Draft copy of an article titled ‘The New Plant Houses at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh’ (stored in the ‘R’ box)
Main collection in boxes
published
• Draft copy of an article titled ‘The New Plant Houses at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh’ (stored in the ‘R’ box)
• History and development of the garden
• Accounts, 1764-1876 (incomplete)
• Staff Records (incomplete)
• Probationer Gardener records (1889-1935)
• Records relating to education at RBGE
• Photographs
• Maps
• Papers relating to regional gardens – Dawyck, Benmore and Logan
• Plant flowering records (phenology registers)
• Plant records, including inventories, and registers of plants entering and leaving the garden
Currently by general subject area. Correspondence and papers relating to the Regius Keepers or Directors of the Garden has been separated out and described separately.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, some files may be restricted due to GDPR legislation, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
published
Born Edinburgh 1641; died Edinburgh 1722
Robert Sibbald was educated in Cupar, at Edinburgh High School, and at the university there when he was awarded an MA in 1659. From 1660 to 1661 he studied anatomy and surgery and botany and chemistry at Leiden before moving to Paris and then Angers where he graduated MD in 1661. Returning to Edinburgh to practise as a doctor he was appalled at the state of medicine in the city and initially established a private garden to cultivate medicinal herbs. In 1670, with his friend and distant cousin Andrew Balfour, he leased a small plot belonging to Holyroodhouse at St. Anne’s Yards to assemble a collection of between 800 and 900 plants. This, together with a second (physic) garden at the Trinity Hospital acquired 6 years later, became a major site for plants of use in material medica and a teaching resource for medical students. Sibbald was a joint founder of a medical virtuoso club which in 1681 became the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He was knighted in 1682, appointed physician in ordinary to Charles II and made geographer royal for Scotland. In 1684 he produced a ‘Pharmacopeia Edinburgensis’ and the following year he became the first professor of medicine at Edinburgh University. However hostility to his conversion to Catholicism (which he later renounced) meant he had to flee temporarily to London. On his return to Edinburgh he developed a deepening interest in natural history, geography and antiquarianism and from 1682 became involved in compiling information from a range of sources on the geography and natural history of Scotland, resulting in the publication of ‘Scotia Illustrata’ in 1684, with a second edition in 1696. Drawing on his various interests, Sibbald contributed to early Enlightenment discourses on the economic potential of the nation. As a physician he explored the efficacy of botanical cures by extracted from Scottish plant life and his botanical work was admired by Linnaeus who named the genus Sibbaldia in his honour.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists).
D.W.
published
•1 box of papers and a study of the Life of Sibbald, Dr Archibald Pitcairne (The first professors of medicine in the University of Edinburgh) also Charles Alston and John Hope.
•Copy of Doctor of Medicine R.S. ‘Provision for the Poor in Time of Dearth and Scarcity.’ Second Edition, ECCO Prints (2011).
Temporary numbering and listing (M.R.):
Box 1 of 2
• GB 235 SIB/1 Typescript copies and photocopies. Sources include Peel Ritchie, “Early Days of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh”; Sir Alexander Grant, “Story of the University of Edinburgh”; Alexander Bower, “History of the University of Edinburgh,” 1817; Andrew Dalzel, “History of the University of Edinburgh,” 1862. Subjects include the establishment of a medical school and Chair of Botany at the University of Edinburgh; history of the Royal College of Physicians; founding of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden; misc. descriptions of Edinburgh sites, including the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Arthur’s Seat, and the Physic Garden (extract from “Historical Description of the Monastery and Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse”); life of Robert Sibbald; burning of Sibbald’s house; pensions paid to Papists; outcry against Sibbald’s desertion of the Protestant religion (extracts from Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall, “The Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session” and “Historical Observes”, 1685); nomenclature of plants referred to in Sibbald’s History of Fife (extracts from Scots Magazine, 1803–1804; extracts from Sibbald’s Scotia Illustrata, with a description of the Edinburgh Physick Garden; transcript of letter from Sibbald on his “memoria Balfouriana,” June 1699; photocopy of note from W.W. Smith to J.T. Johnstone, on Sir Andrew Balfour, 1932; 2 photocopies of newspaper cutting on the unveiling of a plaque at Greyfriars Kirk to commemorate Sibbald, Sept. 1981.
• GB 235 SIB/2 Ms. letter from Raymond Morris of Balgonie & Eddergoll to the Regius Keeper, on Robert Sibbald’s connections with Balgonie, Nov. 2003, and reply from Douglas R. McKean, Nov. 2003; postcard (aerial view) of Balgonie Castle, Fife; brochure with photographs and history of Balgonie Castle.
Box 2 of 2
• GB 235 SIB/3 Binder, typescripts. Subjects include biographies of Sir Robert Sibbald, Dr. Archibald Pitcairne, Dr. Charles Alston, and Dr. John Hope; Charta Erectionis (in Latin), Charter of Ratification, and Regulations, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 1685; Regulations respecting Medical Degrees of the University of Edinburgh. “The Author has occasionally inserted in his work Biographical Notices of various eminent Physicians and Surgeons, both in these Islands & on the Continent, who were contemporaries and correspondents of the Professors whose lives he has attempted to record.”
Note: “See the MS. volume in library, letters in pocket at back, referring to the provenance of the original work,” Sept., 1966.
Access points:
History of RBGE
History of Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
Name access points:
Charles Alston
Sir Andrew Balfour
John Hope
Raymond Morris of Balgonie & Eddergoll
Archibald Pitcairne
published
• GB 235 BAL/1 Folder: "Misc. Papers"; including:
Typescripts of extracts from various sources, including
copy Biography of Andrew Balfour by Patrick Neill;
Early Days of the Royal College of Physicians by Peel Ritchie, Edinburgh;
Some Passages from the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester by Gilbert Burnett (pp4-6);
Balfour's notice in Anderson's Scottish Nation;
marriage and death notices, from Mr John Lamont’s Diary;
auctions of books belonging to Sir Andrew and his brother, Sir James, the Edinburgh Gazette, 1699;
Extracts from Foulis of Ravelston’s Account Book, 1671–1707.
• GB 235 BAL/2 Folder:
Ms. copy of extracts from Memoria Balfouriana (and English translations);
transcript of letter from Robert Sibbald regarding the Memoria Balfouriana, 1699;
“Pharmacy in Edinburgh in the Olden Time,” by James Mackenzie, The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, (1871-1872), Vol.11, pp.444-469, typescript;
founding of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, from Robert Sibbald’s autobiography, pp.20-22, typescript photocopy.
description compiled by J.M. and M.R.
Copy of 'Memoria Balfouriana' and other material relating to Balfour and the founding of RBGE in the RBGE Rare Book Collection
open
permission required from RBGE
Born c 1638/39; died Edinburgh 1719.
Little is known of Sutherland’s early life but by the 1670s he was responsible for maintaining the original Edinburgh botanic gardens at St. Anne’s Yards near Holyroodhouse. In 1676 was appointed ‘intendant’ of the new Edinburgh Physic Garden, leased by the town council at a site near Trinity Hospital (later known as the Botanic Garden) where his responsibilities included teaching botany to medical students. He built an international network of correspondents who sent him seeds and plants and he is credited with the introduction a number of new species including the common larch. By the early 1680s the Trinity Hospital garden contained over 2000 plants, described by Sutherland in his ‘Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis’. The Garden was heavily damaged in 1689 during the siege of Edinburgh Castle when the Nor’ Loch drained into its grounds and Sutherland supervised its repair and successful renovation. In 1695 he was appointed to a new post as professor of botany at Edinburgh University and in the same year he assumed responsibility for planting the Town College Garden (known as the Physick Garden) as well as the running of the private Royal Garden at Holyrood, known as the Kings Garden. In recognition of his contribution he became the King’s Botanist under a royal warrant of William III in 1699. In 1706 he resigned from his professorship and the town and college keeper posts, though in 1710 in a Warrant of Queen Anne he was created the first Regius Professor of Botany for the Royal Garden, a rival to the University. In retirement he continued his botanical work as well as his specialist interest in coins and medals.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists).
D.W.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
•Biographical notes, a copy of his memoir, correspondence regarding his memoir (1874-1932), and a draft copy of catalogue of plants (1912), copies of letters, a copy of his catalogue prepared by I.B. Balfour and William D. Kemp, and a copy of ‘Faculty of Advocates: Cabinet of Coins (James Sutherland)’ (1856)
published
•Box containing letters and miscellaneous papers
published
•Box containing miscellaneous papers; 1st folder contains correspondence around Isaac Bayley Balfour's attempts to piece together elements of RBGE's history- mainly genealogical research around the Prestons, but other figures are mentioned too, including Arthur and Alston; the 2nd folder contains copies of documents used in the research such as Edinburgh Town Council Minute Books (therefor other aspects of the Garden's history are covered too; also copies of George Preston's lecture notes.
Added to this collection in December 2023, from the Special Collections, Rare Book Room, are Robert Moyes Adam's photographs of George Preston's Catalogus Omnium Plantarum [Catalogue of all Plants], 1716, taken in 1934 for inclusion in the Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
1 box
• Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence, including descriptions of William Arthur’s petition to the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, to practise medicine; Arthur’s involvement in the Jacobite plot to seize Edinburgh Castle in 1715; copy of indentures between Mr Patrick Arthur and John Pearson (ms., Privy Council Register, 1681); extracts from various publications on the history of Edinburgh and of the 1715 rebellion; reprint of “William Arthur, M.D., Botanist to the King in Scotland, 1715–1716,” by Professor Bayley Balfour, Transactions and Proceedings, Bot. Soc. of Edinburgh, vol. 26, part 4 (1914–15) right-click, open page in new tab: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53752#page/513/mode/1up ; Arthur family genealogy.
• Scrapbook, including extracts from various publications on the Jacobite Uprising of 1715 and the attempt to seize Edinburgh Castle (see above); correspondence, including letters regarding William Arthur’s funeral expenses and burial, and correspondence regarding Arthur’s memoir on the failed attempt to capture Edinburgh Castle (1897–1915); historical notes on the rebellions of 1715 and 1745; genealogical documents on the Arthur family (of Elie), including copies of testaments and family trees. Typescripts with ms. annotations and mss.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Box 1 of 2 (A04)
•GB 235 ALS/1 “Botanist Royal,” biography of Charles Alston, by J.M. Alston. Typescript copy (London, February 1980) from the original(?), deposited in the National Library of Scotland.
•GB 235 ALS/2 Plantarum Medicinalium Etc., with ms. annotations. Text block with spine, loose front cover, missing back cover, 120 pp.
•GB 235 ALS/3 20th century copy of manuscript widow’s petition by Mrs. Alston to H.M. Treasury asking for an allowance to maintain the Physick Garden at Holyrood House, 1762.
•GB 235 ALS/4 Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence, including biography of Charles Alston; history of the Alstons of Thinacre-Milne; list of Alston’s works; advertisement by John Hope for the publication of Alston’s Lectures on the Materia Medica, 1770; “Catalogus sive Index Plantarum.”
•GB 235 ALS/5 Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence regarding the history of the RBGE, 1716–1909. Includes manuscript copies in Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand, of Alston's Royal Warrants from the Register of the Privy Seal, and Alston' typewritten entry from Allibone's Dictionary, and copies of letters from Kinnear (1890), and to D.W. Kemp (1904) and Britten (1909)
•GB 235 ALS/6 Typescript and ms. papers and correspondence, including biographical sketches and notes on the life of Charles Alston; catalogue of works by Alston, c. 1908–1913. includes correspondence from Isaac Bayley Balfour to Prof. Eggeling at Edinburgh University to ask permision to copy relevant information pertaining to Alston and presumably history of RBGE from documents held at the University.
•GB 235 ALS/7 Papers and correspondence, including letter from Charles Alston, 1726 (photographic copy); ms. letter to Prof Balfour from Alex. P. Stevenson regarding “the Alston M/S and the Bower,” 1907; extracts from Mackay’s Journey through Scotland (printed 1723, 1729); typescript and ms. notes on the appointment of Charles Alston as Professor at the University of Edinburgh.
Box 2 of 2 (A05) - items transcribed from Edinburgh University holdings c.1908
•GB 235 ALS/8 Typescript copies of Alston correspondence, including botanical descriptions, discussions of the “sexes of plants,” and experiments with lime water, originally dating 1715-1756. "Copies of 'Alston letters' from University Ms These are not enter[?] in the Ms Life" in Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand. Correspondents include Boerhaave, Thomas Simpson, John Mitchell, J. Fothergill, Phillip Miller, John Hawkeens, Keir, John Ellis, Archibald Hamilton, Alexander Garden, William Cullen and Richard Henderson.
•GB 235 ALS/9 Life of Charles Alston, including copies of correspondence (1724–1760). Correspondents include John Fothergill, John Hawkeens, Stephen Hales, Alexander Garden, and Philip Miller. Subjects discussed include experiments with lime water and its medicinal uses, herbal remedies, the making of elaterium (a plant extract used as a purgative), the properties of amber and ginseng, botanical lore, Materia Medica, and Alston’s hostility to the Linnaean system. Typescript with ms. corrections, 107 pp.; ms. notes entitled “Mr Jeffrey’s comparison of the MS. Life of Alston,” 4 pp.
•GB 235 ALS/10 Life of Charles Alston. Typescript copy (see above) "Alston's Life, from an old manuscript - Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand).
items were left in the folders they were found in, ordered, listed and numbered - June 2015 - by M.R. and L.P.
This collection comprises a series of documents copied from manuscripts and documents held elsewhere. The bulk of the papers have been compiled by Regius Keeper Isaac Bayley Balfour as he was collecting historical documents relating to RBGE and its Regius Keepers at the beginning of the 20th century, but there are some papers collected in the 1970s-1980s.
University of Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Register of the Privy Seal...
permission may be required from the institution holding the original documents.
Born Edinburgh 1725; died Edinburgh 1786
John Hope read medicine at Edinburgh University and studied botany in Paris. He was awarded an MD at Glasgow University in 1750 and in 1762 was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. He was appointed physician to the Royal Infirmary and was active in inducing the town council to improve the sanitation of the city. Hope was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, being a foundation fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and, with David Hume, Adam Smith, Allan Ramsay and others, a founder in 1754 of the Select Society. His intellectual passion was botany. In 1761 he became professor of botany and materia medica and also secured a life appointment as the King’s Botanist for Scotland and superintendent of the Royal Garden at Holyrood, Edinburgh. Using family influence, Hope secured Crown funding, to endow a new botanical garden to replace the polluted Royal Abbey Garden and the Town Garden at Trinity Hospital. He moved the rarer plants to a 5 acre site on Leith Walk and this became the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh with greenhouses, ponds and groves arranged on botanical rather than medical principles. In 1763-4 he organised the first British syndicate for importing plant material, especially from North America and he toured English gardens to gather more. Hope himself was an expert plant physiologist, using experimental demonstrations to teach botany, and had a strong interest in systematic botany encouraging his students to explore the flora of Scotland. It was through his advocacy that Linnean teaching gained a hold in Britain. His students became part of an expanding network of plant collectors and one of Hope’s important contributions to science was the creation of an influential school of botanists with international reach.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists); (Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’)
D.W.
published
•1 box donated via the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Sibbald Trust containing original letters c.1783 (RBGEA2023/014) and a folder of B.L. Burtt's papers and correspondence used in his contribution to A.G. Morton's book.
•1 box containing I.B. Balfour’s scrap book, memoirs and other assorted items
•Box of index cards referring to John Hope
•1 box containing indices to NAS papers and various photocopies of correspondence, etc.
There is a detailed list stored with the following boxes containing photocopies of papers from the SRO which notes what is inside each box and what the references refer to. Documents include correspondence, bills, receipts and other financial accounts
•12 boxes containing copies of NRS Papers marked:
-1. GD253/143/1-4
-2. GD253/143/5-6
-3. GD253/143/7-9
-4. GD253/143/10-13
-5. GD253/144/1-4
-6. GD253/144/5-7
-7. GD253/144/8-10
-8. GD253/144/11-14
-9. GD253/145/1-6
-10. GD253/145/7-10
-11. GD253/145/10-13
-12. GD253/145/4
•13 boxes containing copies of NRS Papers marked:
-E215/3-6, 1769-1829
-E414/1-7, 1764. 1769, 1789, 1825
-E414/8, 1767, 1770, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1782
-E414/9-11, 1785, 1786, 1788, 1789
-E414/12-15, 1789, 1790, 1792
-E414/16-18, 1793, 1794, 1795
-E414/19-22, 1788, 1789, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799
-E414/23-25, 1797, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802
-E414/26, 1803
-E414/27, 1801, 1803, 1804
-E414/28, 1804, 1805, 1806
-E414/32, 1899, 1800, 1801, 1803
-E414/33-40, 1769, 1776
-E414/41-46, 1777, 1778
-E414/47, 1782
-E414/48, 1783
-E414/49, 1785, 1784
-E414/50, 1787
-E414/51, 1789, 1788
-E414/52, 1789
-E414/53, 1790
-E414/54 ,1791
-E414/55, 1792
-E414/56, 1793
-E414/57, 1794
-E414/58, 1795
-E414/59, 1796
-E414/57, 1794
-E414/58, 1795
-E414/59, 1796
-E414/60, 1797
-E414/61, 1798, 1797
-E414/62, 1799
-E414/63, 1800
-E414/64, 1801
-E414/65 ,1802
N.B. Researchers should come directly to the NRS if they wish to request copies of papers held at the NRS (including GD253). Researchers can access the copy which held at RBGE to view and take notes, but copies cannot be made: to obtain copies, researchers must request these be made from the original by NRS.
Researchers must also cite the NRS reference accurately in any work, regardless of whether an image is provided or whether they simply take notes from the RBGE copy.
Researchers must also obtain permission from the collection owner to use any images (if provided) or quote directly from the record. They are also responsible for establishing whether there is any copyright subsisting in the record, which may be separate from ownership, and clearing any usage accordingly.
If researchers have any further queries about this, or wish to request a copy, please contact NRS at lsrhe@scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
• Exhibition catalogue: John Hope; Enlightened Botanist written by Henry Noltie and relating to exhibition at Inverleith House, May to July 2011
SRO/NAS GD papers not to be consulted/copied/published without permission from the John Hope Trust / NAS.
SRO/NAS E papers not to be copied without permission from the NAS.
See above for more details.
SRO/NAS GD papers not to be copied or published without permission from the John Hope Trust / NAS.
SRO/NAS E papers not to be copied or published without permission from the NAS.
See above for more details.
Born Edinburgh 1749; died Edinburgh 1819.
Daniel Rutherford (the uncle of Sir Walter Scott) graduated MA from the University of Edinburgh and obtained his MD in 1772 where his inaugural dissertation on ‘mephitic air’ (carbonic acid) established the distinction between carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Though the latter was not named, Rutherford came to be regarded as the discoverer of nitrogen. After travelling in Europe Rutherford returned to Edinburgh in 1775, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1777. In 1786 he succeeded John Hope as professor of medicine and botany at the university and Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden and King’s Botanist. His interest in botany was limited to the use of plants as objects in chemical experiments and his teaching courses poorly reviewed. Rutherford held office as Regius Keeper at the Garden for 33 years during which time he was assisted by a succession of six Principal Gardeners. In addition to this role, he was elected physician in ordinary to The Royal Infirmary in 1791, fellow of the Philosophical (afterwards Royal) Society of Edinburgh in 1788 and of the Linnean Society in 1796. Not highly regarded as an academic, his publications were few and sometimes considered to be highly derivative.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; (Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’); (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists)
D.W.
published
• Ms. lectures on botany (1803–1806?), 44 pp.; Index Stirpium Officinalium, ut in Horto Regio Botanico Edinburgensi, 2 copies, 7 pp.; 1 copy, 4 pp., C. Stewart, printer; ms. note: “Edinburgh Evening Courant, Sept. 18, 1820. Nothing to be found on last page / Column 4.” 1 p.
• Correspondence and papers, including a ms. letter petitioning H.M. Treasury for an additional allowance to maintain the Botanic Garden, 1807; two ms. letters (with wax seals) from Archibald Menzies to Prof. Rutherford regarding seeds sent by Menzies, 1789; ms. copies of two letters from Archibald Dickson to I. Bayley Balfour, 1889 (originals with I. Bayley Balfour correspondence under “Dickson, Archibald”; ms. letter from Henry Paton, genealogist, to I. Bayley Balfour, regarding an inventory of Daniel Rutherford, 1909.
Born Stirling 1786, died Perthshire 1845
Robert Graham graduated from Edinburgh University in 1808 and was licensed by the Royal College of Surgeons in that year, securing an appointment at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1812. There he gave occasional lectures on botany and in 1818 became the first professor of botany at Glasgow University. In 1820 he was appointed Regius Professor of medicine and botany at Edinburgh University and keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden and King’s botanist (a post he held until his death in 1845), and was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1821. As Keeper of the Botanic Garden, Graham was responsible for establishing a new botanical garden on a 14 acre site in Inverleith Row to replace the one in Leith Walk. Over a period of two years he supervised the removal of all trees, shrubs and plants to the new site, sometimes subsidising the wages and expenses of the garden from his own pocket. In 1834 the largest palm house in Britain was opened at the Inverleith garden. In 1836 Graham became the first president of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and in 1840 was made president of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. He was a popular lecturer, the first to lecture on botany during the winter months, and was the author of numerous papers on new species of plants, many grown in the Garden. He travelled widely collecting plants through Britain, Jersey and Ireland and embarked on, but never completed, a flora of Great Britain.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’.
D.W.
published
Graham, Prof Robert (1786-1845), Regius.Keeper. 1820-1845
•2 boxes of correspondence, notes and papers
includes reprint given to Graham in 1841 by De Jussieu: "Note sur des Fleurs Monstrueuses d'une espece d'Erable" by Adrien de Jussieu, extracted from Des Annales des Sciences Naturelles, June 1841
Dates of creation: 1818–1908
2 boxes
Box 1 of 2
• GB 235 GRR/1 Ms. copies of correspondence, “Transcribed from R. Brown’s Correspondence.3. in the Botanical Department of the British Museum”, regarding Robert Brown’s candidature for the joint offices of King’s Botanist for Scotland, Regius Keeper, and Professor of Medicine and Botany in Edinburgh University, 1819–1827. Correspondents include Sir Joseph Banks, George H. Baird (Principal of the University of Edinburgh), Patrick Neill, and Lord Melville; ms. copies of correspondence between Robert Brown and Robert Graham, principally on botanical subjects, “Transcribed from R. Brown’s Correspondence.1. in the Botanical Department of the British Museum”, 1828–1845.
