Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC443
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom
JDH/2/16 f.87
Thiselton-Dyer, Sir William Turner
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
3-10-1882
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters to Thiselton-Dyer
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Original MS
4 page letter over 1 folio
 

JDH has just received a long letter from Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] who is travelling on the continent. JDH responds to his account of a railway accident. JDH comments on the town of Frijberg [Freiberg, Germany]. He notes that he never saw the 'Titi sea' & found the Black Forest 'deficient in water'. JDH liked the Volk's train he saw at the 1862 exhibition. He has considered sending his son Reginald Hooker to the German school WTTD saw. RBG Kew can send plants to de Barg. JDH mentions that he ran into Maximilian Leichtlin at Kew Bridge station. JDH plans to 'shift Xanthoceras'. JDH advises that WTTD will not be impressed by Lavalle's garden though he has a fine French country house. In RBG Kew news, JDH reports that he has condemned Mitford & Lessel's plan for the offices & lists its shortcomings for the offices of WTTD, Oliver, Smith & the Miss Hodgsons. Discusses negotiations regarding Kew Palace, P. Fane has reported that the Queen would be willing to give it up in exchange for an equivalent & Mr Leferne may have a scheme. [George] King has sent a memo to the Government of Bengal regarding the manufacture of the febrifuge [quinine] & JDH has received a letter from Colonel Henderson regarding a quinine factory in the Neilgherries [Nilgiris]. JDH briefly discusses the deficiencies in botany exams, specifically referring to some corrected proofs for the London University Exams & an article written by WTTD on the subject. Marianne north has written from the Cape saying she still wishes to see Welwitschia. JDH reports that Palms have gone to press & printing of Liliaceae is just finishing. JDH has named a curious species of Junceae after [Everard] im Thurn. Harriet [Thiselton Dyer nee Turner's] drawings have been lithographed & are ready for her to colour. Mentions the improvement to the herbarium grounds. Travelling expenses have been curtailed by the Board.

Transcript


THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS KEW
Oct[ober] 3/[18]82
My dear Dyer*1
I have just received your splendid long letter so full of interesting news, for which I have nothing but snippets to return.
The weather has been very fair indeed with us -- not more than 2 or 3 rainy days in all I think since you left, a few showers being taken for granted. The accounts we had of the railway accident tallies with yours -- with the addition that the train was leaning down hill with an engine not half heavy enough for the weight behind & was rounding a curve.
Yes, I know Frijberg [Freiberg] & thought it a very naïve old town -- that is its bye-ways, where are many odd pieces of old houses.
The Titi see I never saw, & thought the B[lack]. F[orest]. rather deficient in water: I remember seeing one of those volkes[sic] trains

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THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS KEW
Oct[ober] 3/[18]82
My dear Dyer*1
I have just received your splendid long letter so full of interesting news, for which I have nothing but snippets to return.
The weather has been very fair indeed with us -- not more than 2 or 3 rainy days in all I think since you left, a few showers being taken for granted. The accounts we had of the railway accident tallies with yours -- with the addition that the train was leaning down hill with an engine not half heavy enough for the weight behind & was rounding a curve.
Yes, I know Frijberg [Freiberg] & thought it a very naïve old town -- that is its bye-ways, where are many odd pieces of old houses.
The Titi see I never saw, & thought the B[lack]. F[orest]. rather deficient in water: I remember seeing one of those volkes[sic] trains

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at the 1862 Exhibition & rather liked it I am glad that you saw the German school as I have thought of it for Reggie [Reginald Hawthorn Hooker] -- i.e. if it takes lads as old.
We shall be delighted to send plants to de Barg.
I suddenly met Max Leichtlin*2 at K[ew]. B[ridge]. Station, I was emerging from the stairs as he was going down & in my hurry I did not recognise him though he shook me cordially by the hand. He is one of the angels that I entertained 'unawares' years ago & he has never forgotten it.
I shall shift Xanthoceras
See Lavalle's by all means but you will not be much taken with his Garden I fear. He evidently never had (i.e. growing well) half the things in his Catalogue, & of them again half were killed in 1880--1 -- he is a perfect gentleman -- you would see a French country house & get royally entertained. Madame L[avalle]. would welcome Harriet.
There is no news here -- Mitford*3 has been out with Lessels*4 bringing[?] a plan for

