1 Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855--1956). English botanist, geologist and naturalist who spent much of his life in Singapore, where he was the first Scientific Director in charge of botanical gardens. In this role he introduced rubber as a commercial product to Malaysia & improved the method of tapping. He explored widely around Penang & Malacca. He retired to England in 1911 and worked on a five volume flora of the Malay Peninsula, published from 1922 to 1925. In 1930 he published a seminal work on plant dispersal: The Dispersal of Plants Throughout the World.
2. George Bentham (1800-1884) Nephew and heir to Jeremy Bentham for whom he also acted a secretary. After his uncle’s death he devoted himself to botany, especially plant classification. At the invitation of Sir William Hooker he began work at Kew where he remained for 27 years. He collaborated with Joseph Hooker on the Genera Plantarum (3 vols 1862-1883) an influential work on plant taxonomy which is the foundation of many modern systems of classification. He donated his herbarium of more than 100,000 specimens to Kew. His Handbook of British Flora remained a standard work into the 20th century.
3. Carl Ludwig Blume (1706-1862) was born in Germany. From 1822-1826 he was Director of the Botanic Garden of Buitzenorg [Bogor, Java], then became Director of the Botanic Garden in Leyden. He specialised in the study of South East Asian flora on which he published extensively.
4 Icones Plantarum Or, Figures, with Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks of New or Rare Plants. Icones Plantarum, was initiated by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The illustrations are drawn from herbarium specimens of Hooker's herbarium, and subsequently the herbarium of Kew Gardens. W. Hooker was the author of the first ten volumes, produced 1837--1854, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, was responsible for Volumes X-XIX (most of Series III). Daniel Oliver was the editor of Volumes XX-XXIV: he was succeeded by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer. The series continued and now extends to forty volumes.
5.Heinrich Gustave Reichenbach (1823-1889) was a leading German orchidologist He was director of the Botanical Gardens of Hamburg University from 1863-1889 where he built up a considerable herbarium and library which were bequeathed to the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna 6 Charles Curtis (1853-1928) was born in Devon. He worked as a plant collector for J. Veitch & Sons 1878-1884 in Madagascar, Mauritius, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Moluccas. He then became Superintendent, Garden and Forestry Department, Penang 1884-1903. He assisted Ridley in some of his earliest experiments in tapping rubber and continued to collect plants in the Malay peninsular. 7 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 the Royal Horticultural Society. He married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877. 8 Daniel Oliver (1830-1916). Botanist. He made botanical studies in northern Britain and in Ireland, becoming a fellow of the Edinburgh Botanical Society In 1851 and of the Linnaean Society in 1853. In 1858 at the invitation of Sir William Hooker he began work as an assistant in the Herbarium. In 1859, he initiated lectures in Botany for Kew's trainee gardeners which led to his appointment as Professor of Botany at University College London in 1861, a post he held until 1888. From 1864 to 1890 he was also Keeper of the Herbarium and Library at Kew. He was elected member of the Royal Society in 1863 and published a number of works including Lessons in Elementary Botany,1864 and Flora of Tropical Africa 1868--1877. From 1890 until 1895 he held the editorship of Icones Plantarum.
9 The collections of the British Museum originally included natural history collections. In the 1880s, these were moved to the purpose built premises in South Kensington now known as the Natural History Museum; the institution remained subordinate to the administration of the British Museum until 1963 and was officially known as the British Museum (Natural History) until 1992.
10 James Drummond (c.1768-1863) was born in Scotland. He worked as a nurseryman in Edinburgh before becoming the curator of the Botanic Garden of the Cork Institution in 1809. In 1829 he moved to the Swan River Colony, Western Australia as Government Botanist and Superintendent of the government Gardens. He was in touch with W.J. Hooker to whom he sent many specimens.
11 William Purdie (c.1817-1857) was born in Scotland where he was a gardener in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh before becoming Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Trinidad from 1846-1857. He collected plants in Trinidad, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and other parts of tropical South America.
12 George Gardner (1812-1849) was born in Glasgow where he studied medicine and was a pupil of W.J. Hooker. From 1836-1841 he collected plants in Brazil. In 1842 he became a member of the Linnean Society, in 1843 he moved to Oxford and in 1844 he became Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Pradeniya, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. He also collected plants in Mauritius and Madras.
13 Eugene Bourgeaux (1813-1877) was born in Brizon, France. He appears to have had little education, but acquired a knowledge of botany and in 1843 went to Paris to assist a private collector with his herbarium. He soon acquired a reputation as an excellent plant collector working for various scientific groups in the Canary Islands, Spain, southern France and Algeria. From 1857-1860 he took part, at the request of Sir William Hooker in the British North American Expedition to western Canada. He himself sorted the specimens he collected at Kew. He continued his collecting career until 1870 in Spain, Mexico and Asia Minor. 14 Joseph Burke (1812-1873) was born in Bristol. He became a gardener and then a collector of live animals for the Earl of Derby. From 1839-1842 he travelled in South Africa where he collected plants in the Transvaal, then from 1843-1836 he travelled in North America to which he emigrated in 1848; here he collected plants in Idaho and the Rocky Mountains. 15 Gustav Mann (1836-1916) was born in Hanover. He became a gardener at Kew in 1859. From 1859-1862 he collected plants on the Niger expedition, then in 1863 he joined the India Forest Service 1863 where he remained till 1891.