• GB 235 GRR/2 Typescript notes,” Dr. [James] Dunsmure’s MS. /Evidently note of Prof. Graham’s lecture”, 25 pp.; typescript notes recording other scientist’s views on plant structures and functions:[Achille] Richard, 29 pp; [Charles] Darwin, 10 pp.; Mr. [Joseph] Knight, 3 pp.; [Augustin] De Candolle and [Kurt] Sprengel, 2 pp.; [Thomas]Thomson, 3 pp.; [John] Smith, 3 pp.; [Henri] Dutrochet, 3 pp.
• GB 235 GRR/3 Ms., plant notes, 27 pp; ms. lecture notes for winter course, 47 pp.; ms. notes for Compendium of British Flora, 16 pp., 1831; ms. letter from Robert Graham to W.H. Campbell, Edinburgh Botanical Society, 1 p., 1837. [Note: 29 letters moved to Campbell folder at Boc. Soc. Scotland]; ms. copies of correspondence, 1824–1841. [Originals filed under “Balfour, J. Hutton, sup. corres. under “Plinian”; “Hooker, W. J.”; “Hamilton, Dr. Francis”]; “Biographical Sketch of the Late Robert Graham,” by Charles Ransford (Edinburgh, 1846; “Description of several New or Rare Plants …”, by Dr Graham, Edin. New Phil. Journal, 1829–1832; reprint, Notice of Botanical Excursions into the Highlands of Scotland from Edinburgh this Season, 1833,” by Dr Graham, Edin. New Phil. Journal, 1833; reprint, “Account of Botanical Excursions from Edinburgh in Autumn 1839,” Robert Graham; Index Stirpium Officinalium ut in Horto Regio Botanico Edinburgensi, with ms. annotations, 2 copies, 1826.
Box 2 of 2
• GB 235 GRR/4 Scrapbook, typescript, ms., and copies of papers and correspondence, and [brass?] printing plate: “University of Edinburgh, May 81, Lectures of Botany, Robert Graham, M.D.” Papers include typescript biographical sketches, typescript copy of Graham’s appointment as Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow by George III (Aug. 1818) and ms. and typescript copy of Graham’s appointment as Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh by George IV (March 1820), testimonial letters supporting Graham’s appointment, and a reprint letter to Patrick Neill, Secretary to the Caledonian Horticultural Society, from Andrew Duncan, on the controversy about the location for a new botanical garden at Edinburgh, May 1820. Subjects of correspondence include the disposal of Dr Graham’s papers and discussions of botanical matters. Correspondents include J.H. Balfour, William Brand, Robert Brown, Sir Joseph Banks, Mrs. Graham, A. Menzies, and Sir James Smith.
listing by M.R.
Name access points:
George Husband Baird
John Hutton Balfour
Sir Joseph Banks
William Brand
Robert Brown
William Hunter Campbell
Augustin de Candolle
Charles Darwin
Andrew Duncan
James Dunsmure
Henri Dutrochet
Francis Hamilton
W. J. Hooker
Joseph Knight
Lord Melville
A. Menzies
Patrick Neill
Achille Richard
Plinian Society
Sir James Smith
Kurt Sprengel
Thomas Thomson
Regius Keeper between 1845 and 1879
published
• 6 boxes of miscellaneous papers and lectures
• 1 box containing a map of a garden in Paris, marked property of ‘Dr. Balfour 1859’.
• J.H. Balfour, ‘The Botanist’s Companion’, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black (1860)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Manual of Botany’, London, John Joseph Griffin & Co. (1849)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Manual of Botany’, Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged, London and Glasgow, Richard Griffin and Company, (1855)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Manual of Botany’, New Edition Revised by the Author, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black , (1860)
• Two copies of J.H. Balfour, ‘Manual of Botany’, Fifth Edition, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black , (1875)
• J.H Balfour ‘Outlines of Botany’, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (MDCCCLIV.)
• J.H Balfour ‘Outlines of Botany’, Second Edition, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (1862)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘First Book of Botany’, London and Glasgow, William Collins and Sons, & Co., Limited.
• J.H. Balfour, ‘First Book of Botany’, London and Glasgow, William Collins, Sons, & Company, (1873)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘First Book of Botany’, London and Glasgow, William Collins, Sons, & Company, (1874)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Second Book of Botany: Systematic Botany’, London and Glasgow, William Collins, Sons, & Company, (1873)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Elements of Botany’, Third Edition, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (1876)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Elements of Botany’, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (1869)
• Balfour Botany, Encl. Brit., 7th Edition, 1842, Vol. V
• Balfour Botany, Encl. Brit., 8th Edition, 1854, Vol. V
• Balfour Botany, Encl. Brit., 9th Edition, 1876 Vol. IV
• 1 box of personal and miscellaneous photographs and papers
• 1 box of miscellaneous papers regarding Botanic Society proceedings and lecture notices.
• 1 box of miscellaneous papers, reprints and lecture outlines
• 1 box of miscellaneous papers and publications
• 1 box of miscellaneous papers, catalogues and excursion records (c.1841-1874; includes transcript of lost diary describing the events around the Battle of Glen Tilt)
• 4 boxes of correspondence and papers
• Collection of 26 letters by scientists, engineers, lawyers and other correspondents addressed to Professor Balfour on academic papers and Royal Society of Edinburgh matters.
• Bound volumes of J. H. Balfour’s correspondence, Vol. I to Vol.XII, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Library
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Balfour’s Class Book of Botany: Part I. Structural and Morphological Botany’, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (MDCCCLIX.)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Balfour’s Class Book of Botany: Part II. Physiology and Classification’, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (MDCCCLV.)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Class Book of Botany’, Third Edition, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (1871)
• J.H. Balfour, ‘Botany and Religion’ Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, (MDCCCLIX.)
• J.H. Balfour’s microscope
• J.H. Balfour: Ephemera –box containing lecture notices, hand bills, news paper clippings and syllabuses of lecture courses, given by Dame Agnes Boyd Balfour (widow of Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour to Professor William Wright Smith in June 1926).
• Folder containing drawings and artwork.
The pdf available on the Archives Resources page: (right click, open link in new tab) https://atom.rbge.org.uk/archive-resources/ is a description of the arguments John Hutton Balfour had with H.M. Office of Works to make Inverleith House habitable for him and his family to move into in 1878. He transcribed the correspondence into a notebook, now kept in box 1.
Lorna Morrow's 2018 PhD, 'Geographies of botanical knowledge: the work of John Hutton Balfour 1845-1879' is available from the University of Edinburgh's Researchy Archive: (right click, open link in new tab) https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/33248 .
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The Hutton Balfour correspondence is at present divided into at least two series - the bound correspondence (JHB/1/1) and the supplementary or loose correspondence (JHB/1/2).
The bound correspondence has been arranged alphabetically by sender (or sometimes by subject) and bound into 12 volumes. Each letter has already been numbered, with the run starting again each time a new letter of the alphabet is reached; giving us letter A1, A2, A3, etc, B1, B2, B3, and so on. It has therefore been decided to keep this numbering arrangement and the bound letters are being entered gradually onto the AtoM catalogue in a way that keeps this numbering.
The loose letters are also arranged alphabetically by sender, and it looks as if we will number them in a similar way to the bound letters, but with the prefix SUPP.
The two series will be kept separate, but a finding aid can and will be made available that will bring the two series together along with other pertinent correspondence.
At the moment, such a finding aid can be found in Lorna Morrow's PhD, in Appendix 7, p.505: (right click, open link in new tab) https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/33248
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Letter from William Achard, Edinburgh, to John Hutton Balfour dated 27 September 1870; Achard is unable to accept an invite to dinner as he has had to cancel visit to Edinburgh and return to Geneva. If Balfour has any messages for Geneva, Achard offers to take them.
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Letter from Sir Henry W. Acland, Oxford, to John Hutton Balfour dated 1870; Acland understands that the matter was to be taken up by Ralph Anstruther and that a memorial would be prepared in Edinburgh unless he draws one up. Acland has just returned from southern France and will look into the matter.
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Letter from James Adams, Glasgow, to John Hutton Balfour dated 1854; Adams is impressed by Dr. Abernethy's paper, Balfour's remarks and also those of Balfour's friends who agree with you on the Coal question; Greville's acceptance of the Civil jury's decision has not affected the scientific question. Such a style of controversy shows how Scientific opinions can differ widely, free from personal views. Adams requests a delay in decisions until Balfour has a fuller explanation of the rings in the section of coal shown. [continues at length disagreeing with Balfour's evidence] and states that although Balfour's explanation was innocent it was mistaken and he should recall it in the name of Science. Adams writes this as a friendly challenge and the result will either modify Balfour's views or those of Adams and others who disagree.
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Letter from W.P. Adam, Blair Adam, Kinross, to John Hutton Balfour, undated; Adam is unable to attend Agricultural Society meeting. Hopes to see Balfour in Edinburgh in due course.
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Letter from C.S. Aghard, Lund, Sweden, to John Hutton Balfour dated 20 April 1877; Aghard replies to Balfour's last letter enclosing some volumes for Balfour's library via Black & Hill Co. Cox and Hammond Quays, Lower Thames St.
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Letter from Thomas A. Ainslie, Government Civil Hospital, Hong Kong, to John Hutton Balfour, dated 13 April 1860, Ainslie writes that he is now at the hospital from 12 January at a salary of £300pa which he confesses is a poor salary for China but he doesn't expect any preferment in the Government Service. Ainslie has had an offer of a medical practice in Amoy; $4000 [Chinese or U.S. dollars?] from Dr. Hunter [who is leaving due to ill health] at an income of $8000pa. Ainslie has little faith in people here; has to see how his health holds up. "Here Dr. Murray keeps me in until 4pm. I climbed the Peak to visit the new sanitarium. Many troops here, several regiments have gone to Chusan to be nearer the action. The ultimatum has been rejected by Shanghai. Cumming who graduated two years ago is in the artillery was sent home after a few weeks to die of phthisis [tuberculosis]... Many deaths in the hospital; five out of 30 patients died from phthisis or pneumonia." Hopes Mrs Balfour is well and thank her for her kindnesses. Ainslie sent her and his mother presents at end of December, with a a good likeness of himself [photograph] for his mother. Dr. Wang called while Ainslie was laid up. Dr. Dods has taken Dr. Dixon's practice in Canton. Ainslie is trying to get a few seeds from the interior to send. He has asked about the rice paper plant and the specimen poison Prof. Christison asked about without success. This will reach Balfour in mid-summer. Ainslie wishes he was in your class, with best remembrances.
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Letter from Robert Aitken, Arbroath, to John Hutton Balfour dated 14th June 1878. Aitken thanks Balfour for his letter sent to Madasgascar in December which has been redirected to him in Arbroath. He hopes to visit Balfour in Edinburgh to get information about plants that Balfour wants from Madasgascar.
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William Aitken encloses a specimen of Scalariform tissue from the Torbane Hill coal seam. He has been examining various samples of coals and stratified rocks since he saw Balfour and is now even more certain that the stratified slices of Cannel coal are NOT vegetable matter but are in the structure of the coal. He wishes Balfour success in demolishing Bennett and would enjoy hearing it when it takes place.
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Chandler writes that he is glad that Balfour has received the plants sent last week. Will have more and better ones this time. Please propose Mr. Broome to be a member of the Society. He is prosperous and an excellent botanist. Am sorry that you didn't send a list of plants with those you sent me. They were ones I had long wished for. Have found near Bath a variety of Stachys ambigua growing on a dry sunny bank with Stachys syloatica. [described] Also Convatlaria Polygonatum too far advanced and the flowers dropped off. Carex ordilaris is abundant here but differs from those from the Society. Turvitis glabria, Helleborus viridis, Ornithogatum pyrenicum, Coronopus didyma, Buplenarum rotundifolium, I have found in quantity. A single specimen of Valeridalla inita amongst V. dentata which is common here. The Silene inflata around Bath has thick down on the stalks and leaves edged with bristles sometime serrated but gradually becomes its usual glabrous character. Decandolle and Hooker nots this variety. Ranunculus parvifloras covered a cornfield to the exclusion of other weeds. Have samples of Carex digitata, Arabis stricta [Bristol rock cress] for the Society. The best location for the latter was destroyed in building the Clifton suspension bridge. Mrs Glennie [the wife of the supervising engineer employed by Brunel] got him to carefully take them up the roots and replant them on rocks elsewhere. I intend to write up the Flora of Chippenham and neighbourhood for the Society. Have examined 3 sides of the town but not the most distant from Corsham, and won't have now I am settled here. I will send Mr. Broome's subscription with the specimens. I have a mistletoe growing on an apple tree for Dr.Neill. Let me have your desiderata soon. Ornithagalum pyrosicium was sold in the Spring as asparagus in quantity. P.S. I have been to Cheddar gorge, Banwell Cave and Western-s-Mare and found Dianthus caesius, Mecanopsis Thalictrum minor, Polypodium caleareum, Cistopteris fragilis and Gramsinitis Ceterach at Cheddar. Hypericum montanum, Sium latifolium, Ciuthmum maritimus, Desada fruticulosa at Weston. The drought has stopped all vegetation here. My health is better with these warmer, dryer days.
Summary by library volunteer Simon Muirhead.
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Letter from Richard Chandler Alexander, Surbiton, to John Hutton Balfour dated 24 March 1849.
Alexander writes that he is glad to read of the improvements in progress in the Society’s apartments. The want of curators is felt in London too. Alexander has brought many of the Cape plants to compare at the British Museum and the Linnean Society but has found at the museum nothing whatever of the country from South Africa [except a few arranged by Dr. Wallich]; a large collection made by Nelson and Niven about 1780-90 are most still un-named. Alexander finds it strange that they found conspicuous species in their day in localities which they don’t occupy now. During Alexander's stay [at the Cape] the last shrub of *Rotera cocci* is now extinct and it is not to be doubted that in the annual burnings since Nelson’s time others have perished. In a warm dry climate things are more spread out than in Britain; Alexander supposes that this is down to the greater differences in humidity between one spot and another and the limited period of adequate moisture for seed germination. General Walden used to say that in England he found all public collections neglected but private ones in good order; certainly between Hooker’s herbarium and the National one the difference is great. Smith’s herbarium is not what Alexander expected; his plants are mostly un-named and often species of different genera can be found in the same packet. Alexander refers to Cape plants *Protaecea*, *Diosma* and *Compositae*. Alexander will leave Liverpool on 24th April on the Niagara for Boston and he has learnt that a Mr. Cunningham, related to Asa Gray, is doing the same. Dr. Boot has given Alexander introductions to Torrey, Gray, Tuckerman, Lowell, Carey and Darlington. Hooker has promised more. Alexander asks if Balfour can give him an introduction to Gavin Watson. Dr. Boot has advised Alexander that the people at Cambridge could guide him on his journey. Hooker, as usual, regrets that Alexander always goes to civilised places and advises that he goes to Cuba for the winter. Alexander has already crossed the Himalayas and descended into some Tibetan valleys but found little blossom due to it being winter there. Alexander sends regards to Mrs. Balfour.
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Letter from Richard Chandler Alexander, Hammersmith, London, to John Hutton Balfour dated 18 December 1851.
Alexander apologises for not writing sooner since his return from America, he was hoping that Balfour would come down to the Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. In Philadelphia Alexander met Balfour's 'queer fellow' Gavin Watson but states that with all his oddity he was a good fellow and a great help to him. After nine months in the USA Alexander went to Jamaica and then to Canada for two months before coming home. Alexander expects Balfour is probably acquainted with Maclaglan’s brother Philip with whom Alexander spent a day in St Johns. *page missing* Alexander goes on to mention Oxford perhaps being the most permanent institution although natural history does not seem to be taken up in ernest there. Alexander would be glad to see Balfour in town. He is four miles from London and two from Kew and for the first time since 1841 he has all his plants and books around him. Let me hear from you.. My address is 8 St. Peters Square, Hammersmith, Middlesex.
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Letter from Richard Chandler Alexander, Hammersmith, London, to John Hutton Balfour, undated.
Alexander writes from Hammersmith. He is sorry to have missed Balfour last summer. We met any visiting botanists at either the Linnean Soc. or Sir William Hooker’s. I presume you only stayed a short time. I would have been glad to have shown you what I have got together since the time when your presents were the largest part of my collection. We didn’t se MacNab as he was engaged on the Flora of Jamaica. His resources are very limited. There was an excellent large library in Kingston when I arrived but the Society got into debt [like others there] and the books were distributed. His own is small and poor Macfadyen hadn’t a large collection to leave. As to plants MacNab is better off, he has a great number of Purdie’s beside his own but without fresh specimens, which he can’t [confined as he is by his practice in Kingston] he won’t be able to do a lot. Shall not be able to visit Edinburgh this winter to meet old friends and see all the additions and improvements to the museum. Congratulations on the addition to your family and regards to Mrs. Balfour.
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R.G. Alexander writes: Dear Professor Balfour I have just taken my B.A. at Cambridge. My final exam was Botany, knowledge of which I am indebted to your book. Dr. Babington told you when you were last here, that it was not so much used as in the past. I think he must be mistaken. It was used by nearly all the men. However it has placed me in First Class a thing which has never occurred in Botany before. 14 candidates and 6 passed. I feel it my duty to say how indebted I am to the thorough teaching which your lectures gave me and to the careful perusal of your valuable works. I am still the only Physican in Bradford while there are 50 G.P.s and am [satisfactory as it may appear on account of my youth] head of the honorary staff at the general hospital in virtue of my title. I trust you are well and that the duties at this time of the year are not too arduous. I hope that the time is far distant when Edinburgh will be deprived of your valuable lectures upon a subject which is of such essential reading in training the mind to form exact opinions and accurate diagnoses. With renewed thanks, believe me , dear sir yours gratefully R.G.A.
*p.s.* added by D.Alexander “I am pleased to see that you still have time for original communications”
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W.H. Campbell was a student of Robert Graham and one of the founding members of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1836, becoming its first Secretary.
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1 letter from William Hunter Campbell to John Hutton Balfour dated 16 March 1836.
Campbell writes: I have seen Graham and fears our meeting will be tomorrow if he has to leave as soon as he proposes. Surely a coach waiting for him at ten to two would get him in time for the funeral. If he must go sooner it will be necessary either to summon a new meeting for Saturday at the same time or request the attendance of members at 12 or 12.30 tomorrow which might be better if the classroom is free. I have to go to Leith and will rely on you to make the arrangements. Graham is particularly anxious to have W. Falconer of Carlowrie made a member and if possible a councillor for which I hold out hopes by the substitution of [Giles] Munby who you say is due to leave us in April: or why not have 5 councillors? Falconer has long held the same view. Let Graham know what you fix on for he is ready to assent to whatever is agreed. Greville also has a meeting at 2 tomorrow and to be deserted by the two best men would be disheartening unless you get through the business before they leave. Yours ,etc.--
This letter may be connected to the one from Robert Graham to John Hutton Balfour where he begs to be excused from a Botanical Society of Edinburgh meeting as he has to attend the funeral of a Baronet he 'killed last week and must attend' (check this)
W.H. Campbell was a student of Robert Graham and one of the founding members of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1836, becoming its first Secretary.
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Letter from William Hunter Campbell to John Hutton Balfour dated 13 April 1836
Campbell writes: You will see there are alterations made by Greville and myself which I hope you will see as improvements. It occurred to me that we had lost sight of foreign correspondence in our prospects and the short addition I have made remedies that. Greville in his note [enclosed] says he does not see the use of printing the prospectus separate from the laws and in this case I would urge that, as there is plenty of room for it, the laws for the residents should be added and make the whole so complete as to render it a secondary consideration whether we printed entire copies or not. It would save us a great deal of trouble too, as we are likely to be often queried about the admission of Resident Members and the laws affecting them. An addition of three would suffice, or four if we include Associates. I have left them at my office but I will send them early to the Printing Office for your consideration as it would be good to have the whole completed before tomorrow’s meeting. Yours,etc.----
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W.H. Campbell was a student of Robert Graham and one of the founding members of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1836, becoming its first Secretary.
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Letter from William Hunter Campbell in Demerara to John Hutton Balfour dated 6 January 1855.
Campbell writes from Demerara; Nothing for years past has shocked and grieved me so much as the account your letter conveyed of the death of poor Edward Forbes leaving him as I did in full health and intellect as it were but yesterday, and apparently entering on a journey which promised the most abundant reward. It is truly deplorable to think how all his hopes and ours have been suddenly dashed to the ground. It will indeed be difficult, perhaps impossible to supply the place of one possessed of so much talent and such varied accomplishments and the loss to the University is in that respect a serious one. Among all the names you mention, save Owen, there is not one equally illustrious, although most of them were many years his senior. Perhaps long and continual friendship may have made me more blind than others to his faults and more prejudiced than I ought to be as an admirer of his genius but even at this distance from the scene of his brilliant, but short-lived career, and with the opportunities I had of judging for myself on hearing of the opinions of others, I cannot but think there were very many so equally admiring of him as I did and anticipated the highest results from his brilliant career. I am truly obliged to you for your kindness in giving me such full particulars of the melancholy details attending his last days and I cannot help thinking it must have been a consolation to him in his last moments to have had so many of his old friends around him, and to have breathed his last almost in homage in a place endeared to him by so many recollections and associations: the scene, in fact, of his first aspirations as a man of science and of his triumphant attainment to the the height of his ambition, I would well content to die if I could achieve as much praise as he has done. As to the bust it is one of the few remaining tributes we can pay to his memory and I shall feel obliged if you will arrange to add my name to the subscribers’ list. I have no doubt that my friend Brand will pay the amount when called for. I am in the greatest haste to be in time for the mail, else I would give you some account of our “Industrial Exhibition" which has been more successful than expected. However one of my qualities is obstinacy and I would not listen to doubts of failure. I worked on it for three whole days during the Xmas holiday and the result sufficiently rewarded me, for all who saw what we had done said how pleased they were and the Governer has said he would support similar exhibitions in the future. The fibres were excellent and I hope to save some for you. The woods were a disappointment but I have now laid the foundation for getting what I need in that way for the future. I shall keep your museum in mind and hope to contribute something for your acceptance. I send a list of the prizes. Remember me to Mrs Balfour and my warmest congratulations on the latest addition to your domestic circle. You have now got a long way ahead of me in that department as in all others and long may you continue. Your old friend ,etc.-----
W.H. Campbell was a student of Robert Graham and one of the founding members of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1836, becoming its first Secretary.
