and oversaw many changes and developments in the early years of the association.
describes the impact of the death of A.J Herbertson, and his wife on the Association, which came as a great shock to all.
He died at the tragically young age of 49.
He was born in Galashiels in Scotland. In 1892 he went to Dundee to teach botany. in 1892 he was made a
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He then moved in 1892 to Fort William, Scotland to work on a
meteorological observatory on Ben Nevis. In 1894 he moved to Manchester to become a lecturer in political and commercial geography in the University of Manchester.
In 1985, he showed his interest in the teaching of geography in schools with a paper titled
"The importance of geography in secondary education and the training of teachers therein." This was read at the 6th International Geographical Congress under the chair of Clements Markham, who was impressed by what Herbertson had to say on the matter.
The Bryce Commission reported in the same year.
From 1896 to 1899 he lectured in industrial and commercial geography at Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh. In 1896 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Peter Guthrie Tait, Sir John Murray, Ralph Copeland and Alexander Buchan. he was also acting editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine at this time.
In 1898 he received a doctorate (PhD) from University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau. In 1899 he moved to the
University of Oxford to become a reader of geography; then became the first Oxford Professor of Geography in 1905.
He would become head of the geography department at Oxford in 1910, but while teaching there he also took over the role of Honorary Secretary of the GA in 1900. He solicited support from various organisations and made an effort to ensure that Geography's position was strengthened.
In 1908 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.
One of the contributions that
Herbertson has left is his work on the natural regions of the world. Even in the run up to the GCSE examinations, I used a diagram very similar to the one that Herbertson developed. It is shown in the paper that he gave on his work in this area,
showing global biomes.
L. Dudley Stamp (a GA President himself at a later date) wrote a paper, in which he described this moment in 1904, when Herbertson introduced his work on
natural regions.
Herbertson sadly died of a heart attack on 15 July 1915 in Radnage, Buckinghamshire. He is buried with his wife Frances Dorothy (who died two weeks later) in Holywell Cemetery nearby.
Halford Mackinder wrote at length about his legacy and his work. Mackinder will receive his own entry on the blog in time.
His entry in the Autumn Issue of 'The Geographical Teacher' for 1915 was outlined in black.
In 1965, fifty years after his death,
L.J Jay also wrote a long piece on his services to school geography, which was published in 'Geography'. Mr. Jay was the Honorary Librarian of the GA, and a lecturer at the University of Sheffield.
Jay described his huge influence on the GA.
He apparently didn't possess the magnetism of Mackinder, but impressed students by amongst other things, "he had the ability to make a map of Central Europe come to life under his hand as he drew from memory on the blackboard'.
He was also an author whose books had enviable sales. His 'Junior Geography' apparently sold more than a third of a million copies - I wish the textbooks I've written had a 10th of those sales figures! He wrote a book called '
Man and his Work' with his wife which went into its 8th edition in 1946, almost 50 years after it was written and first published, and with only minor changes to the text and some new photographs.
Read it here on the Internet Archive. I think it would new a few revision now though, having browsed through the first few chapters.
Herbertson joined the Council of the GA, and in 1900 a motion was carried which he had proposed which was that membership should be open to all teachers of geography and not just those in public or endowed secondary schools. When Dickinson resigned he was elected Honorary Secretary. He travelled from Oxford to visit the inaugural meetings of new branches in cities such as Sheffield.
When the GA launched its journal in 1901, Herbertson had to reassure the RGS that this was not a threat to their journals, which were more of an expeditionary nature.
As a teacher, he "urged the prime importance of studying the home district, and encouraged teachers to conduct their pupils on local field excursions using the relevant one-inch sheet of the Ordnance Survey Map" - at the time this was a novel idea.
Keltie had referred to this practice that he had observed in Germany, where it was called "Heimatskunde"
We owe Herbertson another debt, as he was successful in persuading the Director General of the Ordnance Survey to let teachers have OS maps at preferential rates. He didn't like the separation of the subject into human and physical, and also the large range of political and other subdivisions that students had to learn. This led to him developing his idea of natural regions shown earlier in this post. This was influential in further work by J. F Unstead and P. M. Roxby.
A generation of children in Britain were taught using the framework Herbertson developed, perhaps making him the Waugh and Bushell of his time :)
For those attending school between the two world wars, his influence persisted, through the work of L Dudely Stamp and others.
Jay also put me onto a book which will have its own separate blogpost to itself: Herbertson's chapter in
a book edited by J W Adamson in 1907. This is called 'The practice of instruction'.
