JDH is returning corrected proofs of the [RBG Kew Annual] Report to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer. As the weather is 'wretched' JDH suspects Thiselton-Dyer is troubled by leakages at RBG Kew & consequently dealing with the Works Department. JDH reports that his son Willie [William Henslow Hooker], currently with his tutor James Digues La Touche, is ill & suffering with haemorrhoids. JDH is busy re-landscaping [Sir James William] Colvile's grounds at Craigflower House. He mentions removing poplars & 'used up evergreens'.
Transcript
Craigflower*1a
Sept[ember] 4 / [18]79
Dear Dyer*1,
I send proofs of Report, which I have gone over twice. I wish I could have helped you more with it, but really I could not have done half as well.
The weather is still wretched & I fancy your[sic] worried by the leakage & the works dep[artmen]t, which
Craigflower*1a
Sept[ember] 4 / [18]79
Dear Dyer*1,
I send proofs of Report, which I have gone over twice. I wish I could have helped you more with it, but really I could not have done half as well.
The weather is still wretched & I fancy your[sic] worried by the leakage & the works dep[artmen]t, which
worries me to think of.
Willie*2 has been ill & in great pain at La Touche's*3 (haemorrhoids I suspect)
I am very busy here with Colvile's*4 grounds, especially near the house which I shall vastly improve I think: at the expense of a lot of hideous poplars & tens of thousands of used up evergreens. We have a dozen men & 3 horses at work. It is really a
very charming place with much variety in every direction.
Ever affectionately | Jos.D.Hooker [signature]
1a. Craiglfower House situated outside Torryburn near Dunfermline in Scotland was owned by Joseph Hooker's friend Sir James Colville.
1. Sir William Turner Thiselton--Dyer (1843--1928). British botanist and third Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1885--1905). He succeeded Joseph Hooker in the role after serving as his Assistant Director for ten years. He previously held professorships at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester, Royal College of Science for Ireland and Royal Horticultural Society. He married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
2. William Henslow Hooker (1853--1942) Hooker's eldest son.
3. Reverend James Digues La Touche (1824--1899). Vicar of Stokesay, scholar, scientist, naturalist and noted expert in the geology of Shropshire. Best known for his 1884 publication A Handbook of the Geology of Shropshire. La Touche was tutor to Joseph Hooker's son William Henslow Hooker as well as the sons of Charles Lyell and Bishop Colenso among others.
4. Sir James William Colvile (1810--1880). British lawyer, civil servant and then judge in India. He became a judge on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the court of last resort for the British Colonies. Colvile became a friend of Joseph Hooker's during the latter's travels in India from 1848--1851.
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