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Letter from William Hunter Campbell in Georgetown, Demerara to John Hutton Balfour dated 27 April 1855
Campbell writes: We have just finished the descriptive part of the catalogue of articles sent to the Paris exhibition with the help of Dr. Blair and David Prior? There is still to be added or rather preferred, some description of the general features of the Colony but this is not quite ship-shape yet and the proofs will take some time to revise. I enclose a copy as far as we have got to show you and ask if you are sufficiently acquainted with Boussaingault [Jean-Baptiste Joseph Dieudonné Boussingault (2 February 1801 – 11 May 1887)?] of Paris to write to him to enlist his help in preparing a translation into French. We are sending copies to Paris for that purpose, as it has occurred to us that if it gets to someone who knows little of natural history it will be made a great mess of and we know that the person mentioned can do justice to it if he can be prevailed upon to help. Unfortunately the woodcutter Mr. Buchanan, for whom I had got a five year licence to fell wood wherever he chose, and on whom I relied for specimens of rare woods has died and only three specimens have reached me. These you will see mentioned in the end of the catalogue and I think you have examples of these already. When the catalogue is finished I will send you a copy or more if desired. I am now all alone here; my father-in-law Capt. Lyons [first cousin of Sir. Edmund] having gone home with wife and two daughters on the last mail. They intend to go to St. Andrews and spend the summer with my wife who is expecting another of my “little responsibilities” next month. The mail due on the 23rd has not yet arrived and we are looking anxious for news. Remember me to Mrs Balfour. Yours, etc.----
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Letter from William Benjamin Carpenter, 22 Park Street, Bristol, to Dr. John Hutton Balfour, Dundas Street, Edinburgh, dated 20 December 1837.
W.B. Carpenter writes: I am very obliged by the trouble you have taken regarding the Cryptogamic Flora which arrived safely, the copy is for our purposes as good as new; in fact better being so neatly bound. I received the money some days since and I am sorry through forgetfulness allowed it to lie on my desk without taking the necessary steps to transmit it to you. We have been disappointed respecting a copy of the Wernerian Transactions which we expected to get from a London shop but it had been sold. If you should meet with a cheap copy [say 2 1/2 or 3 guineas] I might trouble you to send it to the Institution or if you should fall in with the volume containing Greville’s & Arnott’s account of the “fructifications of mosses” I would like it for myself. In the latter case send it to London. I have just finished a long and wearying article for the April number of Forbes and am now intending to take up the Fluirative[?] system of plants. There will be a paper in an early issue of the Philosophical Magazine translated from the German which will delight Martin Barry; the author founds his views of analogy and therefore his morphological doctrines entirely upon development which he has very minutely studied and his results are very interesting. His account of the early formation of the embryo confirms my speculation of the correspondence in their first stages, up to the formation of the cotyledons, of the germination of the Peria[?] And the full development within the ovule of the flowering plant. Reid’s paper reached me safely and has interested me both regarding the subject itself and the candid and philosophical mode in which he has treated it. Will you tell him that Forbes seems desirous of engaging his assistance for his Review and will write to him soon.
I sent my programme to Dr. Tweedie last week and mentions you along with Simpson and Maclagan as very able coadjutors. I am rather surprised that the Thorntons should not have mentioned Lindon/Simson[?] As Dr. W.P. and his father are to concoct the Article Inflammation, and were consulted as to the plan of the work. Christison also is to do a good deal for it [He is Tweedie’s brother–in-law] but I believe principally in the development of Practical Medicine. As my plan will probably occupy him some time in digesting, I do not expect to hear very soon from him.
I was much amused in some of the bits in Mafa[?]. Pray put by a series for me to send when you have an opportunity. W.P.’s Phiz is as well hit off as if Phiz himself had done it. Martin Barry is not quite so well sketched but the idea is good. It is very easy to trace Long Forbes’s style in many of the articles especially his typical subtypical and aberrant which reminded me of a disquisition of his on the components of whisky toddy. I am not sorry that Hopper has been so well cut up. Why did not the writer [Percy I believe] bring in his 300 and odd cholera cases and his going to sleep on the body. His story of his French blanchisseuse would not have been amiss? Pray give my kind regards to Percy and tell him it will give me great pleasure if he can find time to write to me, especially if he will give me some good critique on my botanical article in Forbes. I had an application from the mistress of a large and fashionable girls' school at Clifton to repeat my lectures to her pupils for a handsome fee but I declined it as rather infra dig now that I am established as a professional man.
Believe me to be most sincerely yours, William B. Carpenter.
The letter is bound into an album of correspondence that requires to be supported when in use.
The Hutton Balfour bound correspondence has been summarised / transcribed by volunteer Simon Muirhead.
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Letter No 153 from Hugh Cleghorn to John Hutton Balfour; transcribed as follows:
17 Kensington Square
Kensington
7 April 1851
My dear Balfour
I go into the city every day to examine records in the India House, and when passing thro’ Fleet Street I can see Taylor in Red Lion Court about the printing debt of the Bot: Soc: if you give me particulars as to how the matters stands: I will make the best arrangement I can with him.
I saw [Edward] Forbes a few days ago on his way to the Royal Institution where he gives a series of Lectures, and when getting into an Omnibus at Charing Cross, I found myself alongside of Lankester, who counts for two in any conveyance, he is getting so large– He desired to be kindly remembered to you, & said that his translations of Schleiden might be of use to you in the preparation of your new Manual.
Pamplin has no parcels for you I observe Voigt’s Hortus Calcuttensis revised by Griffith in his shop price 35/- you told me I think that you had ordered it but not recd. it– It is a most valuable work for a Botanic Garden– Shall I bring it for you? as I have been purchasing largely for myself, I dare say he may give it somewhat cheaper.
There is also a broken copy of Rheed: Hort: Malab: at Pamplin’s. He is to have the odd vols. looked out before my next visit– I shall try & get Vol: 1 for the College– I should not wonder if their own missing vol. was in his shop, as I observe a great number of Graham’s books.
Royle has been ten weeks in his bedroom, & has suffered much in health, the joints of his fingers are swollen from Chronic Rheumatism & his nervous system has been injured by overworking his strength.
He is now I hope gaining ground every day – his wife and Brother in law Mr E. Solly are writing constantly at the Exhibition Catalogue.
After posting this I take a Kew Omnibus – and if I can get away from Acton shall try and see Sir Wm. Hooker.
I am under terms for a passage in the “Trafalgar” on 20 August but continue in considerable difficulty. – May the Great Counsellor counsel me in all my perplexities.
I have been living in a noisy Hotel with the Sappers & Miners, employed about this Great Exhibition – I am now with Mr Clarke, Secy of the Asiatic Society – & probably remain for 2 or 3 weeks, then returning to Edinbro’ by sea– It will give me pleasure if I can do anything for you.
With kind regards to all friends
Believe me
Ever sincerely yrs.
H. Cleghorn
The Cleghorn letters in the John Hutton Balfour archives at RBGE have been transcribed by Dr. Henry Noltie.
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Emile William Dubuc was born in Glasgow and showed an early passion for natural history. Educated at Dr Graham’s in Queen Street and then the Edinburgh High School (under Mr McMillan), he attended Dr George Wilson’s chemistry class in 1852, gaining a medal and first place at the oral examination. Still a teenager, he joined the Edinburgh Geological Society and made several communications.
At the University of Edinburgh, he studied anatomy under Professor John Goodsir in 1853–54, 1854–55, Summer 1855, 1855–56, and Summer 1856; on 11 July 1856, Goodsir examined him orally on the muscles and nerves of the larynx and the vessels of the brain. Dubuc distinguished himself in the Botanical Class and on field excursions, and took the first prize in Maclagan’s Materia Medica. He joined the Botanical Society of Edinburgh on 14 July 1858.
Dubuc graduated M.D. in 1858 with a thesis On Uraemic Convulsions, took the L.R.C.S. Edinburgh the same year, and subsequently the L.S.A. London. In October 1858, he canvassed for the House Surgeonship at the Gateshead Dispensary, styling himself a Visiting Pupil to the Old Town Dispensary and a Clinical Clerk and Dresser at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He passed for naval service on 18 August 1859 and was appointed to H.M.S. Cyclops in the Red Sea during the Indian telegraph survey, taking every opportunity to collect specimens. In May 1860 he transferred to Trincomalee to join H.M.S. Retribution and was placed in full charge of that ship and of the hospital hulk Sapphire amid heavy sickness. After returning to England in December 1860, he was appointed to H.M.S. London at Malta, then to H.M.S. Impregnable at Devonport, and finally to H.M.S. Cossack as assistant surgeon. On 15 August 1861, Cossack conveyed Sir George Grey to New Zealand, where Dubuc was introduced to the naturalist Mr Layard and continued his collecting.
His health declined during the voyage, and he died on board Cossack at Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in late January 1862, aged twenty-four. Posthumously, his mother presented to the University Herbarium a named general collection in thirty-three boxes (with a mounted British set) and to the Museum at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh thirty fossil plants with fruits and seeds collected by Dubuc; additional specimens he gathered had already been sent home. (Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 13 October 1858, page 1; “Opening Address, John Hutton Balfour,” Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1863, pp. 407–409; Medical Times & Gazette, 12 April 1862, page 390; Edinburgh Evening Courant, 20 February 1864, page 8).
Biography courtesy of Michael Tracy
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Emile William Dubuc was born in Glasgow and showed an early passion for natural history. Educated at Dr Graham’s in Queen Street and then the Edinburgh High School (under Mr McMillan), he attended Dr George Wilson’s chemistry class in 1852, gaining a medal and first place at the oral examination. Still a teenager, he joined the Edinburgh Geological Society and made several communications.
At the University of Edinburgh, he studied anatomy under Professor John Goodsir in 1853–54, 1854–55, Summer 1855, 1855–56, and Summer 1856; on 11 July 1856, Goodsir examined him orally on the muscles and nerves of the larynx and the vessels of the brain. Dubuc distinguished himself in the Botanical Class and on field excursions, and took the first prize in Maclagan’s Materia Medica. He joined the Botanical Society of Edinburgh on 14 July 1858.
Dubuc graduated M.D. in 1858 with a thesis On Uraemic Convulsions, took the L.R.C.S. Edinburgh the same year, and subsequently the L.S.A. London. In October 1858, he canvassed for the House Surgeonship at the Gateshead Dispensary, styling himself a Visiting Pupil to the Old Town Dispensary and a Clinical Clerk and Dresser at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He passed for naval service on 18 August 1859 and was appointed to H.M.S. Cyclops in the Red Sea during the Indian telegraph survey, taking every opportunity to collect specimens. In May 1860 he transferred to Trincomalee to join H.M.S. Retribution and was placed in full charge of that ship and of the hospital hulk Sapphire amid heavy sickness. After returning to England in December 1860, he was appointed to H.M.S. London at Malta, then to H.M.S. Impregnable at Devonport, and finally to H.M.S. Cossack as assistant surgeon. On 15 August 1861, Cossack conveyed Sir George Grey to New Zealand, where Dubuc was introduced to the naturalist Mr Layard and continued his collecting.
His health declined during the voyage, and he died on board Cossack at Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in late January 1862, aged twenty-four. Posthumously, his mother presented to the University Herbarium a named general collection in thirty-three boxes (with a mounted British set) and to the Museum at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh thirty fossil plants with fruits and seeds collected by Dubuc; additional specimens he gathered had already been sent home. (Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 13 October 1858, page 1; “Opening Address, John Hutton Balfour,” Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1863, pp. 407–409; Medical Times & Gazette, 12 April 1862, page 390; Edinburgh Evening Courant, 20 February 1864, page 8).
Biography courtesy of Michael Tracy
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Emile William Dubuc was born in Glasgow and showed an early passion for natural history. Educated at Dr Graham’s in Queen Street and then the Edinburgh High School (under Mr McMillan), he attended Dr George Wilson’s chemistry class in 1852, gaining a medal and first place at the oral examination. Still a teenager, he joined the Edinburgh Geological Society and made several communications.
At the University of Edinburgh, he studied anatomy under Professor John Goodsir in 1853–54, 1854–55, Summer 1855, 1855–56, and Summer 1856; on 11 July 1856, Goodsir examined him orally on the muscles and nerves of the larynx and the vessels of the brain. Dubuc distinguished himself in the Botanical Class and on field excursions, and took the first prize in Maclagan’s Materia Medica. He joined the Botanical Society of Edinburgh on 14 July 1858.
Dubuc graduated M.D. in 1858 with a thesis On Uraemic Convulsions, took the L.R.C.S. Edinburgh the same year, and subsequently the L.S.A. London. In October 1858, he canvassed for the House Surgeonship at the Gateshead Dispensary, styling himself a Visiting Pupil to the Old Town Dispensary and a Clinical Clerk and Dresser at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He passed for naval service on 18 August 1859 and was appointed to H.M.S. Cyclops in the Red Sea during the Indian telegraph survey, taking every opportunity to collect specimens. In May 1860 he transferred to Trincomalee to join H.M.S. Retribution and was placed in full charge of that ship and of the hospital hulk Sapphire amid heavy sickness. After returning to England in December 1860, he was appointed to H.M.S. London at Malta, then to H.M.S. Impregnable at Devonport, and finally to H.M.S. Cossack as assistant surgeon. On 15 August 1861, Cossack conveyed Sir George Grey to New Zealand, where Dubuc was introduced to the naturalist Mr Layard and continued his collecting.
His health declined during the voyage, and he died on board Cossack at Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in late January 1862, aged twenty-four. Posthumously, his mother presented to the University Herbarium a named general collection in thirty-three boxes (with a mounted British set) and to the Museum at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh thirty fossil plants with fruits and seeds collected by Dubuc; additional specimens he gathered had already been sent home. (Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 13 October 1858, page 1; “Opening Address, John Hutton Balfour,” Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1863, pp. 407–409; Medical Times & Gazette, 12 April 1862, page 390; Edinburgh Evening Courant, 20 February 1864, page 8).
Biography courtesy of Michael Tracy
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Letter from Professor John Goodsir to James Syme, dated 27 September 1853 and sent from the Hotel de la Croix d'or in Karlsruhe, Germany.
The letter is significant as it is the only one known where Goodsir describes the illness he is increasingly suffering from:
“You will be enabled to judge of my case when I inform you that my symptoms are those of incipient affection of the spinal cord, on both sides, but especially on the right side of the lumbar, and in the slightest degree, also, on the left side of the brachial region. The opinion of my medical friends here is, that the duration and character of the case indicated merely engorgement of the pia-matral venous plexus, with slight serous effusion. The opinion is corroborated by the venous engorgement (now much administered) in my legs, and partially in my hands. I, myself, however, am fully aware of the extreme probability of a slight softening having already taken place in the organ, and of the great rarity of reparative action, or even a stationary condition of, the afflicted parts in this disease.”
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Regius Keeper between 1845 and 1879
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Letters bound into a volume (part) presumably by Isaac Bayley Balfour, by authors whose surnames begin with J.
Letters are arranged alphabetically by author.
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Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
© Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2026. All rights reserved.
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Letter from Sir William Gibson Craig to John Hutton Balfour dated 26 September 1851 regarding Balfour's application to the Treasury for more funding for the Botanic Garden: "My dear Sir, Your demands for the Botanical Garden seem to grow as fast as your Palms- I shall see Lord Seymour tomorrow and do all I can to induce him to deal liberally with your application"
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Letter from the Duke of Argyll to John Hutton Balfour dated 3 February 1853 regarding the Palm House funding; " My dear Sir, Many thanks for ... so kindly again sending Pine seeds from India. I shall be very glad to speak to Sir W. Molesworth about the Palm House but like all governments we are short of cash"
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Letter from the Duke of Argyll to John Hutton Balfour dated 22 June 1853; "My dear Sir, I have supported the request for a better Palm House, but I don't know whether we shall get it"
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Letter from Lord Elcho to John Hutton Balfour dated 5 November 1853; "Sir, Before leaving Scotland I rec'd your letter and enclosures on the subject of the Palm House in the Royal Botanical Garden - I saw Sir W. Molesworth yesterday and impressed upon him the importance of speedily attending to it and I hope that some steps will be taken to rescue the Palms from the fate that awaits them should nothing be done."
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Letter from Sir Stafford H. Northcote to John Hutton Balfour dated 29 January 1859; "My dear Sir, I have carefully considered the proposal which you urged upon me the other day for increasing the present grant to the Royal Botanic Gardens from £1000 to £1500; and have consulted both Mr Hamilton and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject, who agree with me in thinking that the Treasury might properly consent to the following arrangement. That the Treasury should endeavour to make an agreement with the Caledonian Horticultural Society for buying up the residue of their term, and turning the whole or a portion of their ground to profit as building ground. The Hall which the Botanic Garden wishes to have for an Herbarium might perhaps be preserved. Enough of the ground might be fenced off to bring in the present rent of £140. The residue might then be handed over to the Royal Botanic Garden, and the £200 a year now paid to the Horticultural Society out of the funds of the Board of Manufacturers might be added to the grant to the Botanic Gardens, without necessitating any increase in the charge on the Public, to which I anticipate great difficulty."
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Letter from Lord Roslyn to John Hutton Balfour dated 4 July 1859 regarding potentially moving the Conservatory of the late Thomas Assheton Smith at Tedworth [Tidworth] near Andover to the Botanic Garden.
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Regius Keeper between 1845 and 1879
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Born Edinburgh 1836; died Peeblesshire 1887
Alexander Dickson graduated MD from Edinburgh University in 1860, lectured in botany at the University of Aberdeen and in 1866 was appointed to the chair of botany at Dublin University, returning to Scotland as professor of botany at Glasgow until 1879. He was then appointed professor of botany at Edinburgh University (the first appointee solely to this discipline) and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, a post he held from 1880 until his death. While in post he inherited a number of problems over integrating the Garden with the Arboretum which remained unresolved. He was regarded as an excellent research and field botanist, his studies including work on phyllotaxis, flower and embryo development and carnivorous plants. He published around 50 papers in a number of journals including the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, of which he was twice president. He died in 1887 while curling near his Peebleshire home.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; (Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’); (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists)
D.W.
published
•1 box of miscellaneous papers
•1 box of miscellaneous correspondence and lecture notes
Correspondence from Archibald Dickson (brother of Prof. Alexander Dickson, Regius Keeper 1880-87) re: his late brother's affairs dated 1889 filed with "Balfour, I Bayley" corresp. under "Dickson, Archibald".
Temporary numbering and descriptions courtesy of Marcia Rodriguez:
Box 1 of 2
• GB235 DPA/1 Papers, correspondence, drawings, and reprints. Coloured [crayon?] botanical drawings (leaf forms, sections, cellular details, etc.) by W.M.C.(?) with ms. captions (6 booklets, 14 loose sheets), summer 1885; “Histological Demonstration Drawings /Prof Dicksons Practical Class, summer 1885,” by W. E. Fothergill (?), watercolour drawings with ms. captions, 25 pp., 1885; 1 photograph copy of drawing, mounted on cardboard; typescript and ms. correspondence and papers, including a ms. extract from an address by Dickson to the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh on the necessity of vaccination, 1 p., 1881; ms. questions for botany exam, 1 p., June 1880; typescript obituary, 12 pp., 1889, published in Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh XVII, 1886–1889; typescript obituaries, 5 pp.; ms. (2 pp.) and typescript (1 p.) copy of letter from Victoria R appointing Alexander Dickson Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh, 1880; copies of correspondence from William Wright Smith to Dr Cairns, 3 pp., 1946 (originals in “Smith, W. W.” correspondence); reprints of articles by Dickson: “On Abnormal Cones of Pinus Pinaster, Trans. Royal Soc. Edinburgh XXVI, 1871; “On Septa Across the Ducts in Bougainvillea glabra and Testudinaria elephantipes, Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh XIV, 1882; typescript abstracts of yearly payments, Royal Botanic Garden and Royal Arboretum, , 2 pp., 1879–1888 and 1881–1888.
• GB235 DPA/2 Articles by Dickson published in Trans Bot. Soc., 1861–1866; reprints, including “On the Development of the Flower of Pinguicula Vulgaris, L.,” Trans. Royal Soc. Edinburgh XXV, 1869, and address by Dickson to the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh in 1881,”On Some of the Relations of the Present State of the Law to Medical Science and to Public Health,” Edinburgh Medical Journal, 1882; “Syllabus of Lectures on Botany,” by Professor Dickson, University of Glasgow, 1869, 1872, 1876; “Inaugural Address, On Functional Specialisation of Individuals in Animals and Plants,” by Alexander Dickson, 1879; “Syllabus of Lectures on Botany,” by Professor Dickson, University of Edinburgh, 1880, 1882 (3 copies).
Box 2 of 2
• GB235 DPA/3 2 bound journals: ms. student notes on Dickson’s lectures.
• GB235 DPA/4 Ms. notes for the arrangement of a collection of histological specimens supplied by Dickson for the Practical Class in Botany, University of Edinburgh, summer 1885, 2 pp.; unbound notebook, “Insectivorous Plants,” drawings with ms. captions, 25 pp.; unbound notebook, botanical drawings, pencil, 15 pp., misc. ms. correspondence on botanical subjects, 1881–1887; ms. list of specimens collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger by Dr A. Crosbie, R.N. and presented by [?] Evans, 1 p.
