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The Nonesuch Flower[Lychnis chalcedonica, Family Caryophllyaceæ] is a Campion and its name Lychnis comes from a description meaning 'lamp' given by the Greek philospher Theophrastus [d 287 BCE]. There are about six species in the Lychnis group of Campions and L chalcedonica originated in the barren steppes of eastern Russia. Sometime in the 12th century it was carried to the Mediterranean countries. The earliest account of the Lychnis was by an Italian, Ulysses Aldronvandus, a collector who created a museum in his home town of Bologna. He called the Lychnis chalcedonica the "Flos Creticus" or "The Flower of Candia".

The Merchant Venturers, the traders whose enterprise created the wealth of the city of Bristol in the Middle Ages, are credited with bringing the flower to Britain from the Mediterranean. In those days it had various names including the 'Campion of Constantinople'- the old name for Istanbul - and the 'None-such'. By 1530 it was associated with the red of the woollen industry. "At Bristowe is the best water to dye red" ..was just one comment of the time. For many years the Nonesuch was known freely as the Flower of Bristol as the plant flourished in gardens, parks and along the edges of the deep gorge through which the Avon river flows to the sea. The Nonesuch became the floral emblem of the city and has long been associated with the university. Hoods of the academic gowns are coloured with a rich red and for many years the university students' newspaper was the Nonesuch News.
 

Nonesuch Expeditions began life in October 1962 when two graduates of the University of Bristol, the late Mark Howell, a Bristolian, and Tony Morrison met in the Markham Arms, a spacious Edwardian 'pub with bow windows beside the Kings Road, Chelsea, London. .The 'Markham', now long closed and converted to a bank, was a favourite haunt of the old friends. A year earlier they had returned to Bristol after a thirteen month overland journey around the world. With four colleagues they had travelled as the University of Bristol Trans Continental Expedition 1960 - 61. The thirteen month journey had three goals. The first was to study in Pusegaon a village in India and then move on to another hemisphere to see several village communities in Bolivia, South America. To conclude the mammoth journey the team visited many towns and cities in the USA and Canada enjoying commercial and cultural links with Bristol. The expedition was supported by numerous Bristol businesses, local Charitable Trusts and the Society of Merchant Venturers

When they met in London in 1962 Tony and Mark were thinking ahead to a documentary film-making contract with BBC television. They needed a business Company and a name. It did not take long to decide on "Nonesuch Expeditions" which they began with accountant Norman Russell and and one of Tony's old school friends, Allan Reditt. By 1963 "Nonesuch" was ready to roll and soon became well known in the BBC film studios at Ealing, once famed for its early movie comedies. ..Nonesuch contracts financed three years in South America, largely in the central Andes mountains and led to nine films and two books. Tony and Allan also met their wives, Marion and Jackie who were working as British volunteers on an Andean development project.

In the 1970s Mark went on to develop an electronics enterprise. Allan moved to a career with Reuters and sadly Norman Russell, who had become a great friend and mentor, died. .But Nonesuch Expeditions survived as Tony and Marion used the name for more televison and book productions including a major investigative report about mysterious markings on the Nasca [Nazca] desert of Peru.

The next appearance of Nonesuch Expeditions came in 1986 with a publishing venture producing two notable books. One was a simple illustrated biography of Maria Reiche the German recluse who spent over forty years studying and protecting the Nasca desert markings. The second book recorded the diaries and paintings of Margaret Mee a British artist who spent half her life in Brazil. One British newspaper said it was "one of the great natural history books of the century" and after an enthusiastic reception in the USA it has appeared in translations in Portuguese, Japanese and Thai. Some of the Margaret Mee story is elsewhere on this site and some is on a site devoted to her final journey - Margaret Mee and the Moonflower.

So the spirit of the Nonesuch name has spread with the age of the internet, and we know that Nonesuchinfo with its features and Nonesuch News pages, the latest development, already attracts a far wider audience than most television or paper published works.

 

Nonesuchinfo is an archive of information gathered from across the world by Tony and Marion Morrison, their friends and colleagues. The service is without charge to students anywhere. The material contained on the pages may be used for non commercial purposes with the understanding that a full credit is given to the author and source. The Editor of Nonesuchinfo would appreciate a note to say where the work is being used

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