner, 18 February 1954; Myxomatosis-mopping-up. Draft notes for a circular to CAECs, undated; Note of a meeting held on 25 February;
126. Minute of G. V. Smith, 23 March 1954; MAF 131/114. Memorandum to CAECs. myxomatosis in rabbits, 9 April 1954.
127. Hansard (Lords) 194 (23 November 1955), 762-4, 812-14.
128. Hansard 545 (27 October 1955), 42
129. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 30 November-1 December 1954, 91
130. PRO MAF 131/124. Summary of CAEC progress reports. Position at end of September 1956.
131. PRO MAF 131/115. Press Notice of 13 October 1955; 5 Hansard 545 (27 October 1955), 42.
132. PRO MAF 131/115. Minutes of ninth meeting of MAC, 19 May 1955.
133. The Times, 8 September 1956.
134. PRO MAF 131/124. Minutes of first meeting of Rabbit Clearance Committee, 18 January 1956; Press Notice of 13 November 1956; MAF 131/136. Minutes of first meeting of Rabbit Policy Group, 6 March 1957; MAF 131/129. Draft report on rabbit policy, 15 May 1957; Minutes of meeting to discuss formation of Rabbit Clearance Societies, 11 November 1957; MAF 131/96. Press notice of 7 February 1958.
135. PRO MAF 131/124. RCC, summary of progress reports, June 1956; MAF 131/ 154. Minutes of fourth meeting of ACRC, 14 December 1959; Bulletin of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 5 (1961), 73.
136. PRO FT 4/26. Rabbit investigation note 11.
137. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 23-24 November 1954, 89.
138. Ibid, 18-19 October 1955, 41
139. Hansard 545 (31 October 1955), 76.
140. Ibid, 547 (5 December 1955), 547; 548 (16 February 1956), 2505.
141. See (2 February 1956), 1055-56; (13 February 1956), 225-6; 549 (20 February 1956), 23-4; Farmer & Stock-breeder, 10 February 1959, 53.
142. Livestock Division, NZ Department of Agriculture Bulletin no.284, 'The rabbit pest and its control' (Oxford University, Department of Zoology, Bureau of Animal Population reprint no. F1519M); D. Macintyre, Nature Notes of a Highland Gamekeeper (London, 1960), 160.
143. PRO MAF 131/113. MAC Scientific Sub-Committee. Summary of evidence available ... for consideration at meeting of sub-committee on 3 December 1953; Minutes of second meeting of MAC Scientific Sub-Committee, 3 December 1953.
144. PRO MAF 131/96. Minutes of joint meeting of MAC and LPAC, 12 October 1955; MAF 131/115. Research report of MAC Scientific Sub-Committee, December 1953-December 1955; Minutes of tenth meeting of MAC, 18 June 1956; MAC progress report, January 1955-May 1957; 5 Hansard 542 (16 June 1955) 751-2
145. Veterinary Record, 24 September 1955, 746-7
146. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 31 January-1 February 1956, 33
147. Manchester Guardian, 15 February 1956.
148. PRO MAF 131/122 Notes of meeting of 10 October 1955; H. N. White to A. C. Sparks 21 October 1955
149. A. K. H. Atkinson to I Thomas, 5 January 1956.
150. PRO MAF 31/115. MAC progress report, January 1955-May 1957; MAC progress report, November 1957; Minutes of eleventh meeting of MAC Scientific Sub-Committee, 11 June 1956; Farmers Weekly, 10 January 1958, 34.
151. PRO MAF 131/245. Review of Rabbit Clearance Societies in England and Wales, 1964-5, August 1965; MAF 131/167. Submission to Minister, 16 December 1965. Moles, which were thought to have increased since the 1950s, were regarded as nuisances because they ate earthworms and created molehilis that were objectionable on various grounds: They reduced agricultural production, spoilt garden lawns and sports venues, encouraged the spread of weeds, damaged farm machinery and were unpleasant on the eye. See e.g. The Times, 19 April 1965.
152. The Times, 21 August 1978. A 1978 Bill proposed extending the Ministry's powers to destroy badgers. See ibid, 13 March 1978. Coypus, large South American rodents brought to Britain to be farmed for their fur, colonized East Anglian waterways where, they damaged river banks and consumed farm crops. Efforts to eradicate them began in 1962 and succeeded in the 1980s.
153. See L. M. Gosling and S. J. Baker, 'The Eradication of Muskrats and Coypus', Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 38 (1989), 39-51.