Name access points:
Dr. [Murray?] Cairns
W. E. Fothergill
William Wright Smith
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
•1 box of correspondence with The Royal Scottish Arboriculture Society
•1 box of correspondence with the Annals of Botany
•1 box of correspondence with The University of Glasgow
•1 box of correspondence with Sir David Prain(1857-1944)
•2 boxes of correspondence regarding the Rodriguez (Transit of Venus) Expedition (1874) Papers
•5 boxes of correspondence including miscellaneous papers, reprints, lectures and drawings, regarding Socotra
•26 boxes and 1 book of correspondence with various people and organisations
•2 boxes of miscellaneous personal papers
•1 box of miscellaneous papers regarding applications for chairs
•2 boxes of miscellaneous lectures and lecture notes
•1 box of miscellaneous notes, extracts, reports and addresses
•1 box of plant lists and local plant names
•1 box of post-retirement correspondence with Sir William Wright Smith(1875-1956)
•1 box of miscellaneous papers, reprints and notes
•1 box of papers regarding the Botanic Society Edinburgh Billets 1836-76 (Isaac Bayley Balfour’s personal copies)
•1 box of various distribution maps and schematic drawings
•4 boxes Isaac Bayley Balfour 'grandfather’s' papers and notes [I believe 'grandfather is likely Isaac Bayley Balfour, and it's how the donor referred to him, as opposed to it being IBB's grandfather] - to one of these boxes ("box 8 of 16") has been added (June 2019) an auction catalogue from Dulau and Co. Ltd. "Recent Useful Gardening Books"; "Botanical & Horticultural Works from the libraries of the late Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour FRS, C. Harman Payne FRHS, William Watson of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and other sources" No. 132, Part I, October 1925.
•1 box of M/S papers – monograph on figures
•1 folder of a collection of original drawings by John Nugent Fitch(1849-1927), for Botany of Socotra
•Personal diary of a visit to Socotra in 1880
•1 box of reprints and correspondence regarding Socotra
•I.B. Balfour ‘New Species of Rhododendron’ (copy belonged to G. Forrest so filed in the Forrest collection)
•3 letters dated 1877 -1878 from Joseph Decaisne, to I. Bayley Balfour filed with “Balfour, I. Bayley” correspondence under “Decaisne, J”
Correspondence from Archibald Dickson, (brother of Prof. Alex. Dickson, Regius Keeper 1880 -87) re: late brother’s affairs dated 1889 filed with “Balfour, I. Bayley” correspondence under “Dickson, Archibald”
Born Dumfriesshire 1875; died Edinburgh 1956
William Wright Smith graduated MA from Edinburgh University in 1896 and, with a teaching diploma from Moray House, taught in Edinburgh schools for 6 years while developing an interest in natural sciences. He lectured at Edinburgh University in advanced botany between 1902 and 1907 before being appointed keeper of the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta in 1907. The following year he became acting superintendent with responsibilities including the Botanic Garden in Darjeeling and the quinine factory at Mungpoo. Smith spent 4 years in India, officiating as Director of the Botanical Survey of India, plant collecting in the remoter regions of the Himalayas up to 14,000 ft. and gaining a wide knowledge of the flora of India, the Himalayas and Burma. In 1911 Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour appointed him Deputy Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, a post he held until Bayley’s retirement in 1922 when he succeeded to the dual post of Regius Keeper of the Garden and Regius Professor of Botany at the University. During the Second World War Wright Smith’s work for the timber supply department stimulated his interest in forestry and through his links with the newly formed Forestry Commission he was responsible for establishing the first specialist garden of the Royal Botanic Garden at Benmore on the Cowal Peninsula, a site suitable for rhododendrons and conifers. Wright Smith also made considerable contributions to taxonomy specialising in Sino-Himalayan plants, particularly Primula and Rhododendron. Known for his ‘homely’, humorous and kindly disposition, Wright Smith received many honours during his long career. On the occasion of his 70th birthday he was presented with two portraits, one by Stanley Cursiter RSA. He was knighted in 1932 and held the post of Keeper for 34 years until his death in 1956.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists); HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; press cuttings
D.W.
published
•Personal files and papers and his obituary
•Kew correspondence with Sir Arthur W. Hill (1921-1940) and A.D. Cotton (1921-1945)
•Correspondence with Colonel Stephenson Clarke, Borde Hill (1922-1939)
•Swedish correspondence (1923-1951), including correspondence with HRH the King of Sweden (1937-1951), Dr Harry Smith, Upsala (1925-1957) and Dr H.G. Bruun (1928-1939)
•Correspondence regarding Rhododendrons (Lord Headfort - Taylour, Geoffrey Thomas)
•Directors correspondence (1929-1936)
•2 framed photographs of W.W. Smith and an envelope of photographs possibly belonging to him
•Reprint of The Bannatyne or Bute Mazer and its carved bone cover by J.H. Stevenson published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, v.LXV, 1930-31 including a Botanical Note on the Plant represented in the carving on the Mazer Lid by Professor William Wright Smith, King's Botanist in Scotland, pp38-39.
Currently in WWS correspondence, box 7 of 15
Born Dumfriesshire 1875; died Edinburgh 1956
William Wright Smith graduated MA from Edinburgh University in 1896 and, with a teaching diploma from Moray House, taught in Edinburgh schools for 6 years while developing an interest in natural sciences. He lectured at Edinburgh University in advanced botany between 1902 and 1907 before being appointed keeper of the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta in 1907. The following year he became acting superintendent with responsibilities including the Botanic Garden in Darjeeling and the quinine factory at Mungpoo. Smith spent 4 years in India, officiating as Director of the Botanical Survey of India, plant collecting in the remoter regions of the Himalayas up to 14,000 ft. and gaining a wide knowledge of the flora of India, the Himalayas and Burma. In 1911 Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour appointed him Deputy Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, a post he held until Bayley’s retirement in 1922 when he succeeded to the dual post of Regius Keeper of the Garden and Regius Professor of Botany at the University. During the Second World War Wright Smith’s work for the timber supply department stimulated his interest in forestry and through his links with the newly formed Forestry Commission he was responsible for establishing the first specialist garden of the Royal Botanic Garden at Benmore on the Cowal Peninsula, a site suitable for rhododendrons and conifers. Wright Smith also made considerable contributions to taxonomy specialising in Sino-Himalayan plants, particularly Primula and Rhododendron. Known for his ‘homely’, humorous and kindly disposition, Wright Smith received many honours during his long career. On the occasion of his 70th birthday he was presented with two portraits, one by Stanley Cursiter RSA. He was knighted in 1932 and held the post of Keeper for 34 years until his death in 1956.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists); HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; press cuttings
D.W.
published
Set of letters and notes between William Wright Smith, A. Grove, H.D. McLaren, F.C. Puddle, and William Edgar Evans and including references to Messels of Nymans, all relating to Frank Kingdon Ward's Lilium wardii no. 6034.
Good
RBGE Herbarium via Rebecca Camfield, 09/05/2024
The letters and notes were found in the RBGE Herbarium and transferred to the RBGE Archives, 9 May 2024. They were in amongst Lilium wardii and may relate to specimens E00891515, E00891936 and E00891935.
Letters and Notes relate to Lilium wardii and were found amongst the herbarium specimens, in particular numbers E00891515, E00891936 and E00891935.
(right click, open link in new tab): https://data.rbge.org.uk/search/herbarium/?family=&genus=&species=&coll_name=&coll_num=&barcode=E00891515&accessionnumber=&country_name=®ion=&major_taxon=&cfg=vherb.cfg&keywords=
(right click, open link in new tab): https://data.rbge.org.uk/search/herbarium/?family=&genus=&species=&coll_name=&coll_num=&barcode=E00891936&accessionnumber=&country_name=®ion=&major_taxon=&cfg=vherb.cfg&keywords=
(right click, open link in new tab): https://data.rbge.org.uk/search/herbarium/?family=&genus=&species=&coll_name=&coll_num=&barcode=E00891935&accessionnumber=&country_name=®ion=&major_taxon=&cfg=vherb.cfg&keywords=
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
Born Derbyshire 1907; died Edinburgh 1978
Harold Fletcher graduated in botany from Manchester University in 1929, and obtained a doctorate from Aberdeen University in 1933 where he lectured in botany. In 1934 he moved to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, continuing work on the taxonomy of Asiatic floras and gaining a DSc from Edinburgh University in 1939. Jointly with William Wright Smith he authored a key monograph on the genus primula, his other specialism being rhododendrons. Turning his attention to horticulture, he was appointed Director of the RHS Garden at Wisley in 1951 before returning to Edinburgh in 1954 as assistant Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and then Regius Keeper in 1956 (the point at which the posts of Regius Keeper and Regius Professor of the University were no longer held by one person). He energetically set about rejuvenating botany and horticulture in the Garden and oversaw a number of major developments including the refurbishment of Inverleith House as an art gallery, a purpose build Herbarium and Library which opened 1964, a new range of glasshouses, and the acquisition of the Logan Estate in Wigtownshire as a subtropical garden. He stimulated the post war revival of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and was President of the International Association of Botanical Gardens 1964-69, having brought the Tenth International Botanical Congress to Edinburgh in 1964. Fletcher was appointed Queen’s Botanist in Scotland in 1967 and Honorary Professor of Botany at Edinburgh University in 1968. With W.H. Brown, he wrote the ‘History of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 1670-1970’ and also authored books on the history of the RHS and plant explorers. Fletcher had a deep love of the arts and after his retirement in 1970 served on the board of the Edinburgh College of Art.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’.
D.W.
published
•H.R. Fletcher’s Taxonomic Lecture Notes
•1 box of miscellaneous papers, including notes, correspondence, newspaper cuttings, etc. regarding ‘A Quest of Flowers’ – Ludlow and Sherriff, miscellaneous information on National Trust Gardens and Island Cruises (where Fletcher was on board as a Botany expert) – 1963-1966, and manuscripts of ‘History of Investigation of British Flora,’ and ‘The Exploration of the Scottish Flora’, published in 1959.
•Correspondence regarding Fletcher’s election as a member of the Garden Society in1955, including an historical note.
•3 boxes of Fletcher correspondence form 1963 organised alphabetically
•2 boxes of Fletcher correspondence from 1965 organised alphabetically
•2 boxes of Fletcher correspondence form 1966 organised alphabetically
•2 boxes of Fletcher correspondence from 1967 organised alphabetically
•2 boxes of Fletcher correspondence from 1968 organised alphabetically
•4 boxes of Fletcher correspondence with various people in the U.S.A. organised chronologically from 1961-1965.
•1 box of miscellaneous papers, taxonomy notes and correspondence
•1 file of Fletcher correspondence from 1962-1963 regarding donations to B.L. Burtt and Woods expedition to Malaysia
•1 file containing 2 photographs, miscellaneous correspondence, lists, publications, his application for the post of Office of Director of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens at Wisely, Surrey and his application for the appointment of Director of the Cambridge Botanic Garden (1950).
•1 box of 11 photographs taken by the Scottish Daily Express
•1 box of miscellaneous correspondence 1957-61
Born Perthshire 1927, died Ross-shire 2007
Douglas Henderson graduated BSc in botany from Edinburgh University in 1948, joining the civil service as a scientific officer in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries that year. He moved to the Royal Botanic Garden as a senior scientific officer in 1951 and was head of the non-flowering plant collections until 1970. He was library supervisor from 1961 to 1970 and also lectured in botany and plant physiology. A mycologist by training, he was involved in the start of the British Fungus Flora project and co-authored a book on British Rust Fungi. He became an authority on British flora, especially the plants of the Highlands. Douglas Henderson was appointed Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden in 1970. His time in office saw extensive developments in the Garden including completion of new glasshouses, a new alpine area and an expanded range of exhibition houses. The wider estate also grew with the acquisition of Dawyck Botanic Garden in Peeblesshire. During his period of office herbarium specimens increased by 250,000 to 1.8 million, including collections from an expanding programme of worldwide botanical explorations. And there was a rapid expansion of the library with a doubling of stock to 75,000 volumes and a developing international reputation; he personally led the introduction of the first electron microscope. Inverleith House in the centre of the gardens was re-opened as an exhibition space and Henderson was active in encouraging public engagement and growing educational links. Towards the end of Henderson’s term of office in 1986 the Royal Botanic Garden gained new status as a non-departmental public body accountable to a Board of Trustees. Douglas Henderson was awarded the CBE in 1985 and retired in 1987, moving to Wester Ross where initially he took on the role of administrator of the National Trust gardens at Inverewe.
Sources: Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; obituary folder
D.W.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/douglas-henderson-twelfth-regius-keeper-of-the-royal-botanic-garden-edinburgh-760076.html
published
•Henderson’s annotated copy of ‘Lost of British Uredinales’ by M. Wilson and G.R. Bisby, 1954
•Box of papers regarding conferences, foreign trips and reports, 1957-78
•Box of papers regarding conferences and foreign trips, 1980-81
•Box of specific correspondence
•Box of general correspondence
•Box of minutes, meetings and agendas
•Box of papers regarding PhD students, thesis and references
•1 file of miscellaneous correspondence between Henderson and Peter F. Stevens and Dr. Geoff N. Greenhalgh (1972-73)
•Framed photographs of the Royal Botanic Garden in the late 19th century by C. Piazza [Piazzi] Smyth, presented to Henderson on his retirement as Curator of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Regius Keeper, Royal Botanic Garden. September 1987.
•Box donated by Henderson’s family containing a thesis on ‘Observations on the Comparative Anatomy, Life History and Host Relationships of Sclerotinia Tberosa (Fr.) Fuckel’, H.B. Gjaerum correspondence, notes for a talk on the ‘History of Scottish Cryptographic Botany’, and research notes on Omphalina.
•Box donated by Henderson’s family containing research on John Hutton Balfour’s ‘Battle of Glen Tilt’, a collection of obituaries, folders of Gairloch, Inverewe, Brodie and Roxburgh, research including notes and publication relating to Wm. Roxburgh (contains photocopy of catalogue of Roxburgh plants presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the original of which is held in the RBGE Rare Book Room), folder of West Ross Flora, and annotated checklist of the flora of West Ross.
(right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/staff/david-s-ingram
Born 1941
After taking a BSc and PhD at the University of Hull, David Ingram was appointed research fellow in the botany department at Glasgow University in 1966, before moving to Cambridge in 1969 where he became first a lecturer in 1974 then, in 1988, reader in plant pathology; he was also Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies in Biology at Downing College. In 1990 he was appointed Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a post he held until 1998. During his time as Keeper David Ingram initiated and oversaw a wealth of dynamic changes in the Garden. His period of office saw the founding of a new commercial arm – the Botanics Trading Company (BTC), and the setting up of the Friends of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He reemphasised the pre-eminence of plant science, establishing new Molecular and Ultrastructure research laboratories and established a Scientific Advisory Group to provide international research links. His enthusiasm for education led to the creation of new courses in both Horticulture (HND Plantsmanship) and Science (MSc Biodiversity & Taxonomy of Plants) the latter a joint course with the University of Edinburgh, and fuelled expansion in the public face of the four gardens. David Ingram was also passionate about teaching young people the importance of plant science in a dynamic new way, and helped to set up the Science and Plants for Schools (SAPS) initiative which enables active experimentation in the classroom. Since his retirement from the Garden in 1998 he has been advisor to the University of Edinburgh on public engagement with science, has served on many related trusts, boards and panels, and has contributed to a range of publications on plant pathology, plant tissue and botany and his wider interests in culture and the history of art.
Sources: Who’s Who 2015; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; foyer panel.
D.W.
published
•10 boxes of correspondence divided up alphabetically including after dinner speeches
•Large wall hanging of a copy of a picture of a plant painted by D.S. Ingram in 1995
•Article by Victoria Crowe and D.S. Ingram ‘Portrait of the Master’, featured in ‘St Catherine’s College Society Annual Magazine’ pg.90-95, (2004)
Correspondence remained at RBGE after Ingram's retirement in 1998 to become part of institutional archives. Further papers were transferred to the RBGE Archives by Ingram in 2022 and 2023.
published
• Invitation to Royal Dinner – 400th Anniversary of the Union of the Crowns
• Invitation to the tercentenary celebration of the birth of Carl Linnaeas
• Notes written on the train to London, 4th Feb 2008 as an outline of contents for ‘Gardening the Earth’.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
The Collection comprises one of Isaac Bayley Balfour’s scrapbooks in which he collects together copies of information, correspondence and postcards relating to George Don and correspondence relating to this search. The rest of the collection consists of 11 folders of correspondence, papers and photographs, some seemingly associated with the scrapbook, presumably being sent to or copied by Balfour as part of his investigation, but not filed within it, presumably due to their size or bulk. There are also photographs, biographical information, and an original plant catalogue and letter by Don.
In arranging this collection, the scrapbook was kept and numbered separately. The rest of the collection had been divided into folders, possibly by material type, possibly by originator of the material, but because the rationale for the division is not now known, an attempt was made to split the material by originator/provenance, so some material has been kept together purely because it was in the same folder, but because much of the material comprises transcriptions of articles / newspaper cuttings / original material ordered by Isaac Bayley Balfour, much of the provenance has now been lost. Now some of the items are in folders because they were generated or relate to one of Balfour’s Don correspondents; the rest have been divided by material type.
Collection consists of correspondence and papers about George Don (Sr), with some original material which appears to have been collated by then Regius Keeper Isaac Bayley Balfour between 1900 and 1910.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Bayley Balfour's George Don scrapbook includes correspondence, newspaper articles, etc. relating to the life and work of George Don, listed roughly as follows:
• Letter from Ellis and Blyth W.S. to J. Hutton Balfour requesting Neill’s papers, 25.08.1879. Note from Balfour stating they’d been returned.
• Copy letters to and from Alexander Lowson, Forfar, and J. Young, J.E. Harting and B. Daydon Jackson of the Linnaean Society about obtaining copies of George Don’s Linnaean Soc. letters, May-June 1892.
• Copy reference from Scots Magazine, 1809, p725 referring to Neill’s good opinion of Don
• 4 copy letters from Patrick Neill to Robert Brown (Brown Corresp. NMH) and James Edward Smith regarding the death of George Don and the plans for his eldest sons George [Jr.] and David Don. 1814-1816
• Copy letter from George A. Don to Alexander Lowson regarding the poem by James Ross in the Forfar Review, 01.05.1891 with copy of poem.
• Original advertisement flyer for Don’s Herbarium Britannicum, c.1804
• Copy of “George Don, The Forfar Botanist” from Dundee, Perth, Forfar and Fife People’s Journal, 23.05.1863.
• “A Famous Botanist”; newspaper article on George Don [and also Charles Lyell] ; The Forfar Herald and Kirriemuir Advertiser, 08.05.1914
• Address on the Unveiling of the Monument to George Don at Forfar, September 8, 1910 by G. Claridge Druce, 1910 – Isaac Bayley Balfour’s copy.
• I.B. Balfour’s invitation to the unveiling of the Don Monument, 08.09.1910, from John Knox, Forfar
• Transcript of Charles Alston’s gravestone, Canongate Churchyard.
• Commendation of V.III of the Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Don article by the Forfar Dispatch, 02.03.1905.
• “Some noteworthy local botanists: 1 George Don” in the Stirling Journal and Advertiser, 21.02.1908.
• “A Forfar Genius, George Don the Botanist, Strange Life Story, His Appearance and Eccentric Habits” in the Evening Telegraph, 25.06.1902.
• 3 letters to the Dundee Advertiser, one from Alex. P. Stevenson relating to Dr Jamieson and George Don
• “Another Forfar Botanist: James Donald” by ‘Erica’ c.1905, refers to George Don and Alex. P. Stevenson. [‘Erica’ is the pen-name of Jane Taylor Ewen]
• “George Don and his Forfar Botanic Garden” by Alex. P. Stevenson in the Dundee Advertiser, 25.04.1905.
• “More about George Don’s Botanic Garden at Forfar” including letter from Town Clerk Mr MacHardy and likely sent in by Alex. P. Stevenson, in the Forfar Review and Strathmore Advertiser, 03.03.1905.
• “George Don the Forfarshire Botanist” in the Scotsman, 12.04.1905.
• 2 letters from G. Claridge Druce [to I.B. Balfour?] regarding the Don fund and corrected proofs, presumably on his paper on Don, published in the Notes of the RBGE, 1905
• letter from British Museum (Natural History) regarding Prestons at RBGE.
• Letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour to G. Claridge Druce regarding donating to Don fund, 11.12.1902
• Letter from Patrick Neill Fraser to I. Bayley Balfour regarding looking for Neill’s papers, 05.06.1902
• Copy letter from I Bayley Balfour to P. Neill Fraser, the original of which enclosed proof that the Neill papers had passed from J. Hutton Balfour’s hands back to the Neill family. 30.05.1902 (referring to letter at start of this volume)
• Letter from Claridge Druce requesting contributions to Don fund[?] 10.12.1902
• Letter from Bayley of MacRitchie, Bayley and Henderson W.S. regarding Neill’s papers – he thinks they may have been destroyed by the successors to Ellis and Blyth W.S. 27.02.1903
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson, Dundee to Isaac Bayley Balfour offering to send him information / newspaper articles about George Don. Talks also of John Hope, his garden and lecture notes. 10.05.1903. [these articles may well be the ones pasted in this scrapbook]
• Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour to Patrick Neill Fraser asking if Neill’s papers had ever been found. 30.05.1903.
• Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson thanking him for papers, and discussing Knox’s Memoir of Don, and Patrick Neill and John Hope stating that he was to have two sets of Hope lectures transcribed so he could compare them. He states he now has the lecture papers of all the Regius Keepers from the Prestons to the present day which he hopes to publish. 28.05.1903.
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to G. Claridge Druce commenting on his paper – includes some of Balfour’s views of Don. 28/05/1903.
• Letter from Alex. P Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour discussing how Druce should have credited John Knox more for he practically lifted it verbatim for his memoir of Don; Patrick Neill’s complaints about the railway company disturbing his garden in a letter to Gardiner; Don, Neill and Primula scotica from Orkney; the sending of his Hope lecture notes and Duncan’s oratory on Hope to Balfour and other references to Scottish botany. 17.05.1903.
