Lepidoptera/Entomology: The R.M.A. Sutton Collection of Lepidoptera, early 20th century, a comprehensive and interesting collection of British moths and native butterflies, collected by Mr R.M.A. Sutton until 1963, over three thousand six hundred various specimens, all housed within a forty drawer, double door mahogany collectors chest, each drawer with protective glass cover, and numbered 1 - 40, the majority of specimens with dated hand written data labels, Butterfly specimens to include - Silver-washed fritillary, Dark-silver fritillary, Heath fritillary, Greasy fritillary, Glanville, Meadow brown, Common blue, Brown argus, Small copper, Silver-studded blue, Small heath, Marsh ringlet, Silver-spotted skipper, Small skipper, Lulworth skipper, Grizzled skipper, Large white, Green-veined white, Small white, Hairstreaks, Wood white, Orange tip, Marbled white, Painted lady, Red admiral, Camberwell beauty, Peacock, Wall butterfly, Grayling, Pearl-bordered fritillary, Small pearl fritillary, High brown fritillary, Dark green fritillary, Clifden blue, Chalkhill blue, Azure blue, Duke of Burgundy, Swallowtail, Moth specimens to include - Red underwing, Dark crimson underwing, Orange underwing, Scarce black neck, The snout, Bloxworth snout, Waved black, Blackneck, The herald, Golden ear, Burnished brass, Burnet companion, The Alchymist, Dark spectacle, The dot, Jersey tiger, Scarlet tiger, Wood tiger, Black arches, Yellow tail, Large dark prominent, Small elephant hawk, The shark, Chestnut, Small purple-barred, Broad-bordered underwing, Yellow underwing, White underwing, Golden-rod brindle, Pink-barred sallow, Bearded chestnut, Old lady, Slender brindle, Chi moth, Lesser broad-border, Large yellow underwing, Four-dotted footman, Cream-spot tiger, Oak eggar, Grass eggar, Privet hawk, Broad-bordered bee hawk, etc, cabinet dimensions - 95.5cm width, depth 47.5cm, overall height 123cm.My Grandfather - Richard Montague Arnold Sutton was born in 1901 in Sidcup, Kent, the son of a General Practitioner. He was educated at Brighton College and thereafter became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. In this capacity he ran his Mother's family business of Thomas Wolfe Garage (1907) Ltd, based in Woburn Square in Bloomsbury. This was compulsorily purchased by London University after my Grandfather's death and now forms part of the site of the School of Oriental and African Studies. He married my Grandmother, Phyllis Mary Young in 1926 whereupon they moved to Leatherhead in Surrey and subsequently to a house called Highdown in Banstead, Surrey where they raised three children, including my late Mother. They lived there throughout the war years during which my Grandfather, being in a reserved occupation, acted as a fire watchman in the City of London. They moved to a bungalow that they designed and had built in the grounds of Highdown in 1964. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1967 and was survived by my Grandmother who died in 2011 at the age of 107. She left me my Grandfather's butterfly and moth collection which had, since the mid 1970's been on permanent loan to the Field Studies Council Centre at Juniper Hall at Boxhill in Surrey. My Sister and I remember our Grandfather with great affection. He was kind, warm hearted, generous and very funny; even given to the occasional practical joke. Larger than life he was a bon viveur, socialite, traveller and enthusiastic ballroom dancer as well as a keen collector not only of lepidoptera but of all things associated with natural history. "Bug hunting" led to many expeditions into the countryside, principally in the home counties but also further afield and, of course, many specimens were collected in the grounds of Highdown itself.
![HUNTING INTEREST: 9 Titles: FINCH MASON: SPORTING RECOLLECTIONS, London, Fores, 1886 [sixth edition]; AUBREY NOAKES: THE WORL](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/05fbad29-4270-429e-8e47-b27d0096f0b9/1eb44d5b-b8de-4e4c-9017-b2b401105a94/468x382.jpg)
