Wollaston Research Seminar | May 2026

Join us at the next Wollaston Research Seminar on 11 May at 2pm AWST either in-person or online (via Zoom) for two short papers.

Patrick Armstrong to present: John Ray: naturalist, traveller, theologian: Bringer of Order out of Chaos?

Abstract: John Ray (1627-1705) has been described as ‘The point where science and theology meet’ as well as ‘The father of English natural history’ and ‘Where the adventure of modern science begins’. John was the son of the village blacksmith and the local herb-woman in Black Notley in rural Essex. A bright lad, he was supported in studies at a local school and later Cambridge. He had a distinguished academic career, managing to navigate the vicissitudes of the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the Restoration until he was required to swear an oath that his conscience would not allow him to take. He resigned his fellowship, and after an unsettled period in which he travelled widely, he returned to his native village and wrote an impressive series of books on natural history in all its aspects, philology and language … and theology. His theological writings emphasise the Creation of Order out of Chaos. His work in science echoes this theme. Theretofore the classification of plants and animals had been chaotic, almost random, and partly based on superstition. John Ray brought Order, concentrating on the detailed and careful observation of organisms, logical reasoning and basing the classification – into species and biological groups – on fundamental characteristics. And traces of this ‘search for Order’ can be seen in some of his other writings. John’s influence was far-reaching. Some of the biological groups he distinguished are still recognised. Conceptually he was far ahead of his time: he did not totally exclude the possibility of the mutability of organisms, he thought that fossils might be the remains or traces of past life, and he attempted early estimates of biodiversity. And he is an early example of that important genre, the English parson-naturalist.

Mark Jennings to present: Is there an Australian Anglican “Field?” Preliminary sketches.

Abstract: In the work of Pierre Bourdieu, constructing a “field” which disclosed the relative power relationships of a particular phenomenon was a critical first step in analysis. In this work in progress, I will outline some of the available qualitative and quantitative data to sketch the outlines of a Bourdeisian “field” of the Anglican Diocese of Perth in the 1980s–1990s. As more data comes to light, it is hoped that a picture of everyday Anglican identity in the Anglican Diocese of Perth during the “Peter Carnley era” (c. 1980s to early Noughties), revealing the position of those identifying as Anglican relative to Australian society, will become apparent. Will this emerging vision challenge the simple narrative of declining numbers and significance of Anglicanism in particular (and Christianity in general)? It is probably too early to say, but you are welcome to help me take the faltering first steps toward discovery.