Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC483
The Camp, Sunningdale, Berkshire, United Kingdom
JDH/2/16 f.126
Thiselton-Dyer, Sir William Turner
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
4-8-1892
© 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 sympathises with Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer over the death of one of his relations of the Buckner family, who was in the military & known by reputation to the Hookers through a Captain Cochrane formerly of China. JDH was also sorry to hear about the illness of [Walter] Gardiner, his great niece's fiancée. The RBG Kew herbarium is running smoothly, several people are away on leave: [William Botting] Hemsley & [John Reader] Jackson, but [Otto] Stapf has returned. Herbarium visitors include Krantztin[?], who is working on Lindley's orchids, & [Arthur] Lister & Miss [Gulielma] Lister working on [Miles Joseph] Berkeley's myxomycetes & doing exquisite drawings. JDH reports that part 18 of the FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA has been published. He complains about the lack of palm specimens, which they should have received from [Odoardo] Beccari & which George King has now requested be sent to RBG Kew from the Calcutta herbarium. JDH is currently working on Pandanus & Typha, which he complains Rohrbach has made unintelligible. He wishes to encourage David Prain to work on Palms, Pandanus & Aroids & to revise William Roxburgh's Flora, irrespective of the good work he has already done on Pedicularis & other Himalayan genera. King is doing valuable work on Annonaceae, Aales & Nutmegs. JDH finds the idea of half Quaker Mrs Hanbury becoming a marchioness very funny. JDH sends his regards to the Balfours & wishes to report to them the state of various plants: Veronica, Goodyera, & JDH's Himalayan Rhododendrons which have suffered for being transplanted on the day of an early frost in 1891.

Transcript

seems to me -- he had not even seen T. elephantina!
I hope that when you see King you will urge him to have the Palms, Pandani, big Aroids etc. taken up by [David] Prain*7, & the revision of [William] Roxburgh's Flora -- This is of far more importance than Pedicularis -- good as his work is on these & other Himal[ayan]. genera. King could not be better employed than he is, in such difficult & important things as Annonaceae, Aales, Nutmegs &c.
The idea of 1/2 quaker Mrs Hanbury becoming a Marchioness is very funny.
Kindest regards from us both to the Balfours; tell him that the Veronica do beautifully, & that both patches of Goodyera have flowered well. The fate of my Himal[ayan] Rhodod[endron]s is heart--breaking -- they were doing well where they were. Some 20 or 30 have survived the change & are doing well
*8Curiously, the typical arboreum var with leaves every [1 word illeg.] is a fine beast, quite untouched! Falconeris which had leaves 18in long all killed outright -- In the wood (of firs) I had not lost one in 6 years. The transplanting on the day of the sudden early frost of 1891 did it.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y y[our]s | Jos. D. Hooker[signature]

Page 1


Aug[ust] 4 [18]/92
THE CAMP,
SUNNINGDALE.

My dear Dyer*1
Thanks for your's of the 31st. We were indeed grieved to see, in the "Times", the loss you & your family have sustained. It must have been a dreadful shock to you all. & to your poor sister indeed a blow -- She was a favorite[sic] of Lady Hooker's, who sends her deep sympathy with mine. She has of course written to Mrs Buckner. He poor fellow bore a very high character in the service, as we knew from our neighbour Capt Cochrane, with who brought them both [1 word crossed out, illeg.] home in his Transport from China.
We are glad to hear that Harriet is so much improved.

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We are deeply concerned to hear such unsatisfactory news of Gardiner*2. It is a sad case altogether, for even if he does recover, the fear of a relapse will be haunting spectre to all his relations & friends for years at any rate. I feel deeply for my poor Niece.
All goes on smoothly at the Herbarium, & all the more as so many are away on leave. now & again -- [William Botting] Hemsley[?] & [John Reader] Jackson at present. [Otto] Stapf returned two days ago. but I have not seen his wife.
Krantztin[?] is here, with an obese help mate, busy with Lindley's Orchids. Also Mr & Miss Lister*3 of Lyme, working at Berkeleys*4 myxomycetes they seem

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to be charming people; & their drawings are exquisite.
Part xviii of Fl[ora]. Brit[ish]. Ind[ia]. is out; & I am quite heart--sore about the Palms. Of many, of which we ought to have had specimens from [Odoardo] Beccari*5, there is not a scrap, though for the many numbers of single species that Beccari cites from Scorterchinia & Calcutta Herb[arium] there must be loads of specimens at Calcutta. King*6 (who has not yet come to Kew to work) has written for a complete set to be sent at once by post to Kew, so I shall not resume the Palms till they come. Meanwhile I am at Pandani, a hopeless task -- & Typha, which Rohrbach has rendered unintelligible as it

Page 4

seems to me -- he had not even seen T. elephantina!
I hope that when you see King you will urge him to have the Palms, Pandani, big Aroids etc. taken up by [David] Prain*7, & the revision of [William] Roxburgh's Flora -- This is of far more importance than Pedicularis -- good as his work is on these & other Himal[ayan]. genera. King could not be better employed than he is, in such difficult & important things as Annonaceae, Aales, Nutmegs &c.
The idea of 1/2 quaker Mrs Hanbury becoming a Marchioness is very funny.
Kindest regards from us both to the Balfours; tell him that the Veronica do beautifully, & that both patches of Goodyera have flowered well. The fate of my Himal[ayan] Rhodod[endron]s is heart--breaking -- they were doing well where they were. Some 20 or 30 have survived the change & are doing well
*8Curiously, the typical arboreum var with leaves every [1 word illeg.] is a fine beast, quite untouched! Falconeris which had leaves 18in long all killed outright -- In the wood (of firs) I had not lost one in 6 years. The transplanting on the day of the sudden early frost of 1891 did it.
Ever aff[ectionatel]y y[our]s | Jos. D. 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. Probably refers to Dr. Walter Gardiner (1859--1941). Husband of Isabella Whitehead Gardiner née Campbell, Joseph Hooker's great niece. They married in 1893.
3. Arthur Lister (1830--1908) and Gulielma Lister (1860--1949). Arthur Lister was a wine merchant and botanist known for his research on myxomycetes, or 'slime moulds'. Much of his scientific work was done in collaboration with his daughter Gulielma, an accomplished artist, and she continued their work after his death. The most notable result of their labours was Monograph of the Mycetozoa (1894).
4. Reverend Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803--1889). English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. 5. Odoardo Beccari (1843--1920. Italian naturalist who collected extensively in Sarawk, Brunei, Papua New Guinea & other surrounding islands of Indonesia & Malaysia. He discovered many new species in his career, largely palms. He is also noted for his discovery in Sumatra in 1878 of Amorphophallus titanus, known as 'titan arum' or 'corpse plant', the species has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the plant kingdom.
6. 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.
7. David Prain (1857--1944). Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1905 to 1922. A Scottish physician and botanist Prain was in the Indian Medical Service before being appointed curator of the Calcutta herbarium in 1887. From 1889 to 1905 he was Director of the Royal Botanic Garden Calcutta as well as the Botanical Survey of India and Superintendent of Cinchona Cultivation in Bengal. From 1898 he was Professor of Botany at the Medical College of Calcutta until 1905 when he came to Kew as the Gardens' fourth director.
8. The wording from here to the end of the letter is written vertically up the left hand side of page 1.

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