• Letter from Patrick Neill Fraser to I. Bayley Balfour saying that he still hasn’t found the Neill papers and that there is now little chance of their ever turning up. Suggests that Joseph D. Hooker may know something as he stayed with Neill whilst contesting the Chair of Botany at Edinburgh University with John Hutton Balfour in 1845. 01.06.1903
• Letter from Claridge Druce to Bayley Balfour about revised version of Don memorial. June 1903
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour about Gardiner’s list of mosses, his garden in Dundee and James Donald; offering Balfour his Hope lecture notes, communication with John Knox regarding Don’s birth; Glen Tilt; letters from Don to Winch and J.E. Smith, and confusion over portrait of Don; Stevenson reckons it is actually a portrait of his son, David Don. 14.06.1903 [document in N.L.S. Forfar Noteworthies? States that portrait is actually of Don’s son George?]
• Letter from Alex. P Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding completing journal runs and correspondence with Joseph D. Hooker. 11.10.1903
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding J.E. Smith letters and referring to a note by Gardiner stating Don had a habit of exterminating plants. 17.06.1903
• Memorandum referring to editing of Druce’s paper on George Don. 17.06.1903
• Letter from B. Daydon Jackson, Linnaean Society, regarding correspondence of James Edward Smith and list of plants sent by Don to Smith.18.06.1903
• Letter from G. Claridge Druce to I. Bayley Balfour regarding £100 being collected for the Don Memorial. 17.10.1903.
• Letter from Druce to Bayley Balfour requesting proofs of his paper as he is travelling to the East in the early spring. December 1903.
• Two memos from A. P. Stevenson regarding returning journals to RBGE. 19 and 27.10.1903 and return correspondence from Henry Hastings regarding journal runs. 23.10.1903
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson – reply to Stevenson’s letter of the 10th May 1903 listed above. Refers to George Don, Gardiner and John Hope lecture notes. 12.05.1903.
• Letter from James MacDonald, Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, regarding an award of a Piece of Plate worth 15 guineas awarded to George Don whilst he was still at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on 10th January 1806 for an Essay on our Native Plants and Grasses. 25.11.190[3?]
• Letter from Druce to Bayley Balfour regarding Don manuscript. 08.02.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson asking him to comment on Druce’s manuscript on Don, with some comments about Don’s life. 27.02.1904
• Letter from Druce to Bayley Balfour regarding letter about Don and correspondence in the Linnaean Society and also discusses plans to publish work on Dillenius and his herbarium at Oxford. 15.02.1904
• Letter from Druce to Bayley Balfour regarding Don memorial – appendix to his manuscript. 28.02.1904
• Letter from Alex. P Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs and Don’s birth. 01.03.1904
• Postcard from John Knox, Forfar to Claridge Druce, and forwarded to Bayley Balfour, answering in the negative any queries about Don’s dates, March 1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Druce’s proofs, Don’s births and discrepancies in Neill’s account of Mackay and Knox’s account of Don. 04.03.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to G. Claridge Druce regarding inconsistencies of dates in his manuscript on Don. 05.03.1904 accompanied by an extract of Patrick Neill’s life of John Mackay published in the Scots Magazine in February 1804.
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Druce’s proofs and discussing problems with Don’s early dates. 10.03.1904
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs. 08.03.1904.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs including detailed notes and a Don chronology. 20.03.1904
• Copy of the above letter.
• Postcard from Stevenson to Balfour regarding the letter of the 20th March 1904. 21.03.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Stevenson’s letter of the 20th March, Druce’s proofs and Don’s dates. 26.03/1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Druce’s proofs, 12.04.1904
• Letter from Claridge Druce to Bayley Balfour regarding Don’s early dates. Apr(?) 1904. Piece cut out of letter – predates letter being taped into scrapbook. Letter now loose.
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to G. Claridge Druce regarding proofs. 12.04.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Don’s Day Book and Neill’s statement that Don left Edinburgh because of poor pay. 17.04.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Patrick Blair and a physick garden at Dundee. 18.04.1904
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs, Don’s early dates and J. Hutton Balfour’s excursion to the Sands of Barry. 18.04.1904.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Don’s Day Book, Don leaving the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Don’s early dates, Dr. Blair, His physic garden at Dundee and the dissection of the elephant which died between Dundee and Carnoustie. 24.04.1904
• Letter from John Knox, Forfar to Bayley Balfour regarding sending Don’s Day Book, evidently the last in use at Forfar and Don’s memorial, temporarily on hold due to complications over its site. 26.04.1904
• Copy letter from Bayley Balfour to John Knox regarding Don’s Day Book and date of starting at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 26.04.1904
• Copy letter from Bayley Balfour to John Knox regarding Don’s Day Book, Mr Hopkirk of Dalbeath and the Glasgow Botanic Garden, and the little amount Don was earning from his garden. 30.04.1904
• Copy letter from Bayley Balfour to John Knox regarding Don’s Day Book and its return [no mention of having it copied], Druce’s memoir which has now been published alongside Balfour’s notes in the Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and some discussion of George Don. 24.02.1905
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding article on Don in the People’s Journal, Druce’s proofs, Don’s Day Book (1811-1815), early impressions of it, Don’s fascicule [Herbarium Britannicum?], Dr Blair and the Dundee physic garden, Blair’s reference to William Arthur and the Jacobite uprising of 1815, sending Druce’s proofs to press, Stevenson’s testimonials. 01.05.1904
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Dr Blair, Dundee, William Arthur and the Jacobite rising; the date of Don renting Dove Hillock. 15.05.1904 along with copy letter from A. MacHardy, Town Clerk of Forfar outlining the Title papers for Dove Hillock, 05.05.1904.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding, Dr. Blair, his physic garden at Dundee, the missing elephant, Don’s renting of Dove Hillock, Stevenson’s testimonials and him not getting an appointment. C.13.05.1904
• Three pages of botanical poetry, some making reference to Don from Jane Taylor Ewen, Mill-Bank, Forfar. March-June 1904.
• Letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour to F.O. Bower regarding Dr Brown, lecturer in Botany at Glasgow University in 1782 – was Don his assistant? 23.10.1904
• Copy letter from Druce to Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs and Don’s dates. March 1904 in reply to IBB’s letter of 05.03.1904
• Letter from B. Daydon Jackson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding collating copy letters against their originals [?]. 03.10.1904
• Letter from B. Daydon Jackson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding the collated letters of George Don – sending transcribed copies back but some words from the originals are still illegible. Jackson offers his own opinions of Don from the letters. 15.11.1904
• Two letters from James Coutts and F.O. Bower of Glasgow University in reply to Balfour’s letter of 23.10.1904. No mention of lecturer in Botany at Glasgow university for 1780-1790 and no mention of George Don, though he may have been employed in some capacity on an unofficial basis. 31.10.1904 and 03.11.1904
• Letter from B. Daydon Jackson to I. Bayley Balfour granting him permission to print the letters from Neill, Don and Mackay in the correspondence of Winch and Smith from the Linnaean Society, also encloses transcripts of Don’s letters. 04.11.1904
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding the Don Memoirs, the sending of an extract from a French book containing the impression made upon a gentleman by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1826; and outlining references made to George Don, his essays and experiments in the Farmer’s Journal; and Patrick Blair and the Jacobite uprising of 1715. 20.11.1904
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s proofs. 27.11.1904
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding her memories of Don’s house and garden, and her appeal fro reminiscences of Don from Forfar locals. She sends a pinch of century old rose leaves in a penny jar, liking to think they were sent by Don but she has no proof. They were given to her grandmother by a gardener. No date.
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding a few reminiscences and connections, but no memories / stories of Don from the Forfar poorhouse inhabitants. 01.03.1905.
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding more reminiscences of Don’s garden, and sending some old photos of Forfar. Mentions the late provost Peter Reid gathering information on Don, he was 11 when Don died. 27/02/1905
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding the publication of the Don memoir, and Blair and his Physic Garden. 12.02.1905.
• Letter from John Knox, Forfar to I. Bayley Balfour regarding the Published Don memoir and acknowledging return of Don’s Day Book. 27.02.1905
• “Bitter-Sweet”, excerpt from The Scotsman about remnants from Don’s garden by Jane Taylor Ewen. 06.02.1905
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Jane Taylor Ewen requesting copies of photographs and enclosing copy of Don memoir. 24.02.1905.
• Letter from G. Claridge Druce to I. Bayley Balfour acknowledging receipt of Don Memoir. 09.02.1905
• Letter from B. Daydon Jackson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding proofs of Don memoir and Jackson’s glossary. 11.02.1905.
• Letter from John Knox to I. Bayley Balfour regarding having in his possession about 100 specimens of heaths collected by George Don arriving in the same parcel as his fascicule and herbarium in the early 1880’s. They are, with a few exceptions, fixed to the blank leaves of one of his fascicules. Also expresses doubts as to Don’s birth date, and to the supposition that he was apprenticed as a watch maker. Apparently it was his brother who was the watch maker. 11.03.1905.
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding cost of photographs [minimal] and referring to John Knox. 12.03.1905
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to John Knox regarding concerns about Don’s early life and his son, George Don [Jr.]’s recollections. 13.03.1905
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to John Knox thanking him for sending the heaths but stating that they are of no real value. 24.03.1905
• Letter from John Knox to I. Bayley Balfour regarding sending the Heaths and his search for an earlier garden of Don’s at Forfar (prior to Dove Hillock). 14.03.1905
• Postcard from Jane Taylor Ewen to Isaac Bayley Balfour acknowledging receipt of second part of Don memoir and saying she has found no further information. 24.03.1905.
• Letter from R. Brown, governor of the Forfar poorhouse to Jane Taylor Ewen saying that none of the old resident’s had heard of George Don. 02.03.1905
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour acknowledging receipt of second part of Don memoir, and discussing Patrick Neill. 26.03.1905
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour with further reminiscences of Don’s garden including hand drawn map. 27.03.1905. [pages of letter missing?]
• Postcard from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Don article in The Scotsman – was it written by Stevenson? [no] She refers to a former Forfar Field Club member now on the staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, J.W. Esplin – he has passed his examinations in Botany. Mr Esplin is trying to find the address of a Ladies Gardening College in Edinburgh for a friend of Jane’s to get a prospectus. 14.4.1905.
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour thanking him for the address of the Ladies Gardening College. They sent a prospectus. Talks of her cousin’s desire to attend College as she is involved in a scheme near Blairgowrie to employ women from the City to pick raspberries at her allotment [see brochure in loose papers filed at GDS/5], also refers to cartoon of John Knox knocking at the door of Reid Park with the Don Monument on his shoulder entitled “A Modern Pilgrim’s Progress”, from the Evening Telegraph. 26.04.1905
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour referring to article on George Don in The Scotsman previously referred to by Jane Taylor Ewen – criticises it. Discusses his research on Blair and Gardiner. 16.04.1905
• Letter [or part of letter?] from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour about poem written by her divinity student cousin [Willie Taylor] called “Immortality” [Ode to some century old rose leaves] which JTE had to copy out as she could not get a copy. [it is on the brochure for the Blairgowrie Raspberry picking scheme – see loose papers in folder GDS/5] Originally published in “St Andrew”, a parish church magazine. No date.
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour sending sprig of Bitter-sweet from Doo Hillock. 06.09.1905
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour discussing Blair and his involvement in the Jacobite uprising of 1715, and offering to send some Pickering’s Diamond Classics to Balfour’s son. 08.10.1905
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Blair, Charles Preston, Charles Alston, and his article on Patrick Blair. 21.04.1907.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding visit to Edinburgh. 21.07.1907
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding the ‘other Dr Blair’ and refers to an image of Blair’s stuffed elephant. 22.12.1907
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding sending a set of Forfar views (presumably those in folder GDS/5) and John Knox showing her some of Don’s and Drummond’s [?] dried specimens. 04.07.1908
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding a visit to Edinburgh and R.B.G.E. 09.04.1909
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to the Council, University College, Dundee applying for post of Librarian to the College. 05.07.1909
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Patrick Blair’s copy of Ray’s Synopsis, and asking Balfour for a reference for his application to the Librarian’s post at the University College, Dundee. 17.06.1909
• Letter from James Britten, Natural History Museum, to I. Bayley Balfour thanking him for the information and for settling a date and referring to sending Balfour slips relating to Scots folks for a potential new edition [of his biographical dictionary?] 31.07.1909
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alexander P. Stevenson providing a reference / testimonial for the University College Librarian post. 19.06.1909
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour discussing not getting the University College Librarian’s post, Blair and a visit to Edinburgh. 18.07.1909 along with a newspaper cutting announcing James A.S. Barrett as the new University College Librarian.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour discussing visit to Edinburgh. 21.07.1910
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alexander P. Stevenson sympathising over the Librarian post at University College, Dundee. 27.07.1909
• Letter from John Knox to I. Bayley Balfour thanking him for attending the unveiling of the George Don monument and sending him a photograph of it. 26.09.1910
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to John Knox thanking him for the photograph. 27.09.1910
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding visit to Edinburgh. 23.07.1911
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Edinburgh visit / invitation to lunch. 24.07.1911
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour sending walnuts grown at Bedgebury Park, Kent, “where Don’s son used to be”. Also mentions Alan Reid publishing a note in the ‘Forfar Herald’ about the relics of George Don’s plants; and James Esplin, now at Aberdour. 09.12.1911
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding missing seeing Balfour at a Dundee Meeting [British Association]; Stevenson’s Handbook about Gardiner and Blair; an enquiry about ‘Potato’ Paterson and business being bad [Stevenson owned a book binding business]. 16.09.1912
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding not getting the Handbook on Gardiner and Blair and Druce’s entry on Don in it and ‘Potato’ Paterson. 17.09.1912
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding Druce’s entry on Don in the British Association Handbook claiming Don was abused in Edinburgh and referring to John Hutton Balfour; using Stevenson’s sketch of Gardiner in a future copy of the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh; and “insurance business” affecting the economy in such a way that Balfour is struggling to publish his full history of the Garden. 22.04.1913
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Jane Taylor Ewen thanking her for picture postcard of the Don ceremony and Andrew Peffers attending botany classes at Edinburgh. 03.06.1913
• Letter from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour regarding sending the picture postcard of the unveiling of the Don monument and Andrew Peffers, son of a town councillor attending Botany classes at Edinburgh University. 28.05.1913
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson regarding donation of “Scandinavian Flora” and Gardiner proofs. 31.07.1913
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding Scandinavian Flora and Gardiner proofs for the Botanical Society. 17.07.1913
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding his brother being ill and the business getting backlogged, criticizing the religious emphasis of Hutton Balfour’s sketch of Dr. Coldstream, Hutton Balfour’s entry in “The Biograph and Review” [Biographical Review?]; his Gardiner proofs, asking Balfour to speak at the opening meeting of the Dundee Naturalists Society; and asking for information about the Canadian “Jack-pine”. Undated [August 1913?]
• Letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson turning down invitation to speak at the meeting of the Dundee Naturalists Society as he will be in Russia and France – he is travelling with his daughter and her husband on their way to China. He refers to Hutton Balfour’s entry in the “Biograph” – “full of facts and useful for a detailed story”. 14.08.1913.
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding visit to Edinburgh with Professor Steggall. 18.05.1914
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson apologising for missing him and Professor Steggall. Balfour has been in London, involved with the establishment of Wisley Gardens as a “real place of scientific research”. Balfour regrets being away from the Garden when “things are very beautiful and when so many come to see the Garden, and I miss therefore the opportunity of that delightful stimulating contact with keen minds which is so stimulating”. 21.05.1914
• Letter from Alex. P. Stevenson to I. Bayley Balfour regarding visit to Edinburgh, reading the life of Dr James Hamilton of Regent Square, London, references to W.J. and J.D. Hooker – paragraph from Hamilton’s diary refers to meeting Mr Don in the Linnaean Society’s Library in 1838 and being told that George Don [Sr.]’s papers had been given to a Mr D in Edinburgh – Stevenson asks Balfour if he knows who that is; death of John Knox – queries what has happened to his papers. 26.07.1914.
• Postcard from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour sending an article in her local paper (Forfarshire Herald) about George Don (centenary of his death) and noting an entry in the Forfar Episcopal Church Register of the baptism of a son to William Don, watchmaker, named Alexander on December 8th 1790 – George Don’s brother who was also a watchmaker in Forfar. 08.05.1914
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Jane Taylor Ewen praising the article on Lyell in the Forfarshire Herald she has sent but criticizing the article on Don. 08.05.1914
• Letter from R. Hingiton Fox intimating that something has been returned. 01.09.1917
• Postcard from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour letting him know of Alexander P. Stevenson’s death and sending the notice in the newspaper. 12.11.1917. The cutting from the Dundee Courier, 12.11.1917 has also been pasted in.
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Jane Taylor Ewen thanking her for letting him know of Alex. P. Stevenson’s death. 14.11.1917
• Copy letter from I. Bayley Balfour to Alex. P. Stevenson sending him two books to inspect and referring to their meeting the day before. 30.07.1914
• Two undated letters from Jane Taylor Ewen to I. Bayley Balfour, one possibly a continuation of another letter refers to attending a botany class given by Mr Knox; her notes on nightshade and bitter sweet in the Scotsman; showing A.P. Stevenson round Forfar, and wondering if a decision has been made about the Don monument [letter must be 1910 or earlier]; the other (Tuesday) refers to a note from John B. Low of Edinburgh saying her clock must have been made by George Don’s brother William and provides a list of names and dates of George Don’s brother and sisters which includes his parents. She has gathered some more reminiscences of old Forfar, and will try the governor of the poorhouse to see if anyone there has tales of Don. [relates to letter from R. Brown, 02.03.1905, and herself, 01.03.1905 filed earlier in book?]
A scan of this document can be viewed and downloaded for personal research via the link below:
(right click, open link in new tab) https://rbge.resourcespace.com/?r=9529&k=3fc182af54
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
Born Edinburgh 1776; died Edinburgh 1851
Descended from East Lothian printers, Patrick Neill attended Edinburgh University though did not graduate. He joined the family firm of printers and eventually established his own firm of Neill & Co. ; the success of his company allowed him to devote much time to scientific pursuits. In 1804 he visited Orkney and Shetland and accounts of his natural history and economic observations appeared in The Scots Magazine. In 1808 he became a founder member of the Wernerian Natural History Society comprising leading lights of the Scottish scientific community as well as eminent international members. In 1809 he became first secretary of the Caledonian Horticultural Society (CHS), a position he was to hold for the next 40 years. This Society, still active today, brought together professional and amateur gardeners, academics, landowners and nurserymen. William Neill had inherited Canonmills Cottage in north Edinburgh and in its half acre garden created a ‘mini’ botanic garden with thousands of rare and unusual plants from all over the world, as well as a small menagerie. In 1813 Neill produced a report on Scottish Gardens and Orchards, the first general survey of Scottish horticulture, and in 1817 was commissioned by the CHS to examine the state of horticulture in Northern Europe involving an extensive trip through France and the Low Countries. In the 1820s he advised Edinburgh town council on the development East Princes St Gardens leading to new plantings of 27,000 trees and shrubs, though the design was subsequently wrecked by the building of the railway and Scott Monument in the 1840s. Neill was held in high regard by his fellow citizens as evidenced by his 1843 testimonial silver vase paid for by working gardeners, and the Caledonian Society’s successful growth and influence owed much to Neill’s enthusiasm and careful administration. He died in 1851 and among his charitable bequests was £500 to the Royal CHS to found a medal for a distinguished botanist or cultivator, and the same amount to the Royal Society of Edinburgh for a medal for distinguished Scottish naturalists.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; ‘Patrick Neill , Doyenne of Scottish Horticulture’Forbes W Robertson; (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists).
D.W.
published
'A Catalogue of a few of the Rarest and Latest Introduced Plants, cultivated for sale at Don's Botanic Garden and Nursery, Forfar', by G. Don; late curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh; Honorary [Corresponding] Member of the Linnaean Society, London; and late President of the Rational Institute of Dundee.
Catalogue includes greenhouse plants, shrubs and herbaceous plants, is 17 pages longs and contains the following quote from Don at the end: “this catalogue contains but a small proportion of my Herbaceous Collection; which is equaled by few in Britain, and surpassed by none perhaps but the Cambridge one. I have also upwards of three hundred species of Grasses.”
Front cover slightly annotated by former owner Patrick Neill.
Catalogue was owned by Patrick Neill and has come into the possession of Isaac Bayley Balfour - it is possible that it was given to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at some point.
Permission required from RBGE.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
published
George Don's day book records the orders for plants coming into his Botanic garden and Nursery at Doo Hillock / Dove Hillock in Forfar.
This copy was made in 1904 by Isaac Bayley Balfour from the original book then in possession of Mr. John Knox, schoolmaster, Forfar.
Also includes photocopy of two pages from the Day Book, annotated by John Knox in 1912, which were found stuck into David Robert Robertson’s Botanical Common Place Book in the University of Dundee Archives – p.93 of the Day Book’s transcription, and referred to as MS/102/3/5 but may be more likely to be MS/103/3/3?
The current location/fate of the original Day Book is unknown.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Presumably John Knox passed his Don Memoirs to Isaac Bayley Balfour which were then copied and returned - these are the copies. The obituary may have been sent to Balfour by Jane Taylor Ewen of Forfar.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Folder of postcards and photographs, many annotated by Ewen, from and of Forfar at the turn of the 20th century, presumably all sent by Jane Taylor Ewen, Mill Bank, Forfar to Isaac Bayley Balfour in addition to those stored in Bayley Balfour’s George Don scrapbook, GDS/1.
Includes: 9 postcards
8 photographs of Forfar including one taken at the unveiling of the Don memorial in Forfar churchyard, 08/09/1910 – shows Claridge Druce holding his address and John Knox.