Herbertson includes a list which predates Hirsch by many decades, where he outlines what might be the 'minimum geographical knowledge' he expected of a 12 year old. He is also clear on the need for a properly trained teacher:
The Oxford University Geography Department also shared some further information on the role of Herbertson during his time at Oxford University in a special webpage:
- His passion for teaching geography brought Herbertson to Oxford in the first place: In 1895, he gave a paper on geographical education and teacher training to the Sixth International Geographical Congress in London. Halford Mackinder was so impressed by it that he hired Herbertson as his assistant. (Scargill, 1976)
- Herbertson and Mackinder initiated biennial summer schools at Oxford at which distinguished university teachers from Britain and abroad taught schoolteachers in the class and in the field. More than 850 teachers attended the five Vacation Courses organised by Herbertson between 1902 and 1914 and the influence he thus exerted on British school geography was immense.
- Herbertson and his wife were prolific authors of school textbooks: more than 1.4 million copies of their textbooks were used in the specialist secondary school teaching required under the 1902 Education Act.
- He produced a new series of wall maps (published 1914-15).
- Between 1900 until his untimely death he acted as secretary of the Geographical Association (the professional society for geography teachers) and was founding editor of its journal, Geographical Teacher, from 1901 to 1915.
- Herbertson used both roles to argue for more and better geographical education in schools, particularly through field classes and practical work.
This has been updated.
References
Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_John_Herbertson
50 years on, L. J Jay's article:
JAY, L. J. “A. J. Herbertson : His Services to School Geography.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 4, 1965, pp. 350–361. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565960.
He was
remembered in 2015, by the Oxford University Geography Department in this special webpage.
E. W Gilbert also gave an appreciation of his work at the GA Conference in 1965.
Halford Mackinder also made an emotional tribute to his work at the time of his death.
Work of Mackinder: STAMP, L. DUDLEY. “Major Natural Regions: Herbertson after Fifty Years.” Geography, vol. 42, no. 4, 1957, pp. 201–216. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564139.
An essay in Systematic Geography:
https://www.people.iup.edu/rhoch/ClassPages/Thought%20and%20Philosophy/Readings/Week2/Herbertson.pdf
As always, if you know of any further information that would improve this post, or suggestions for additions and edits, please get in touch.
Update (May 2019)
It's always good to see that people are reading the blog. Thanks to Brendan Conway for his thoughts in this tweet
In the Spring 2016 issue of 'The Geographical Teacher', there was also a statement in memory of Mrs. Florence Herbertson.
She had done a great deal for the GA as well, and written a great deal in her own name.
Updated September 2019
Herbertson was also referenced by Joseph Acton Morris in his Presidential Address in 1966. He was a teacher and said that Herbertson's work was all based on the need to "improve the standard of geographical teaching".
Update early October 2019
From my personal collection... a good little book... co-written with his wife.
Updated October 2019
Mentioned in Darby's review of Academic Geography of the period.
Darby, H. C. “Academic Geography in Britain: 1918-1946.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, vol. 8, no. 1, 1983, pp. 14–26. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/622271
Update: December 2019
https://journals.openedition.org/cybergeo/2966 - a reference in a journal by Hugh Clout
Updated February 2020
As I got to the 1960s, I came across a Herbertson Memorial lecture by E. W. Gilbert, where he provides further information on Herbertson, as seen below.
GILBERT, E. W. “The Idea of the Region: Herbertson Memorial Lecture.” Geography, vol. 45, no. 3, 1960, pp. 157–175. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565156
Update April 2020
In 1965, a special article on A. J. Herbertson was published, the transcript of a lecture by E. W. Gilbert marking the centenary of his birth.
This is well worth reading for a much fuller picture of
Herbertson's life and contributions to the GA.
It also makes the connection with another remarkable man: Patrick Geddes.
There's also an excellent anecdote of how Mackinder persuaded Herbertson to work with him rather than accept a job in New York.
GILBERT, E. W. “Andrew John Herbertson 1865-1915: An Appreciation of His Life and Work.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 4, 1965, pp. 313–331. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/40565956
To finish, a rather nice quote:
Update April 2020
While researching someone else, I came across Robert Neal Rudmose Brown's Herbertson Memorial Lecture of 1948 which is well worth reading.
Source:
Brown, R. N. Rudmose. “SCOTLAND AND SOME TRENDS IN GEOGRAPHY: JOHN MURRAY, PATRICK GEDDES and ANDREW HERBERTSON.” Geography, vol. 33, no. 3, 1948, pp. 107–120. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564415. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.
It describes Herbertson's immense contribution between 1900 and 1915.
Fleure took over as Honorary Secretary in 1917, after being asked by Halford Mackinder.
Updated August 2023
This entry describes someone who was never the President but, had he lived to the age of many other Presidents, would have certainly taken up that position at some point.