154. www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/estimates2004; PRO MAF 131/136. Minutes of first meeting of Rabbit Policy Group, 6 March 1957; PP 1956 xvii.
155. Annual Report of Nature Conservancy, 1955-6, p. 472; PP 1957-8 xvi,
156. Annual Report of Nature Conservancy; 1956-7, pp. 452-5
157. The Times, 3 January 1955; 22 July, 29 November 1957; 5 May, 1958; 13 January 1960
158. Farmer & Stock-breeder, 29-30 March 1955, 43
159. Farmers Weekly, 26 April 1957, 41
160. Field, 5 February 1959, 223
161. K. J. Sumption and J. R. Flowerdew, 'The ecological effects of the decline in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) due to myxomatosis', Mammal Review 15 (1985), 151-86.
162. Farmers Weekly, 4 February 1955, 52
163. Southern Weekly News, 6 August 1954.
164. Day, Poison, 44-5
165. Daily Mirror, 31 August 1954
166. The Times, 31 August 1954
167. Glasgow Herald, 31 August 1954
168. Kent & Sussex Courier, 3 September 1954
169. Veterinary Record, 4 September 1954, 516
170. Shooting Times, 10 September 1954, 621
171. Press and Journal, 23 September 1954; RSPCA Annual Report, 1954, 19-20.
172. Louth and North Lincolnshire Advertiser, 5 June 1954.
173. Southern Weekly News, 6 January 1956.
174. See also 13, 20 January, 3 February 1956
175. Essex Chronicle, 4 November 1955.
176. Daily Mirror, 20 July 1954.
177. The Times, 5, 16 November 1953, 2 December 1955
178. Manchester Guardian, 27 July 1954
179. Glasgow Herald, 2 August 1954.
180. Ibid, 17 April 1953, 36.
181. Farmers Weekly, 27 November 1953
182. July 1954, 83; 6 August 1954, 67; 27 August 1954; 29 March 1957, 65; 3 May 1957, 75; 19 June 1957, 67; 13 September 1957, 82; 17 January 1958, 75; 25 July 1958, 82.
183. Field, 14 January 1954, 69.
184. Illustrated London News, 28 August 1954.
185. See e.g. Tower-Bird, 'Witness this myxomatosis', Shooting Times, 23 July 1954, 485.
186. See e.g. The Times, 6 July 1957
187. February 1959; R. Page, The Dedine of an English Village (London, 1974), 117
188. N. W. Moore, The Bird of Time. The Science and Politics of Nature Conservation (Cambridge, 1987), 137.
189. PP. 1950-1 viii, Report of the Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals, 437.
190. Field, 14 January 1954, 69.
191. See PRO MH 56/324. Newspaper and periodical cuttings plus letters from and to various individuals, 1954-5; MAF 131/125. RCC progress report, June 1957.
192. The Times, 6 February 1959.
193. Field, 14 January 1954, 69.
194. Interview with Lord Carrington, 23 May 2005.
195. Field, 4 August 1955, 223.
196. See Farmer and Stock-breeder, 19-20 July 1955, 38-9
197. Southern Weekly News, 30 December 1955
198. Shooting Times, 19 August 1955, 522.
199. J. Martin, The Development of Modern Agriculture. British Farming since 1931 (Basingstoke, 2000), 98.
200. See also B. A. Holderness, British Agriculture (Manchester, 1985)
201. A. Howkins, The Death of Rural England. A Social History of the Countryside since 1900 (London, 2003), 150.
202. Martin, The Development of Modern Agriculture, 76-7.
203. See J. Ross, 'Myxomatosis: The natural evolution of the disease', Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 50 (1982), 89
204. H. F. Marks and D. K. Britton, A Hundred Years of British Food and Farming. A Statistical Survey (London, 1989), 162, 164.
205. The ecological effects', 159.
206. Ibid, 151-86
207. O. Rackham, The History of the Countryside (London, 1987), 48
208. Country Life, 15 August 1957, 288.
209. A. S. Thomas, 'Further changes in vegetation since the advent of myxomatosis', Journal of Ecology 51 (1963), 181-3
210. Sumption and Flowerdew, 'The ecological effects', 152, 180-1
211. L. Durrell, State of the Ark (London, 1986), 113
212. Moore, The Bird of Time, 135
213. Ross, 'Myxomatosis: The natural evolution', 89
214. Thompson, 'The rabbit in Britain', 81-2
215. idem, 'Myxomatosis: A survey', Agriculture 63 (1956), 52-3.