JDH informs Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that he must stay at the Hodgson's until the following Monday. JDH may need to send him a cheque to sign during the extended absence. JDH finds that [Brian Houghton] Hodgson has changed, his memory is poor and he has a cough & bad knee, he may go to Mentone for his health in the winter. The train journey brought back JDH's ear ache but it has passed again.
Transcript
his knee troubles him. He talks of Mentone*5 for the winter.
The train brought on my ear-ache again, but after a very bad night it is better today.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y y[ou]rs
J. D. Hooker [signature]
Love to Harriet*6 we were delighted to find her so bright.
Alderley Grange*1 The Camp Sunningdale*2
Tuesday 20.10.[18]85*2a
Dear Dyer*3
I find that the Hodgsons*4 have asked some people to come here & meet me on Saturday. So that I can't leave till Monday.
I forget whether I signed a cheque for this coming Saturday -- if not & you will kindly send one on I will do so.
I find H[odgson]. very much changed; his memory quite fluid & he has rather a troublesome cough -- also
his knee troubles him. He talks of Mentone*5 for the winter.
The train brought on my ear-ache again, but after a very bad night it is better today.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y y[ou]rs
J. D. Hooker [signature]
Love to Harriet*6 we were delighted to find her so bright.
1. Between 1867 and 1894 Alderley Grange in Gloucestershire was the home of Joseph Hooker's friend, the ethnologist Brian Houghton Hodgson.
2. The Camp was the residence Joseph Hooker had built in Sunningdale, Berkshire. Completed in 1882 he lived there full time, with his second wife Hyacinth and their family, after retiring from RBG Kew in 1885.
2a. The date on this letter has been added in pencil in another hand.
3. Sir William 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 also married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
4. Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801--1894). A pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British civil servant. Married Susan Townsend in 1869. Joseph Hooker stayed at Hodgson’s house in Darjeeling periodically during his expedition to India and the Himalayas, 1847--1851, and named one of his sons after him.
5. Mentone (It.) Menton (Fr.), town on French Riviera, along Franco-Italian border, made popular by Dr James Henry Bennet as a destination for convalescence.
6. Harriet Anne Thiselton-Dyer née Hooker (1854--1945). Oldest child of Joseph Hooker and his first wife Frances. Botanical illustrator and wife of William Turner Thiselton--Dyer. Her husband was Assistant Director of RBG Kew (1875--1885) and later Director (1885--1905), succeeding her father.
Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study electronic image(s) of this document where possible.
Powered by Aetopia