1 pamphlet – “Sixteen Views of Forfar”
1 pamphlet – “A Month in the Country for Working Girls” about a raspberry picking scheme for city girls to work on a Blairgowrie raspberry farm – Jane Taylor Ewen’s cousin is involved; she owns the farm – see Balfour’s Don scrapbook, GDS/1. On reverse of pamphlet is poem written by Willie Taylor, Ewen’s cousin, called ‘Immortality’ (An Ode to Century old rose leaves) – rose leaves thought to have been given to Taylor Ewen’s grandmother by George Don. JTE had to copy out as she could not get a copy. Originally published in “St Andrew”, a parish church magazine. No date. [c.1905]
Plus – 2 photographs of Brechin – not J.T. Ewen’s handwriting on reverse, and postcard to I. Bayley Balfour from Eug. [Eugenius] Warming, Denmark, 21.12.1905 – unrelated to above but found in same folder so kept together.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
published
Much of the content of these folders will have been sought and acquired or copied on behalf of Isaac Bayley Balfour whilst he was conducting research on significant past members of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh staff.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
folder contains an original letter written by George Don, alongside an annotated transcription.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
Secretary of the Linnean Society and compiler of Index Kewensis.
published
A series of 10 letters transcribed and typed onto 27 pages of letters from George Don to Nathaniel J. Winch, copied by the Linnaean Society of London by B. Daydon Jackson [see correspondence in the Don scrapbook, GDS/1] 1802-1812, some reproduced in Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, v.iii, pt xiv, February 1905. There are some annotations / corrections by Isaac Bayley Balfour.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
Thought to have been born at Ireland Farm in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire around October 1764, George Don was a man of many talents, but it was botany he excelled in. At eight or nine years of age Don’s family moved to Forfar, his father working as a shoemaker in the town. Don was presumably educated at the local parish school, and on leaving was sent to Dunblane to learn the trade of watch and clock making, but throughout this time, Don was happier collecting plants, forming his own collection of dried and pressed plants (or herbarium) and classifying them using his own system.
Watchmaking, and his father’s occupation of shoe making clearly did not interest Don, as by the age of 15 he was sent to Dupplin Castle in Perthshire, the seat of the Earl of Kinnoull to work in the Gardens. It was here he made his first botanic discovery which was named after him – a moss, Gymnostonum Doniana. He also began making regular plant hunting trips to the Highlands, exploring and increasing his knowledge of the Scottish flora. He also met a young woman, Caroline Stewart whilst on a botanical ramble from Dupplin – she was later to become his wife.
In 1780 or 1781, Don moved south to England, moving from place to place for around eight years including London, Oxford and Bristol, working as a short-term gardener before moving back to Scotland and Glasgow to resume his trade as a watchmaker, although still spending his spare time botanising.
By 1797 Don had married Caroline and had obtained a plot of land in Forfar known as Dove or Doo Hillock. He built a house here and began his botanic garden which soon earned a reputation for its remarkable range, number and rarity of hardy plants.
In 1802, the position of Principal Gardener or Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh became vacant and George Don was recommended for the post despite having no formal qualifications or scientific training; proof of how highly regarded his practical experience and botanic garden at Doo Hillock was. Don was reluctant to leave Forfar, and the poor pay at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was hardly an incentive but he was finally persuaded to go and took up his new duties in Edinburgh at the end of 1802, leaving his beloved Doo Hillock in the capable hands of his father, Alexander.
Whilst in Edinburgh, Don spent a lot of time botanising with Dr. Patrick Neill, discovering many new species of wild flowers and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and fungi). He became an Associate of the Linnaean Society and attended medical classes at the University, which, although he never qualified as a doctor, he did use on his return to Forfar. He also began to publish (thanks to Patrick Neill who was a publisher) producing the first edition of Herbarium Britannicum. He also contributed to some other works, including his ‘Account of the Native Plants in the County of Forfar’ in the Revd. James Headrick’s 1813 ‘Agricultural Survey of the County of Angus’.
In 1806 Don left the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to return to Doo Hillock, possibly because of a difficult relationship with Regius Keeper Daniel Rutherford (Neill believed Don far exceeded Rutherford as a botanist – Rutherford was principally a chemist) but probably more likely because he missed the freedom to botanise around ‘Angus-shire’ as he called it, in particular his favourite location for plant collecting, Glen Clova, pioneering the exploration of this area.
Unfortunately, Don concentrated so much on the exploration of the local hills and glens that he began to ignore the commercial side of his botanic garden – the nursery and market garden. George and Caroline had a large family, 15 children but only six still surviving by 1814, and with little or no income coming in, by 1813 they were dependent on neighbours for subsistence rations. Don still carried on with his excursions coming back from one of them, in the autumn of 1813, with a severe cold. Necessity meant he had to carry on working and the cold worsened. Eventually he was bedridden with a suppurating throat, and after six weeks of agony he died on the 14th January 1814 at Doo Hillock at the age of 49.
Don left his family destitute and dependant on friends and Don’s fellow botanists for charity. There were six children, the eldest, a girl, dying shortly after Don. The two eldest sons, George Don [Jr.] (1798-1856) and David Don (1799-1841) had both begun botanical careers by the time of their father’s death and both eventually did very well, George [Jr.] becoming foreman of the Chelsea Physic Garden and collecting plants for the Horticultural Society of London in Brazil, the West Indies, Sao Tome and Sierra Leone. David became the Linnaean Society’s Librarian and Professor of Botany at King’s College. Both published works as well. The three younger boys including Patrick Neill Don (1806-1876) and James Edward Smith Don (1807-1861) also had careers in horticulture in England.
The striking contrast between the wealth of knowledge accumulated by Don and the poverty he was living in at the time of his death is notable. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Forfar’s Old Parish church. By the late 1800’s there were calls for more recognition of Don’s achievements which gathered pace at the start of the 20th century and lead to a marble obelisk being erected over his grave and unveiled by George Claridge Druce in 1910.
References:
Desmond, Ray, 1994, “Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists…”, Taylor and Francis and Natural History Museum, London.
Luscombe, Edward, 2007, “George Don, the Forfar Botanist, “Man of Genius””, Pinkfoot Press, Brechin.
published
typed transcription of letter from George Don to James Sowerby, 22.05.1799 regarding sending plants to be drawn. Original letter in the British Museum – now Natural History Museum. Letter reproduced in Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, v.iii pt xiv, February 1905
presumably Isaac Bayley Balfour asked for this letter to be transcribed as part of his research into George Don.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
published
Material is mostly typed transcriptions and may have been jumbled so it is listed and numbered in the order it was found in. [much of this may be papers obtained by / from Alexander P. Stevenson of Dundee.]
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published
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Handwritten note by Isaac Bayley Balfour indicating result of a search through the matriculation registers at Edinburgh University – George Don found in Index of Matriculated Students, 1804 – ‘Chem’, but not in any Matriculation Albums for 1802-1805
published
published
Born Edinburgh 1776; died Edinburgh 1851
Descended from East Lothian printers, Patrick Neill attended Edinburgh University though did not graduate. He joined the family firm of printers and eventually established his own firm of Neill & Co. ; the success of his company allowed him to devote much time to scientific pursuits. In 1804 he visited Orkney and Shetland and accounts of his natural history and economic observations appeared in The Scots Magazine. In 1808 he became a founder member of the Wernerian Natural History Society comprising leading lights of the Scottish scientific community as well as eminent international members. In 1809 he became first secretary of the Caledonian Horticultural Society (CHS), a position he was to hold for the next 40 years. This Society, still active today, brought together professional and amateur gardeners, academics, landowners and nurserymen. William Neill had inherited Canonmills Cottage in north Edinburgh and in its half acre garden created a ‘mini’ botanic garden with thousands of rare and unusual plants from all over the world, as well as a small menagerie. In 1813 Neill produced a report on Scottish Gardens and Orchards, the first general survey of Scottish horticulture, and in 1817 was commissioned by the CHS to examine the state of horticulture in Northern Europe involving an extensive trip through France and the Low Countries. In the 1820s he advised Edinburgh town council on the development East Princes St Gardens leading to new plantings of 27,000 trees and shrubs, though the design was subsequently wrecked by the building of the railway and Scott Monument in the 1840s. Neill was held in high regard by his fellow citizens as evidenced by his 1843 testimonial silver vase paid for by working gardeners, and the Caledonian Society’s successful growth and influence owed much to Neill’s enthusiasm and careful administration. He died in 1851 and among his charitable bequests was £500 to the Royal CHS to found a medal for a distinguished botanist or cultivator, and the same amount to the Royal Society of Edinburgh for a medal for distinguished Scottish naturalists.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; ‘Patrick Neill , Doyenne of Scottish Horticulture’Forbes W Robertson; (R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists).
D.W.
published
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
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Two photocopied letters between Claridge Druce and Bayley Balfour regarding Druce’s account of Don and the suggestion that it be published in the Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. February-March 1903.
Originals are filed in the Isaac Bayley Balfour correspondence.
published
published
same as letter filed at GDS/7/15
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English Botanist and Mayor of Oxford
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Two copies of the Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, comprising numbers XII, XIII and XIV, November 1904 and February 1905 containing, amongst information about RBGE's Principal Gardeners, George Claridge Druce's account of George Don's life and work.
Copies are in reasonably good condition.
published
Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, no XII and XIII, published in November 1904 and containing information on the principal gardeners at RBGE, mainly John Williamson, Malcolm McCoig, Robert Menzies, John Mackay and George Don. The bulk of the document comprises George Claridge Druce's memoir 'The Life and Works of George Don' followed by Appendices A-E. Appendices F, G and postscript are in the following volume.
This volume was donated to RBGE by Lady Mary Davidson c.2018, and placed in the Don archives as it relates to papers found there.
published
Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, no. XIV, published in February 1905. This volume comprises the last two appendices of George Claridge Druce's memoir on George Don's Life and Work, Appendices F and G, and the postscript.
This volume was donated to the RBGE Archives c.2018 by Lady Mary Davidson and placed in the Don archives as it relates to papers found there.
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17 photographs acting as a photocopy of George Don's entry in the 1893 publication 'Portrait Gallery of Forfar Notables, from drawings by John Young'. Letterpress by Alexander Lowson, pp.39-52, 178-9 and Young's portrait of George Don [Jnr]. Date of photography unknown - 1960s-1980s? perhaps earlier?; photographer unknown. Photographs were found among the Don reprint collection, January 2014.
Not known who created or requested these photographs - they were found in January 2014 amongst the Don reprints in the RBGE Library Collection.
Born Ayrshire 1780; died Edinburgh 1848
Starting work as an apprentice gardener on estates in Scotland, William McNab moved to Kew in 1801, being promoted 3 years later to foreman. In 1810, on the recommendation of Joseph Banks, he was offered the post of principal gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh by the Keeper, Daniel Rutherford. Despite inadequate funding he set about developing the Garden, increasing the overall collection dramatically and introducing many new or rare plants, including mimosas, Australian banksias, and tropical water lilies. McNab was instrumental in the successful move of the Garden from Leith Walk to Inverleith under the Keeper, Robert Graham. He adapted a machine for transplanting well established trees, some over 40 feet high, details of which are included in his published paper on hardy evergreens (1830). His other main contribution to the literature was a treatise on cape heaths. McNab was a founder member of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1836. Despite ongoing disputes over his salary, as a gardener and horticulturalist McNab was held in high esteem, as witnessed by the records of his testimonial dinner in 1844. He died in 1848 to be succeeded as curator of the Botanic Garden by his son, James.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’; Gardeners Chronicle 1848, p 812
D.W.
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•Box, including Copy of a letter most probably sent to Mary Countess of Minto, dated 17 October1845
James McNab was Principal Gardener at RBGE between 1848 and 1878.
published
•Box of personal papers and correspondence
•Box of papers regarding excursions (1829-32)
•Box of papers regarding his North American Tour (1834)
•Box of papers regarding his North American Tour (second copies)
•Box containing Tour Diaries (1836-38)
•Box containing a Journal of Tours, including his Germany Tour (1839-40)
•Box containing a Journal of Tours (1848)
•Box of Annual Reports to Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (RCHS) for 1841 and 1842
•Box of miscellaneous papers; into this box ("box 9 of 9") has been added (June 2019) a typescript list entitled "Plants of McNab's Herbarium"; it has an old id number of 37,994, was stored in the Library Office and is dated to February 1953. It is in 4 stapled bundles (caution - be wary of staples) and lists what was presumably herbarium specimens from James McNab's collection.
•Box of miscellaneous papers, including correspondence and a photograph of a tree-transplanter
•Folder containing McNab’s Testimonials
•Bound volume of his ‘Journal of Tour Through North America, 1834’
•Scrapbook titled ‘McNab Cuttings’
•Untitled scrap book
permission required from RBGE
The contents of the 2 volumes of scrapbooks have been listed and can be viewed here: https://www.rbge.org.uk/media/6374/jamesmcnabscrapbooks.pdf
Individual Box in archive
Born Fife, 1837; died Edinburgh 1882
John Sadler joined the staff of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1854, working in the propagating department and herbarium before becoming assistant to Regius Keeper Professor J.H. Balfour, a post he held for almost 25 years. He was appointed curator (principal gardener) at the Garden in 1879. An inveterate rambler he gained a great knowledge of the Scottish flora, especially the flora of Perthshire, and discovered many new stations for plants, several of which perpetuate his name. Sadler lectured regularly to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, which he served as Assistant Secretary from 1858 until 1879. Known as a genial, good natured man his many other professional and social memberships included being a founder member of the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club (1868) and Secretary of the Scottish Arboricultural Society from 1862 to 1879. An all round practical botanist, he was awarded the Neill Prize in 1869 and also lectured in botany at the Royal High School for over 20 years. In 1881 he took charge of the development of the Arboretum, then administered separately from the Garden. While engaged in planting the Arboretum in December snow he caught a chill and died at the age of 45, leaving a widow and 7 children.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; (Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’); obituary folder.
D.W.
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• Bound ms. notebook containing 64 lectures on botany, topics for weekly examinations, with 13 loose ms. sheets, principally plant lists, 1868–1877
• Flora of Edinburgh, by John Hutton Balfour, assisted by John Sadler, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1863, with ms. corrections and annotations (title page changed to “Second Edition, 1871”; front cover label = “Flora of Edinburgh / Third Edition / Additions and Corrections”).
• Reprints of articles on Scottish flora, principally from Trans. Bot. Soc., including “Mr Sadler on the Flora of the Bridge of Earn,” 1862; “Mr Sadler’s Remarks on Boehmetria nivea,” 1870; Mr Sadler’s Report on Open-Air Vegetation,” 1879;” Notes on the Alpine Flora of Ben Nevis, Inverness-Shire,” 1879; “On the Flowering of Yucca gloriosa, L., in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh,”1880 (ms. inscription: “With J. Sadler’s Compts”); “On a Curious Form of Kohl Rabi,” 1880; Report on Notes on a Botanical Trip to Ben Nevis, Inverness-Shire, in July, 1876, by John Sadler, reprinted from the Gardeners’ Chronicle, March 17, 1877, 2 copies, 1 with ms. annotations and corrections; notice of publication of Gardiner’s [sic] Flora of Forfarshire, 2nd edition by John Sadler (1872); 4 reports on temperatures at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 1880–1882; copies of 2 letters regarding the appointment of a new Curator for the RBG (originals in “Balfour, J.H.”, supp. boxes under “Nicholson, G.”), 1878.
• Obituaries of John Sadler, including “John Sadler,” by Professor Bayley Balfour, Trans. Bot. Soc., 1883 (with typescript); “The Late Mr John Sadler,” by William Craig, reprinted from Berkshire Naturalists’ Club Transactions, 1882 (with typescript); typescript of notice in Gardeners’ Chronicle, July–Dec. 1882; typescript of entry in A Biographical Index of British and Irish; newspaper clippings of obituary; ms. letter from William Craig to “My dear Professor” [I. Bayley Balfour] regarding Sadler’s supposed sojourn in Bristol, 1905; ms. of “medallion” on Sadler’s tombstone (Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh), which was erected “in affectionate remembrance by his friends in the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club,” 1884.
• Caricature: ink and watercolour drawing of 3 mycologists flying high in a mushroom-shaped hot air balloon. Inscribed: “Authorities high in fungi. 1872” in John Sadler’s handwriting.
• Index card: Sadler, John. 3 ltrs 1879/80 filed “Balfour, I.B.” papers under “Sadler, J.”
Born Fife, 1837; died Edinburgh 1882
John Sadler joined the staff of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1854, working in the propagating department and herbarium before becoming assistant to Regius Keeper Professor J.H. Balfour, a post he held for almost 25 years. He was appointed curator (principal gardener) at the Garden in 1879. An inveterate rambler he gained a great knowledge of the Scottish flora, especially the flora of Perthshire, and discovered many new stations for plants, several of which perpetuate his name. Sadler lectured regularly to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, which he served as Assistant Secretary from 1858 until 1879. Known as a genial, good natured man his many other professional and social memberships included being a founder member of the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club (1868) and Secretary of the Scottish Arboricultural Society from 1862 to 1879. An all round practical botanist, he was awarded the Neill Prize in 1869 and also lectured in botany at the Royal High School for over 20 years. In 1881 he took charge of the development of the Arboretum, then administered separately from the Garden. While engaged in planting the Arboretum in December snow he caught a chill and died at the age of 45, leaving a widow and 7 children.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; (Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’); obituary folder.
D.W.
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Watercolour and ink drawing of 3 mycologists flying high in a mushroon / toadstool shaped hot air balloon entitled "Authorities high in Fungi, 1872" in John Sadler's handwriting - image could very well have been painted by John Sadler. The figure in glasses is likely Miles Berkeley; the figure with red beard could be John Sadler, but more likely to be Mordecai Cooke, the third figure is too indistinct to identify.
filed within Sadler papers, despite coming from different source
good, but stuck to paper inside frame - frame removed, but paper will likely need a conservator.
J. Woods
image was in possession of Harry Tagg, who gave it to Helen Miller, who gave it to Paddy Woods, and therefore came to be in possession of Jennifer Woods, who donated it to the RBGE Archives in November 2014.
open access
not to be reproduced without permission from RBGE
Born Carluke, Lanarkshire 1885; died Edinburgh 1967
After studying science at Heriot Watt College and drawing at Edinburgh College of Art, Adam started work at RBGE in 1903 preparing lecture illustrations for the Regius Keeper, Isaac Bayley Balfour. In 1914 he was made a permanent member of staff as assistant in charge of the studio and in 1915 promoted to the new post of Photographer and Artist, remaining in this post until his retirement in 1949. He became official artist to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, but Adam became best known as one of the foremost landscape photographers in Scotland, illustrating publications such as Quigley’s ‘The Highlands of Scotland’, 1936, and publishing pictures regularly in the Scots Magazine, the Scotsman and Picture Post. In the later twentieth Century his mountain photographs have provided conservationists and landscape historians with a reliable historic record of the landscape and rural life. He continued to use his heavy 1908 half plate camera, printing all the photographs himself in a style difficult to replicate today and his negatives are now in the collection of St. Andrews University.
Source: DNB; Bown's '4 Gardens in 1'; Desmond's Dictionary; Fletcher & Brown's 'RBGE 1670-1970'
by D.W.
see also: https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/28160
published
various photographs and illustrations
series of papers donated in February 1978 by Mary Noble including a leaflet for a Scottish Arts Council Exhibition in Charlote Square, March 1970; photocopy of his obituary in The Scotsman in 1967 and two excerpts from the Scots Magazine, September and October 1954 containing two parts of an article about Adam and his photography.
not to be copied without permission from RBGE
Roland Edgar Cooper was born in 1890 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, but lost both his parents by the age of four. He came to be cared for by his aunt Emma Wiedhofft who was married to William Wright Smith, eventual Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was this association that was to shape Cooper's career - he travelled to Calcutta with Smith in 1907 when he became in charge of the Herbarium there, travelling and collecting botanical specimens in Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In 1910, Cooper and Smith returned, and Cooper took the Horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In 1913, Cooper returned to the Himalayas to collect plants for A.K. Bulley of Ness, near Liverpool. He travelled through Sikkim in 1913, Bhutan in 1914-15, and the Punjab in 1916.
In 1921, after the First World War, during which Cooper served in the Indian Army, he was appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Maymo in the Shan Hills of Burma, eventually returning to Scotland in the late 1920's for the education of his son. From 1930-1934 Cooper worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as the Garden Curator's assistant, taking the role of Curator (Head Gardener) himself in 1934, a post he held until his retirement in 1950. Post retirement, he and his wife Emily Bartusek moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.
During his career, Cooper became a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (now Scotland), the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Anthropological Society. He was also the vice-president of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he was a founder member.
published
Eight boxes of material relating to Roland Edgar Cooper who was Curator (Head Gardener) at the Royal Botanic Garden between 1934 and 1950. Material consists of correspondence, field notes, photographs and maps from his plant collecting expeditions in Sikkim, Bhutan and Punjab between 1913 and 1916, and family / genealogical information.
When cataloguing, the complete collection was arranged by subject area as follows:
REC/1: Plant Collecting (Notebooks: Itineraries, Field Numbers; Maps and published accounts)
REC/2: Correspondence and Papers
REC/3: Cooper's Writing, mainly unpublished (includes his autobiography)
REC/4: Cooper's photographs
Some of this material was in the RBGE Archival material, but has been added to with material acquired in auctions or by donation.
R.E. Cooper's copy of the Benmore Garden Guide Book, dated 1933, is in the RBGE Garden Guides box.
See more complete catalogue by downloading pdf from RBGE Archives Collection website (right click, open link in new tab): https://www.rbge.org.uk/media/7572/GB235rec_rolandedgarcooper20.pdf
Roland Edgar Cooper was born in 1890 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, but lost both his parents by the age of four. He came to be cared for by his aunt Emma Wiedhofft who was married to William Wright Smith, eventual Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was this association that was to shape Cooper's career - he travelled to Calcutta with Smith in 1907 when he became in charge of the Herbarium there, travelling and collecting botanical specimens in Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In 1910, Cooper and Smith returned, and Cooper took the Horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In 1913, Cooper returned to the Himalayas to collect plants for A.K. Bulley of Ness, near Liverpool. He travelled through Sikkim in 1913, Bhutan in 1914-15, and the Punjab in 1916.
In 1921, after the First World War, during which Cooper served in the Indian Army, he was appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Maymo in the Shan Hills of Burma, eventually returning to Scotland in the late 1920's for the education of his son. From 1930-1934 Cooper worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as the Garden Curator's assistant, taking the role of Curator (Head Gardener) himself in 1934, a post he held until his retirement in 1950. Post retirement, he and his wife Emily Bartusek moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.