16 William Baxter (fl.1820s-1830s) worked as gardener to the Comtesse de Vandes in Bayswater, often providing plants as specimens for illustration in Curtis's Botanical Magazine. In the 1820s, he collected plants in Australia for private collectors and seedsmen. His specimens and letters are held at Kew.
17 Sir James Hector (1834-1907) studied medicine in his native city, Edinburgh. In 1856 he joined the Palliser expedition (1857-1860) to British North America [Canada] as Surgeon and Geologist. In 1861 he began a three-year government supported survey of Otago, New Zealand, then in 1865 was appointed to set up the Geological Survey of New Zealand. He became Director of the Botanic Gardens, Wellington in 1866 and as chief Government-appointed scientist had a dominant role in official scientific institutions. His collections of New Zealand plants are held at Kew. 18 John MacGillivray, (1822-1867) was born in Aberdeen, the son of W. MacGillivray, professor of Natural History in the University there. He travelled as a botanist and collector of natural objects on a number of survey and expedition ships between 1842 and 1861. He settled in New South Wales. 19 William Grant Milne (? -1866) was born in Scotland where he became a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. He joined, as a botan, the 1852-1856 expedition of HMS Herald to Fiji; from 1862-1866 he collected plants in West Africa. 20 George Samuel Jenman (1845-1902) was born in Devon He was a gardener at Kew from 1871 until 1873 when he took up the post of Curator at Castletown, Jamaica. In 1879 he moved to the Botanic Garden, Georgetown as Superintendent. He collected plants in N. America and the Caribbean and became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1881. 21 Richard Oldham (1837-1864) worked as a gardener at Kew then collected plants on Kew's behalf in East Asia and in the Khasia hills of India. He died in China. 22 Allan Cunningham (1791-1839) was employed at Kew for which he collected plants from 1814-1831, travelling in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. In 1837 he succeeded his brother, Richard Cunningham (1793-1851) as Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Sydney. Richard also started his career at Kew. In 1883 he became Colonial Botanist to New South Wales and Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Sydney. He travelled in New Zealand and in 1835 set out with the expedition to find the source of the Darling River on which he met his death. 23 William Fawcett (1851-1926) was born in Ireland, but studied in London. He was Assistant in the Department of Botany at the British Museum from 1880-1885, then became Director of the Public gardens and Plantations of Jamaica from 1886-1908. He collected plants there and in the Cayman Islands, published on the flora of Jamaica and initiated and edited The Bulletin of the Botanical Department. He became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1881. 24 Daniel Morris (1844-1933) was born in Ireland & studied in Dublin, He was Assistant in the Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon 1877-1879 where he studied coffee diseases. In 1879 he became Director of the Public Gardens, Jamaica. In 1886 he moved to Kew as Assistant Director, then from 1889 until 1908 he held the post of Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, West Indies. He became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1903. 25 William Griffith (1810-1845) studied medicine in London, then in 1832 joined the East India Company as an Assistant Surgeon in Madras. He had long been interested in botany and pursued his studies in Assam, in Bhutan, Afghanistan, & Malaysia. He became a fellow of the LInnean Society in 1840 and was Acting Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic garden from 1842-1844. 26 Hooker has marked Curtis's name and that of Hullet which follows with asterisks referring to the comment '3or 4 specimens only in the herbarium! ' written at the foot of the page. 27 Richmond William Hullett (1843-1914). After graduating in mathematics from Cambridge in 1866, Hullett began a career as a schoolmaster at Felstead School, Essex. In 1871 he moved to the Raffles Institution in Singapore where he was Principal. He engaged in many aspects of colonial life and was particularly interested in Botany, collecting plants in Malaysia, Borneo, and in Java with Sir George King. 28 Hermann H Kunstler (1837-1887) was born near Magdeburg, but moved to Australia. On the recommendation of a British colonial administrator he was engaged to collect plants for the Calcutta [Kolkata] Botanic Gardens which he did from 1880-1886, starting in Singapore, then continuing through Penang, Perak, Kedah and other parts of the Malay peninsula. He then returned to Australia. 29 Alexander Caroll Maingay (1836-1869) was born in Yorkshire and studied medicine in Edinburgh before becoming a surgeon in the Indian Army in 1859. He collected plants in Burma [Myanmar], Penang and in Malacca where he was in charge of the prison from 1862 until 1867. In 1867 he became superintendent of the Rangoon Central Prison where he was shot in a riot.
30 Wallich, Nathaniel (1786-1854) surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the East India Company. In 1809 he was appointed assistant to the Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden, became acting Superintendent 1814-1816 and then Superintendent from 1816 till 1846; he retired to London in 1847 where he remained till his death. He collected plants in Nepal 1820-1821 and at the Cape 1842-1843. It was at his suggestion, made in 1814, that the Asiatic Society set up an India Museum of which he became the first curator and to which he was a major contributor.
In this letter Hooker has marked his name with ** referring to a note, 'Spec[imen]s monstrously bad' written at the foot of the page. 31 John Gilbert Baker (1834--1942).English botanist, started work at Kew in 1866 as an assistant in the Herbarium and progressed through the ranks to become principal assistant to the Keeper in 1884, finally becoming Keeper in 1890.
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