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the offices which I condemned in toto. Your room was to be 10 ft. square! & at the angle of the building facing the green & the Guide Entrance! It took in Olivers (Mr Smith) for whom (Oliver) no other residence was thought of for the Miss Hodgsons, which Mitford declares we shall never get, & this whole arrangement was more like a rabbit-warren than a dwelling place.
Mitford asked the F[rist]. C[ommissioner of Works]. about what he (the F.C.) had told me regarding the Palace, he first denied what he said & then admitted it with the assurance that he only referred to what had passed a year ago! Meanwhile P. Fane writes that the Queen would gladly give up the Palace for an equivalent, adding 'Mr Leferne has a scheme on the stocks[?], & when I go to town I will reopen the question with him' -- I shall go to town tomorrow & see what I can do.
King*5 has sent a copy of a memo to the Gov[ernmen]t. of Bengal on the febrifuge manufacture question*6, which will well back up your letter. he traverses much the same ground with like results.
A long letter came from Col. Henderson on the subject of a Quinine manufactory in Neilgherries [Nilgiris] -- it will require our careful consideration.

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The proofs of L[ondon]. U[niversity]. Exams. have come for correction I have corrected & returned them. Also proof of a very important memo of yours on the subject of the Bot[any]. Examinations generally. I have not ventured to do any thing[sic] with this. It opens up a large subject, points to great defects in education, & perhaps some too in the nature of the Examinations that prevail in the Universities, & which cover too much ground in my opinion.
Miss North*7 writes in good spirits from the Cape. She has not given up the notion of seeing Welwitschia, but doubts the practicalities.
We have returned to our several quarters from Bagshot. I am bothered with invitations which cost both time and money. Palms are gone to press -- a bag of bones. Liliaceae are just finished printing. I have named a most curious genus of Junceae after im Thurn*8 -- it is more like a cross between Typha & Sparganium with a strain of Cyperaceae -- but goes into Junceae.
Harriet[']s drawings*9 are fairly lithographed & await her coloring. The Cycas[?] will be heavy: I like the new Conservatory Foreman. I am particularly glad that Leichler[?] finds the Herb[arium] ground improved.
Barker is just back & I am arranging for Brown to go to Oxford & Watson to Dublin ? -- but Smith tells us that the travelling money is all expended. The Board having curtailed it -- they must find it elsewhere.
Ever aff[ectionately] JD Hooker [signature]

ENDNOTES


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. Maximilian Leichtlin (1831--1910). German botanist, worked in the nursery of Louis Houtte in Ghent before moving to Bade-Baden in 1871 where he founded a botanic garden devoted to the cultivation of rare plants. He also began to cross different species of orchid and described about 60 new hybrids.
3. Algernon Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (1837--1916). British diplomat and writer. Secretary to the Office of Works from 1874--1886. The Office of Works was the Government body that oversaw the running of RBG Kew & during his tenure as secretary Mitford supported Joseph Hooker's improvement plans.
4. John Lessels (1833--1914). Scottish architect. Employee of the Ministry of Works. From 1876 to 1894 he was the Ministry's Surveyor of the Country District, which included the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and was accordingly responsible for all the buildings at RBG Kew.
5. Sir George King (1840--1909). British Botanist. Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta and Cinchona cultivation in Bengal, 1871--1898. First Director of the Botanical Survey of India, 1890--1898.
6. Refers to the production of quinine, a product of the Cinchona tree bark used to treat malaria. A febrifuge is a term for any mediation that reduces fever.
7. Marianne North (1830--1890). A remarkable Victorian artist who travelled the globe in order to record the world's flora with her paintbrush. In 1879 she conceived the idea of presenting her paintings to Kew. She also offered to provide a suitable building in which to display them which survives to this day as the Marianne North Gallery.
8. Everard Ferdinand im Thurn (1852--1932). Author, explorer, botanist, photographer and British colonial administrator. In Dec 1884 he led the first successful expedition to the summit of Mount Roraima, in Venezuela. Curator of the British Guiana Museum from 1877 to 1882. Government agent in the North West District, British Guiana [Guyana], from 1891 to 1899. His particular interest was anthropological and ethnological subjects. He was also President of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1919--20.
9. Harriet Anne Thiselton--Dyer née Hooker (1854--1945). Oldest child of Joseph Hooker and his first wife Frances. Harriet was a botanical illustrator. She married William Turner Thiselton--Dyer who was Assistant Director of RBG Kew (1875--1885) and later Director (1885--1905), succeeding Harriet's father.

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