During his career, Cooper became a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (now Scotland), the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Anthropological Society. He was also the vice-president of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he was a founder member.
published
REC/1: Roland Edgar Cooper – Plant Collecting paperwork, 1913-1949
REC/1/1: Notebooks, 1913-1916
REC/1/1/1: Field Books
REC/1/1/1/1-19: Sikkim, 1913; 19 books covering collection numbers 1-1023
REC/1/1/2: Plant Determinations
REC/1/1/2/1-3: Sikkim, Bhutan and Punjab, 1913-1916: notebooks covering collection numbers 1-6002 and summary sheet
REC/1/1/3: Itineraries
REC/1/1/3/1: Itinerary, Bhutan, 1914-1915
REC/1/1/4: 3 numbered notebooks
REC/1/1/4/1: No.1: includes Sikkim itinerary, June-Oct 1913; trip to Phalut (Sikkim) Oct. 1913; Notes on witchcraft in Bengal, Feb. 1914; Notes on Bhutan travels; 1914; Notes on Bhutan forest distribution, 1915; Journal of travels in Eastern Bhutan, 1915; Misc. Notes on Sikkim and Bhutan including catalogue of Bhutan photographs.
REC/1/1/4/2: No.2: Notes of Itinerary of Second Tour of Bhutan 1915
REC/1/1/4/3: No.3: includes Notes on Topography and Vegetation of Western Bhutan, (1915?); Journal and Botanical Notes, Punjab, 1916; Misc. Notes including catalogue of Punjab photographs.
REC/1/1/5: Collecting books – 3 boxes containing books used to collect and number plants in the field.
REC/1/2: Maps- Two maps relating to Cooper's plant collecting expeditions, 1908-1916
REC/1/2/1: The first map is of Sikkim, Bhutan, parts of Nepal, Tibet, Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam, dates to 1908 and is annotated with Cooper's routes and the legend, "RE Cooper, A- 1914 - Tour in Bhutan, July-August, Sept, Oct, Novr; B- 1915 - April, May, June, July, August, Sept.".
REC/1/2/2: The second map is of parts of Lahaol and Spiti of the Kangra District and Chamba, Punjab with portions of ... Kashmir, dates to 1913 and is annotated with Cooper's routes and the legend "RE Cooper's visit to Kulu and Lahaol, 1916, seed collecting for A.K. Bulley, Neston, Cheshire".
REC/1/3: Retrospective Published Writings, 1933,1949
REC/1/3/1: Cooper’s copy of "Botanical Tours in Bhutan, with Special Reference to the Occurrence of the Genus Primula", by Roland Edgar Cooper, published in Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, November 1933.
REC/1/3/2: Cooper’s copy of "Notes upon Bhutan in the Eastern Himalaya", by R.E. Cooper, published in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. 74, part 2, February 1949.
Roland Edgar Cooper was born in 1890 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, but lost both his parents by the age of four. He came to be cared for by his aunt Emma Wiedhofft who was married to William Wright Smith, eventual Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was this association that was to shape Cooper's career - he travelled to Calcutta with Smith in 1907 when he became in charge of the Herbarium there, travelling and collecting botanical specimens in Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In 1910, Cooper and Smith returned, and Cooper took the Horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In 1913, Cooper returned to the Himalayas to collect plants for A.K. Bulley of Ness, near Liverpool. He travelled through Sikkim in 1913, Bhutan in 1914-15, and the Punjab in 1916.
In 1921, after the First World War, during which Cooper served in the Indian Army, he was appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Maymo in the Shan Hills of Burma, eventually returning to Scotland in the late 1920's for the education of his son. From 1930-1934 Cooper worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as the Garden Curator's assistant, taking the role of Curator (Head Gardener) himself in 1934, a post he held until his retirement in 1950. Post retirement, he and his wife Emily Bartusek moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.
During his career, Cooper became a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (now Scotland), the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Anthropological Society. He was also the vice-president of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he was a founder member.
published
REC/2: Roland Edgar Cooper – Correspondence and Papers, 1913-1961
REC/2/1: Correspondence and Papers – Isaac Bayley Balfour, 1913-1919
Folder of papers presumably retained by Isaac Bayley Balfour. Includes correspondence; Notes on Environment of Plants of Seed Numbers, Gathered in Bhutan, 1914, by R.E. Cooper; List of Seeds sent by Cooper, via A.K. Bulley, Sikkim and Tibet, 1913.
REC/2/2: Correspondence and Papers – British Museum, 1930,1952
Folder of correspondence between William Wright Smith and Brian Burtt of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and George Taylor of the British Museum (Natural History) regarding the sending of Cooper's specimens to the British Museum for determinations - this includes plant lists. There are also two lists with duplicates: 1-2. "Determination of Indian Plants collected by RE Cooper Esq 1914- for British Museum, 1st list, Edin." and 3-4. "Identification of Plants for the British Museum. Coll. RE Cooper, 2nd list, Jan. 1930"
REC/2/3: Correspondence and Papers – Assorted Documents, 1916-1961
Assorted documents relating to R.E. Cooper, provenance unknown and arranged by date where known.
• Extract from letter dated 18th September 1916 from Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour to Roland Edgar Cooper [in Cooper's hand? written out on Cooper's lecture notes?] Original copy in Isaac Bayley Balfour correspondence folder: GB 235 REC/2/1/19
• Typescript of two letters, the first from William Wright Smith to Isaac Bayley Balfour, 27/05/1921; the second from R.E. Cooper to William Wright Smith, 04/06/1921 from the Botanic Garden in Maymo, Burma.
• [William Wright Smith?] to R.E. Cooper, 28/06/1929 regarding identification of plants.
• R.E. Cooper's collecting numbers - brief summary by Cooper with two copies, 03/03/1931.
• Modern list outlining Cooper's ethnographic donations to the National Museums of Scotland in 1931-32.
• Partial copy of John Anthony's "Remarkable Alpine Lobelia from Bhutan" published in the Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, July 1936.
• List of determinations of Bhutan grasses sent on loan to Dr. Bor of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 01/05/1948. "R.E. Cooper's collection"
• letter: R.E. Cooper to Harold Roy Fletcher, 10/10/1961
• Three pages of Collection Numbers entitled "Cooper's Bhutan Collection" - undated.
• "Cooper's Saxifragas, etc." arranged according to Engler et Irmscher Monograph - undated.
Roland Edgar Cooper was born in 1890 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, but lost both his parents by the age of four. He came to be cared for by his aunt Emma Wiedhofft who was married to William Wright Smith, eventual Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was this association that was to shape Cooper's career - he travelled to Calcutta with Smith in 1907 when he became in charge of the Herbarium there, travelling and collecting botanical specimens in Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In 1910, Cooper and Smith returned, and Cooper took the Horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In 1913, Cooper returned to the Himalayas to collect plants for A.K. Bulley of Ness, near Liverpool. He travelled through Sikkim in 1913, Bhutan in 1914-15, and the Punjab in 1916.
In 1921, after the First World War, during which Cooper served in the Indian Army, he was appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Maymo in the Shan Hills of Burma, eventually returning to Scotland in the late 1920's for the education of his son. From 1930-1934 Cooper worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as the Garden Curator's assistant, taking the role of Curator (Head Gardener) himself in 1934, a post he held until his retirement in 1950. Post retirement, he and his wife Emily Bartusek moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.
During his career, Cooper became a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (now Scotland), the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Anthropological Society. He was also the vice-president of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he was a founder member.
published
REC/3: Roland Edgar Cooper – Cooper’s Writing, c.1930-c.1960
REC/3/1: "Abnormal Cyclamen Growths" [Cyprus] by R.E. Cooper with two accompanying photographs by Robert Moyes Adam. Written 1933? [Intended for Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh but never published?]
REC/3/2: "A Scented Hybrid of Lilium Bulbiferum Croceum (Aurantiacum)" by R.E. Cooper, reprinted from the Lily Year Book 1948.
REC/3/3: Unpublished paper on Seed Morphology in the Genus Primula - text and 14 plates of photographs and illustrations. [Written in the 1930s?]
REC/3/4: Unpublished 10 page typescript entitled “The work of William McNab, landscape gardener, 1780-1848, The Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith”; covers a history of the Inverleith site, Cooper’s opinion of McNab’s skill in laying out the Garden, a diagram of sightlines in the south west corner, and 9 of Cooper’s photographs taken in the Garden.
REC/3/5: “Received with Thanks” the unpublished autobiography of R.E. Cooper. Added to the collection in August 2020 after being donated to RBGE.
Cooper wrote extensively - the archive collection only includes a small sample of what were presumably the author's own copies. See Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Library catalogue for the rest of his output.
Roland Edgar Cooper was born in 1890 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, but lost both his parents by the age of four. He came to be cared for by his aunt Emma Wiedhofft who was married to William Wright Smith, eventual Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was this association that was to shape Cooper's career - he travelled to Calcutta with Smith in 1907 when he became in charge of the Herbarium there, travelling and collecting botanical specimens in Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. In 1910, Cooper and Smith returned, and Cooper took the Horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In 1913, Cooper returned to the Himalayas to collect plants for A.K. Bulley of Ness, near Liverpool. He travelled through Sikkim in 1913, Bhutan in 1914-15, and the Punjab in 1916.
In 1921, after the First World War, during which Cooper served in the Indian Army, he was appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Maymo in the Shan Hills of Burma, eventually returning to Scotland in the late 1920's for the education of his son. From 1930-1934 Cooper worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as the Garden Curator's assistant, taking the role of Curator (Head Gardener) himself in 1934, a post he held until his retirement in 1950. Post retirement, he and his wife Emily Bartusek moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.
During his career, Cooper became a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (now Scotland), the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Anthropological Society. He was also the vice-president of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he was a founder member.
published
REC/4: Roland Edgar Cooper – Photographs, 1913-1961
The Cooper Photograph Collection has been collated from a number of sources; some have been held in the RBGE Archives for some time, some have been donated and some purchased at auction.
REC/4/1: Photographs – RBGE, 1913-1932
Envelope of 13 photographs which have been historically filed in the archives with Cooper's correspondence, etc. including one of Cooper in 1913; Edgar Cooper and son Bill at Rangoon House, 1924-5; plants and scenery in Bhutan, including two plants collected by Cooper and growing at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in the 1930s.
REC/4/2: Photographs – Auction Lot, c.1880-1959
Set of four photograph albums and an envelope of family photographs and correspondence purchased at auction in 2009 and stored together in one box.
REC/4/2/1: 1. Photograph album of Himalayan views, people and plants. Undated [1913 onwards?]
REC/4/2/2: 2. Photograph album of Himalayan views, people and plants. Undated [1913 onwards?]
REC/4/2/3: 3. Photograph 'album' compiled by Cooper - "Photographs of the Robes worn in a Tibetan Priest Play and also some Movements of the Dance". Photographs by R.E. Cooper at Tongsa and Tashigong Djongs and others in the Eastern Himalaya, 1915.
REC/4/2/4: 4. Album of photographs taken at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, all taken by Cooper except for two taken by Garden Photographer Robert Moyes Adam, with accompanying poetry [written by Cooper?], [c.1934-1950?]
REC/4/2/5: 5. Envelope of family photographs, correspondence, genealogical information relating to Cooper / Wiedhofft family, newspaper clipping with family information and pencil drawing of unknown face. Includes two Himalayan photographs, one of Rhoomoo/Rhomoo Lepcha, Sikkim, 1913 with Meconopsis paniculata, and the other of Rhododendron griffithianum, Bhutan, 1914.
REC/4/3: Photographs – Donation, c.1913-1950
These photographs were donated to the RBGE Archives in 2010 from a private collection. There are only three original photographs amongst them; the rest were digitised and returned to the owner and are represented in the collection by a cd and a set of modern prints.
REC/4/3/1: Birthday card dated 15/06/1950 sent to May Kerr by R.E. Cooper including a poem by Cooper and his photograph of Rhoomoo Lepcha with Meconopsis wallichiana (Bhutan 1914).
REC/4/3/2/1-11: Set of 11 digitised photographs from a private collection showing Cooper, his family including wife Emily and son Bill, the Kerr family and Cooper and William Wright Smith with King George V and Queen Mary; c.1937-1949.
REC/4/3/3/1-2: Two original photographs showing a snake charmer in Calcutta in 1913.
Born Kincardineshire 1892; died Edinburgh 1960
Educated at Gordons College Aberdeen and Edinburgh University graduating MA with honours botany, John Macqueen Cowan completed his training in forestry at Oxford before being appointed to the Indian Forest Service in 1914. During ten years with the Indian Service he studied and classified vegetation and made considerable plant collections in Sikkim, Bengal and Burma, travelling with his wife, also a botanist. He was attached to the Indian Army during the First World War and served in Egypt and Palestine. On his return to India he officiated as Director of the Botanical Survey then as Superintendent of Royal Botanic Garden Calcutta from 1926, retiring in 1928. In that year he gained a temporary appointment as a botanist in the herbarium at Kew and in 1929 undertook botanical expeditions to Iraq and Persia principally to collect tulip bulbs but returning with 2,500 plant and herbarium specimens. In 1930 Cowan became assistant to the Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a post he was to hold for 24 years. Using the Garden’s extensive collections he became an authority on Rhododendron, publishing widely on this and other genera. During the Second World War he was seconded to the Ministry of Supply build up timber production in west of Scotland. Cowan was President Botanical Society of Edinburgh from 1951 to 1953. On retirement in 1954 he took charge of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) Garden at Inverewe in Wester Ross developing it into a major visitor attraction, and also inaugurated the prestigious NTS garden cruises.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists); HR Fletcher and WH Brown ‘The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1670-1970’; obituary folder.
D.W.
published
5 maps: Baghdad, Resht, Teheran, Tabriz and India and the adjacent countries.
1 box of personal and miscellaneous papers
- includes paper on 'A Survey of the Anatomy of the Rhododendron Leaf in relation to the Taxonomy of the Genus' by S.F. Hayes, J. Keenan and J.M. Cowan : for publication in Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 21 (1), 1–34.
- 'The Rhododendrons of India' by J.M. Cowan.
In October 2022, a typescript Report on the Inverewe Gardens by J. Macqueen Cowan with a sketch map (annotated) and plates by R.M. Adam, RBGE, May 1949 was added to the collection. It had been the RBGE Library copy, but transferred to archives due to its unique nature and the original photographic prints by Robert Moyes Adam.
RBGE Foreman. Anna Pavord's obituary for Bill Mackenzie from The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-bill-mackenzie-1578479.html
published
• “Herbaceous Rock Garden Plants: Some introductions from the Himalaya and S.W. China” Lecture given March 1921, 1950 by W.G. MacKenzie, reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, v.75 pt.6, June 1950.
• RBGE Guidebook, 1934
• Plant catalogues:
o Hardy Plants Worth Growing; catalogue – V.N. Gauntlett & Co., Ltd., Japanese Nurseries, Chiddingfold, Surrey, No.90, c.1910 [image from RBGE on p.190]
o Trees and Shrubs catalogue – John Waterer, Sons & Crisp Ltd, Twyford, Berks – Autumn 1927- Spring 1928
o Ornamental Shrubs, Conifers and Climbers; catalogue – William Watson & Sons, Ltd., Killiney Nurseries, Co. Dublin – 1928-1929
o Choice Plants for the Rock Garden – Laird and Dickson, Pinkhill Nurseries, Edinburgh, c.1933
o Well’s Hardy Plants Catalogue – Wells Jun., The Nurseries, Merstham, Surrey – 1935-1936
o Trees and Shrubs catalogue – R.V. Roger, Pickering, Yorkshire – 1938-1939
o Hardy Heathers catalogue – Maxwell & Beale Ltd, Broadstone, Dorset – 1952-1953
• Sutton’s Seeds from Reading, England tin (lid cracked at back right corner – caution)
It was decided that the nurserymen catalogues and the RBGE guidebook would be more pertinent and get more use from browsers if they were stored with the other catalogues and guidebooks in the RBGE Library, so the items were marked 'ex-libris Mackenzie' and moved there, leaving the seed tin and reprint to be stored at McK in the Archives.
good, but tin lid has crack at back right corner - use caution when handling
the Mackenzie family
Items belonged to either Duncan or Bill Mackenzie; their family donated items to RBGE in September 2015.
there are photos of the 1937-1938 RBGE Rock Garden renovation at RBGE attributed to W.G. Mackenzie in the Archives photography collection
open
Fred Wood joined the RBGE in June 1947 as a labourer, and after two years became a probationer (student gardener). In 1952, now a gardener, he looked after part of the rock garden, part of the pond, and the "Natural Order Beds," which displayed the plant kingdom laid out based on George Bentham and Sir J.D. Hooker's Handbook of British Flora. Under Alf Evans as Assistant Curator, Wood worked as Botanical Foreman in charge of the rock garden, the woodland garden, and the pond. Fred Wood left the RBGE in 1966, and worked variously in West Germany, Scotland, England, and Wales. Fred Wood retired in March 1984.
published
Collection comprises pages copied from a photobook, compiled by Fred Wood's family; envelope of photographs, some copied, showing RBGE Rock Garden work, Fred with his colleagues, including social events such as a Burns supper; lecture notes and handouts relating to arboriculture courses held at RBGE; box of published book and pamphlet material [to be assessed by library colleagues]
Letter dated 11 Jan 1945 from J.E. Dinsmore, filed under "Dinsmore, J.E" in general index.
Born Somerset 1918; died Edinburgh 1992
Peter Davis’s interest in botany began in 1937 with a training post at Ingwersen's Alpine Plant Nursery in East Grinstead. In 1938 he set off on his first botanical expedition, as an amateur and on his own initiative; early correspondence with Sir William Wright Smith at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh had dissuaded him from a more ambitious trip to the Andes. He visited Greece, the Middle East and Turkey, starting herbarium collections, but had to break off his trip in 1939 with the commencement of World War II. He was called up into the army and served until 1945, spending part of his time in Cairo. Immediately after he was demobbed, Davis moved to Scotland to study botany at the University of Edinburgh, taking a B.Sc. followed by a PhD. Awarded in 1952 and later a DSc. (1964). His PhD. Thesis on the taxonomy of Middle East Flora was the foundation for the project which was to become his life’s work on the Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. The first volume was published in 1965, the tenth and last in 1988. During the 1950s and 1960s Davis made many overseas trips, collecting plants in Kurdistan, Russia, Turkey and the Middle East, eventually accumulating 50,000 herbarium gatherings. In the 1970s he became reader then professor in Taxonomic Botany at Edinburgh University and was an honorary associate of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, providing the last formal link between the university and Garden, where his Turkish herbarium collections now reside. He received many awards over his lifetime including the Cuthbert Peek Award of Royal Geographical Society, the Gold Medal of the Linnaean Society of London, the Neill Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was honoured by the Turkish government for his outstanding achievements in science. His other interests included modern art – his collection was exhibited at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1964 - and Wemyss pottery. Under the terms of his will he endowed the Davis Expedition Fund, to assist Edinburgh students to undertake biological fieldwork abroad.
Sources: obituary folder; personal correspondence (IH); Deni Bown, ‘4 Gardens in One’.
D.W.
published
- Folder of illustrations
- Letter from J.E. Dinsmore (January 11, 1945)
- Folder of family photographs
- Map of Turkey (1973)
- Folder of various loose prints and mounted photographic/artistic material
- 2 boxes of negatives and prints
- 2 boxes of negatives and contact prints
- 1 box of transparencies
- 1 box of medals
- 3 degree certificate scrolls
- 1 box of transparencies
- 5 boxes of correspondence with contributors of Flora Turkey Accounts
- 1 vol. of Turkish meteorology
- Block of Flora of Turkey map
- Flora Iranica funding application
- 1 box of correspondence regarding collecting trips to Turkey: 1954, 1957, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1975, 1982, 1983.
- Correspondence regarding collecting trips to Morocco (1970), Algeria (1971), Iran (1974), N. Africa (1975), Brasil (1976), Ghana - cancelled (1978)
- Itineraries and maps of various plant collectors in Turkey
- 1 box containing general correspondence regarding Flora Turkey project including:
o SRC 1961-1976 (cost of project in that time)
o SRC 1961-1976 (grants and claims)
o SRC reports 1982-1985
o NATO grants
o Composer and EUP
o Senior Research Fellowship
o Box containing correspondence with Edinburgh University Press and Authors, vol.1-7 Plant geography of the Middle East
- Flora of Turkey book reviews
- Synopsis of costing of Flora of Turkey project
- P.H. Davis various Articles
- Diary of a visit to Leningrad in 1959
- Seed and bulb lists (various) and subscribers
- Steedman Ramage/ Curator Bonis correspondence (access restrictions apply)
- Varia, C.V. and obituaries
Ross Eudall was born in London on the 29th December 1924, an only child. Ross’s father was a butler, which led to Ross spending time in Kilmarnock, Inverness and Edinburgh as he grew up, eventually attending Broughton High School in Edinburgh. He became interested in photography when he was 14, and converted one of the small rooms in the family home in the Stockbridge Colonies into a dark room.
Ross enlisted with the Royal Air Force towards the end of World War II. He trained as an Aerial Observer, which probably involved photography and took him to South Africa, but the War ended and he saw no active service.
On demobilisation Ross returned to Edinburgh, where he found a job working in a wireless shop called the Radio Hospital in Stockbridge. From a young age he was very technically minded - he loved cameras and, when they came along, computers. He was among the first of his peers to get one of the early Amstrad computers.
When Ross heard that the photographer from the Botanics was about to retire he successfully applied for the role, starting in 1948. For the next 40 years, Ross would play a significant role at the Garden. The man he replaced was the photographer Robert Moyes Adam, who himself had worked at RBGE for over 40 years, but was better known as a photographer of Scottish landscapes. Adam worked only in black and white, using a heavy camera and glass plate negatives. Their tenures overlapped for a year, during which time Ross had hoped to learn from the vastly more experienced Adam. These hopes were quickly dashed, however, as Ross was refused entry to Adam’s darkroom, where he was printing his own negatives to sell during his retirement. When Ross asked if he could buy a print the reply was “they are far beyond your means, laddie”.
Ross was determined to modernise photography at RBGE and used 35-millimetre Leica cameras and colour film. Over the years he built up a huge collection of colour transparencies of plants in the garden. Ross also did much photography for staff publications, including Fletcher & Brown’s history of the RBGE, and the photographic work for the innovative Plant Exhibition Hall which opened in 1970. One his most important contributions was the design of the studio and darkroom in the new herbarium building opened by the Queen in 1964. This was in use for the next 40 years, under his successors Ken Grant and Sid Clarke.
