Belfast Naturalists' Field Club

Founded in 1863, the club was an important part of the education system for Victorian naturalists and worked largely through first-hand field studies.

[1] It has been credited with playing an important role in the elucidation of glacial and post-glacial sea levels, climates and fossil beaches and issuing the first of the regional handbooks for meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science as far back as 1874.

[1] Ralph Tate visited Belfast to give a series of lectures on botany which stimulated Samuel Alexander Stewart to gather a group of field botanists.

[5] The first field trip organized by the Club occurred on 6 April 1863 when 88 members travelled to Islandmagee to collect fossils.

Since then members of the Club have visited many areas including the Cavehill, the Giant's Causeway, Mount Stewart and Strangford Lough to name but a few.