Throughout his time at the Botanics, Ross led the way for modern photographic techniques, retiring just before the new digital revolution. His work can be found in the photographic slide collection at RBGE.
For many years Ross lived with Alan Russell, who worked as a window dresser at Jenners and as an antique dealer. After Alan’s premature death Ross continued to live in their flat at Comely Bank Grove until shortly before his own death, which took place on the 2nd October 2021 at Ellen’s Glen, Liberton, after a short spell in hospital.
Biography by Leonie Paterson and Henry Noltie using the eulogy compiled by Annalese McDermott of the Humanist Society Scotland after talking to Ross’s friends and family, including Henry Noltie, RBGE and Eric Robinson.
published
2x photo albums, including Ross's retirement party; 4x loose prints, inc. Della Purves, Mycology/Pteridology Lab at RBGE, 26 May 1972, view of the Glasshouse Range, 18 June 1968; purple flower - pulsatilla vulgaris?; 3x 8mm (super 8) films relating to RBGE - 'Loch Eck', 'RBGE' and 'RBG Yashika, 77'; also Funeral service and eulogy.
good
Items were collected by Henry Noltie after Ross Eudall's posthumous house clearance.
published
•Box containing a photocopy of his diary from 1962 (the original copy is with his family), transcript of his, diary from 1952 when he was an apprentice at Mount Stewart Gardens, Co. Down, and correspondence (1973-1985)
•Box containing correspondence and recollections of Henry Howden (Harry) Bryce, former gardener at RBGE, collection dating 1913-1990
•Box containing folder of photos (negatives and contact prints), possibly New Guinea in 1962? (includes two photos of Canon Norman Cruttwell) Photos are mainly of local people, events, villages, mountains and scenery.
Jennifer Woods
published
photographs relating to Jennifer's career at RBGE, Flora of Turkey, cigarette cards, Betty Fletcher's History of RBGE (written 1954) and folder of Flora Iranica S.E.M. photographs of Umbelliferae fruits.
more items to potentially add to this collection, including further donations from Jennifer, and papers accumulated - e.g. folder containing information about John Hutton Balfour, possibly for Society for the History of Natural History display(?), Ulster Museum, August 1996 - placed with collection until fuller listing can be made (LP May 2021)
collection pieced together from items donated to RBGE by Jennifer Woods and other staff members
open
permission required from RBGE
published
•Box of ‘Fungi References’, reports, descriptions and field notes
•Folder containing his thesis ‘Fungal Succession Found on Bird Pellets and its comparison with the Dung Sequence’ (Jun – Oct 1959)
•Four folders of papers
•Two boxes of material for a biography of James Bolton (1735-1799) and his collecting sites and lecture notes on the same. (Slides are kept in the slide collection)
published
published
This is a set of ledgers and notebooks that document seed and live plant material being sent to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who donated them, where from and when.
The ledgers appear to be divided by donations of seeds and donations of live plant material so this has been reflected by establishing two subseries; /1 for Seed Donations and /2 for Plant Donations.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
published
Although the Seed Donations Subseries consists of two strands it was thought less complicated to keep it as one subseries. There appears to be a set of ledgers that follow each other chronologically dating to between 1810 and 1882 (RBG/6/1/1/1 - RBG/6/1/1/8) and a set of notebooks (RBG/6/1/1/9 - RBG/6/1/1/11) which contained lists of donations without coding or an index; handwriting and inserts inside these notebook indicate that they were likely used by John Hutton Balfour but there are examples of other handwriting as well; potentially that of James McNab, his Head Gardener. It was decided to list these after the ledgers in the same subseries.
published
Seed Donation Ledger which dates from 1810 to 1817 and documents donations of plants coded B-TE from around Britain and the World. There is a chronological index at the back.
The ledger appears to have been started by new Head Gardener William McNab and begins with an entry described as 'The following seeds were found in a Table Drawer in the Garden House when I came here, part of them I think have been rec'd from Mr. Donn of Cambridge. W. M'N'.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Seed Book 1818-1822' on the spine which dates from 1818 to 1823 and documents donations of plants coded A-FN from around Britain and the World. There is a chronological index at the back.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Seeds 1823-1824' on the spine which dates from 1823 to 1826 and documents donations of plants coded FO-IT from around Britain and the World. There is a chronological index at the back.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with '[Donations] Seeds 1830-1838' on the spine which dates from 1830 to 1838 and documents donations of plants coded HX-RL from around Britain and the World. There is a chronological index at the back.
Some pages, 137-144 have been torn out of the book, but the donors are listed in the index.
There is a pressed plant inserted at page 196; handle ledger with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There is a pressed plant inserted at page 196, handle book with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Seeds Received 1838-1844' on the spine which dates from 1838 to 1844 and documents donations of plants coded RM-XC from around Britain and the World. There is no index.
The ledger has been rebound in red buckram.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Seed Book 1849-1863' on its spine and cover which dates from 1849 to 1863 and documents donations of plants coded A-FG from around Britain and the World. There is an alphabetic index at the front.
There are inserts in the ledger, including letters to John Hutton Balfour and James McNab; handle ledger with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There are inserts in the ledger, including letters to John Hutton Balfour and James McNab; handle ledger with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Seed Book' on its spine and cover which dates from 1863 to 1876 and documents donations of plants coded FH-OF from around Britain and the World. There is an alphabetic index at the front.
The ledger has been titled more than once in different hands; the names J. Fernie 1868 and J. Tod 1863 have been written into the guttering inside the cover.
There are inserts in the ledger including a letter to James McNab and one from Isa. Foggo; handle with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There are a number of inserts; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Ledger with 'Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Donations of Seeds' on its spine which dates from 1876 to 1882 and documents donations of plants coded OG-TF from around Britain and the World. There is an alphabetic index at the front.
There are inserts in the ledger; handle with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There are inserts in the ledger; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
published
Seed Donation Notebook with 'Seeds [etc?] [1859-1862]' on an RBGE Museum label on its cover which dates from 1859 to 1864 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index and the notebook seems to be a more informal version of the Seed Donation Ledgers; similar to ones seen in the Plant Donations Subseries; it may have belonged to John Hutton Balfour or James McNab, but has a number of different examples of handwriting inside.
There are inserts; handle with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There are inserts; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
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Seed Donation Notebook with 'Seeds received Jan'y 1863 to 1868' on the cover which dates from 1863 to 1867 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index and the notebook seems to be a more informal version of the Seed Donation Ledgers; similar to ones seen in the Plant Donations Subseries; it may have belonged to John Hutton Balfour or James McNab, but has a number of different examples of handwriting inside.
There are a number of inserts including a pressed plant, a note from Dr Hugh Cleghorn and a letter from Jessie / Janet Mann to Hutton Balfour [at page 25-26] dated 28 March 1863 when she was a House Mistress of Campie House School in Musselburgh where she describes some seeds from Mrs Mockler that she is sending to Balfour. She goes on to say that Master Isaac [Bayley Balfour] is quite well and expecting a visit from one of his sisters. Jessie Mann is credited with being Scotland's first female photographer when she worked with David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.
Book to be supported when in use. There are a number of inserts; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
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Seed Donation Notebook with 'Seeds received 1868-1875' on the spine which dates from 1868 to 1876 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index and the notebook seems to be a more informal version of the Seed Donation Ledgers; similar to ones seen in the Plant Donations Subseries; it may have belonged to John Hutton Balfour or James McNab, but has a number of different examples of handwriting inside.
There are a number of inserts in a pocket at the back of the notebook. The notebook has been rebound in red buckram.
Book to be supported when in use. There are inserts in a pocket at the back of the book; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor available on request.
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A series of ledgers detailing donations of plants to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The series stops in 1893 when a new system of accessioning plant donations seems to have been adopted.
During the nineteenth century, ledgers registering the donation of plants to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh seem to have been kept separately to ledgers registering the donation of seeds. There are two separate series to recognise this, however, the later ledgers in this series do start to include cuttings and seeds.
Books should be supported when in use.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
Lists of donors are available on request.
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Plant Donation Ledger with 'Plants Received; Donations Book' on the spine. The ledger dates from 1810 to 1823 and documents donations of plants numbered 1-387 from around Britain and the World. Donations numbered 1-294 dating to between 1810 and 1820 are documented in the main body of the ledger. There is a chronological index at the back which lists the donors from 1-387 with a date range of 1810 to 1823.
Book should be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor which can be made available on request.
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Plant Donation Ledger with 'Plants Received' written inside. The ledger dates from 1826 to 1845 and documents donations of plants (numbered 1-9 before the system of numbering is abandoned) from around Britain and the World. There is a chronological index at the back which lists the donors.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor which can be made available on request.
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Plant Donation Ledger with 'Plant Book 1849 to 18 ' on the cover. The ledger dates from January 1849 to November 1855 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is an alphabetic index at the front.
There are numerous inserts throughout the ledger; handle with care.
Book should be supported when in use. There are numerous inserts throughout the book; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
A list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor can be made available on request.
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Plant Donation Notebook with 'Botanic Garden Plants Received; Jan'y 1863 to 1868' on the cover. The notebook dates from January 1863 to January 1868 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index.
This book appears different to the others and may have been a separate or supplementary notebook kept in parallel to a ledger which has been lost. There are numerous inserts, including letters to James McNab (the notebook may have been his); a seed back at page 120, and a loose page; handle with care.
Book to be supported when in use. There are numerous inserts throughout the book, including a seed packet and a loose page; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
A list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor can be made available on request.
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Plant Donation Notebook with 'Plants Received; 1868 to 1876' on the spine. The book has been rebound in red buckram. The notebook dates from January 1868 to December 1876 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index.
This book appears different to the others and may have been a separate or supplementary notebook kept in parallel to a ledger which has been lost. There are six inserts in a pocket at the back of the rebound book, including letters to James McNab indicating the notebook may have been his.
Book to be supported when in use. There are inserts in a pocket at the back; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of contacts transcribed by Anne Taylor that can be made available on request.
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Plant Donation Ledger with 'Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh; Donations of Plants' on the spine and 'Plants and Seeds 1877-1885' added inside the cover. The notebook dates from January 1877 to January 1887 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is no index.
There is an insert at the back.
Book to be supported when in use. There is an insert at the back; handle with care.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of donors transcribed by Anne Taylor which can be made available on request.
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Plants, Cuttings and Seeds Donation Ledger which dates from February 1892 to June 1893 and documents donations of plants from around Britain and the World. There is an alphabetic index at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
This book has yet to be transcribed.
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Set of printed / published and transcript summaries of donations of plants and seeds to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh dating to between 1855 and 1890 (incomplete).
The 1870 pamphlet contains the following information:
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN OF EDINBURGH.
In issuing the usual list of Donations to the Garden, the Regius Keeper begs to subjoin the following particulars :ㅡ
The Botanic Garden of Edinburgh is one of the oldest establishments of this kind, having been founded in 1670. It was used for the purpose of Teaching by the Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh in the year 1676. Since that time it has undergone many changes, both as regards its situation and extent. It now contains 27.5 Scotch acres of ground. The Garden is constantly used for instruction in Botany. The Botanical School is the largest in Britain. The number of pupils who attended the Lectures last summer (1870) amounted to 283, besides those who attended the popular class for ladies. In addition to the daily lectures, demonstrations are given in the hot-houses and in the open ground of the Garden; and facilities are afforded for practical investigation, to all students who desire to carry on researches into the structure and physiology of plants. A special room and microscopes are provided for instruction in Histological Botany. There is a Class Museum, open daily to the public, which contains specimens and models for illustrating the lectures. There is also a large Herbarium which is open for consultation, -the specimens being arranged so as to illustrate the Floras of different countries, The Garden is open free to the public every lawful day, during summer, from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M., and during winter, from daylight to dusk. For the benefit of the working classes it is also open to a late hour on Saturdays during summer. The number of visitors during the year 1870 amounted to 63,521. The Garden is laid out specially for teaching, and a large portion of the ground is occupied with plants arranged in classes and orders distinctly named. There is a collection of medicinal plants, and one of British plants, arranged according the natural system.
There is a large collection of European herbaceous plants, and of hardy exotic species, from various parts of the world, capable of enduring the climate of Scotland. There is also a special collection of Alpine plants. There is an extensive Arboretum, containing a valuable collection of coniferous trees, arranged in groups and named.
There are several ranges of hot-houses and green-houses, and a palm house 72 feet in height. The Edinburgh Government School of Design is supplied with specimens from the Garden, and demonstrations are given occasionally by the Regius Keeper to the working classes.
31st January 1871.
Professor BALFOUR Will be glad to receive donations of plants and seeds, as well as specimens for the Herbarium and Museum, from Correspondents abroad. He trusts that his pupils, who are scattered over various parts of the world, will
aid him by their contributions.
New trees and shrubs from British and Continental nurserymen, suited for the Arboretum, will be specially acceptable; and exchanges will be made by Mr M'Nab, the Curator. AIl donations will be duly acknowledged and labelled in the collection.
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Ledger listing plants, seeds and bulbs purchased by the RBGE Horticultural Glass Department between 1912 and around 1926, around which time the ledger appears to become the purchases ledger for the entire Horticultural Department until 1936.
Transferred from the RBGE Plant Records Dept.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledgers listing plants, seeds and bulbs donated to the RBGE Horticultural Glass Department between 1893 and 1926, around which time the Glass Dept. appears to merge with the Herbaceous Dept.
Transferred from the RBGE Plant Records Dept.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Permission required from RBGE.
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Permission required from RBGE.
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Permission required from RBGE.
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Permission required from RBGE.
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Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledger listing plants, seeds and bulbs purchased by the RBGE Horticultural Herbaceous Department between 1912 and around 1924, around which time the Herbaceous Department appears to merge with the Glass Dept.
Transferred from the RBGE Plant Records Dept.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledgers listing plants, seeds and bulbs donated to the RBGE Horticultural Herbaceous Department between 1893 and 1923, around which time the Herbaceous Department appears to merge with the Glass Dept.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledger listing plants, seeds and bulbs purchased by the RBGE Horticultural Outdoor Department between 1912 and 1924, around which time the departments appear to merge and the ledger than began as the Glass Dept Purchases ledger appears to be used for the entire Horticulture Department until 1936.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledgers listing plants, seeds and bulbs donated to the RBGE Horticultural Outdoor Department between 1896 and 1925, around which time the Outdoor Department appears to merge with the Glass Dept and Herbaceous Department creating a unified Horticulture accessions process.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Ledgers listing plants, seeds and bulbs donated to the RBGE Horticulture Department between 1927 and 1957, after the Glass, Herbaceous and Outdoor Departments have merged.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with the label 'Plants Sent, 1827' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between January 1827 and April 1845. There is an index, arranged chronologically, at the back.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Plants &c Sent Out' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between March 1892 and March 1899. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Plants and Seeds Sent Out I' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between March 1899 and March 1912. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front. The spine is damaged and there are a number of loose inserts inside the ledger; handle with care.
The spine is damaged and there are a number of loose inserts inside the ledger; handle with care and use support.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of recipients available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Plants and Seeds Sent Out II' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between March 1912 and January 1914. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a listing of recipients available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Plants and Seeds Sent Out III' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between January and December 1914. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
There is a list of recipients available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Despatch Book Propagating Dept. written inside; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between October 1916 and February 1920. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
A list of recipients is available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between February 1921 and December 1922. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
A list of recipients is available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger with 'Plants, Seeds, etc. Sent Out' on the spine; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between December 1922 and February 1924. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
A list of recipients is available on request.
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RBGE Plants and Seeds Despatch Ledger; the ledger lists plants sent to various locations around Britain and the World between February 1924 and April 1925. There is an index, arranged alphabetically, at the front.
There are loose inserts in the ledger - handle with care.
There are loose inserts in the ledger - handle with care. Book to be supported when in use.
Permission required from RBGE.
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The lists consist of a series of registers, lists and indices relating to the Edinburgh University Botany and Practical Botany classes held at RBGE.
In the past, the ledgers were stored roughly in chronological order, but this meant it was difficult to distinguish between the different types of ledger on the shelf. In 2016, the Class Lists were divided into 5 sub-series and numbered chronologically - Class Lists (CL) which are lists of students with ticket numbers- and addresses; Class Registers (CR) which include the students' attendance records; Class Indices (CI) which are alphabetic lists of students arranged chronologically; Practical Botany Lists (PB) which include lists of students attending these classes along with Vegetable Histology - these are separate to the Botany Classes; and the last has been given the code PH and includes Pharmaceutical students, Practical Botany students, Ladies, Microscopy, Illustration, Exam results, etc. and didn't seem to fit within any of the other sub-series.
Open access, see website for information on visiting (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/
Permission required from RBGE
A Summary of the Class Lists along with a transcription of the contents of the Class Lists compiled by Archives volunteer Anne Taylor can be found in the Archives Resources page here (right click, open link in new tab): https://atom.rbge.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/UoE-Student-Lists-1798_1919sm.pdf
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John Hutton Balfour's University of Edinburgh Botany Class Register, but also includes listings for the courses he taught at the University of Glasgow.
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This is a series created by bringing known sets of lecture notes, usually taken by students attending Botany lectures at the University of Edinburgh provided by the Regius Keeper of the RBGE who usually also held the post of Professor of Botany. Many of these books will have been acquired by Isaac Bayley Balfour.
As this series is being created and brought together, the notes will be grouped by Regius Keeper giving the lectures, using three digit codes, which may then revert to numbers in the sequence at a later date, the idea being to have the sequence run chronologically.
It may be that there are other papers relating to lectures in amongst individual Regius Keeper collections. Material relating to lectures will also likely be held at the University of Edinburgh.
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Bertha Chandler (Mrs. C. Norman Kemp) was the first woman to obtain the degree of D.Sc. of Edinburgh University July 1915.
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
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Bound notebook entitled 'Lectures on The Flowering Plants (Prof. Bayley Balfour) (Monocots and Dicots) 1912-1913 (for Conifers see /o-)
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
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Two notebooks of lecture notes taken at Isaac Bayley Balfour's botany lectures at the University of Edinburgh between 21 April 1915 and 5 July 1915 by R.W. Graham-Yooll.
in good condition.
Items purchased at eBay auction, 10/04/2024
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
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Bound notebook entitled 'Botany Notes, Book 1', Lecturer, Prof, Bayley Balfour. [Student] R.W. Graham-Yooll, Edinburgh University, 21st April 1915. Notebook is full of lecture notes (lectures 1-16) accompanied by coloured illustrations.
Item purchased at eBay auction, 10/04/2024
Son of John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour was Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh between 1888 and 1922, specialising in Rhododendrons and Primulas and making improvements to the RBGE's teaching and laboratory facilities.
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Bound notebook entitled 'Botany Notes, Book 2', [Lecturer] Prof, Bayley Balfour. [Student] R.W. Graham-Yooll, Edinburgh University, Summer Term 1915, continued from Book 1 during lecture 16. Notebook is full of lecture notes (lectures 16-36 up to First Professional Examination, 5 July 1915) accompanied by coloured illustrations.
Purchased at eBay auction, 10/04/2024
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1 folder containing a Creative Nature booklet outlining activities compiled for the Year of Natural Scotland 2013 which included the event 'Walking with Poets' held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and its three regional gardens of Benmore, Logan and Dawyck; and Cove Park, June - September 2013. " This year poets Sue Butler, Mandy Haggith, Jena Atkin and Gerry Loose have taken up poetry residences at the four gardens of the RBGE as well as at Cove Park. Walking with Poets provides a chance for these poets to immerse themselves in the magnificent environments and share their awareness, their practice, and their vision of nature with communities around Scotland and the world. The residencies will take place throughout the year and there will be a special closing event held at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on St Andrew's Day 2013. Each of the poets will be blogging about their residency at: walkingwithpoets.wordpress.org ." This was a partnership between the Scottish Poetry Library, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Cove Park.
Inserted into the booklet are four postcards, one for each poet, signed and featuring a quote.
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Theatre programme for the play 'Plant Hunter: The Tibetan Journeys of Joseph Rock' which was performed at RBGE during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1996 by Theatrum Botanicum, Theater of Plantes.
The programme has Rock's Naxi bookplate on the front cover and a timeline of Rock's life inside. The play was written using Rock's diaries which are held in the RBGE Archives, and Evan-Wentz's Tibetan Book of the Dead.
At present, item has been placed in the category of RBGE Publicity; if and when more items relating to the Fringe or Theatrum Botanicum, it may be that a separate series is created on the catalogue. LP, July 2024.
Fiona Parker, Hort Office, RBGE, June 2024
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Permission required from RBGE.
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Garden is an activity book inspired by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and was created by postgraduate Illustration students at the Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh in 2016, "showing another dimension to the processes of observation, enjoyment and perception.
The illustrators include Karin Eremia, Ailsa Johnson, Kelsey Shankle, Katy Wiedemann and Siying Wu.
Transferred to the Archives in 2026 by Lesley Scott, Herbarium, who assisted with the project.
Library catalogue: https://rbge.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=215601
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Copyright restrictions apply; University of Edinburgh.
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At present this series comprises the Garden Guide Daily Diaries but it is envisaged that documentation relating to the establishment and management of the initiative could also be added here.
At present the series is open, but any material containing personal information would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Chronological
Transferred from Horticulture, 31/03/2025
expected
Open access, though any reference to personal details would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 1
Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Open access; no personal data witnessed, but any entries containing personal data would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 2
Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Open access; no personal data witnessed, but any entry containing personal data would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 3
Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Open access; no personal data witnessed, but any entry containing personal data would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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RBGE Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 4
Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Open access; no personal details witnessed, but any entry containing personal data would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.
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List of contact details for Garden Guides that was pasted into the front cover of the Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 4, but removed so that it can be kept separately from the volume.
Restricted access - item contains personal information.
Item not to be reproduced.
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RBGE Garden Guide Daily Diary volume 5
Daily Diaries kept by the RBGE volunteer Garden Guides to record how their tours went, and to make observations regarding the type of visitor on the tour; their interests and where they were from; what was discussed; the weather; plants in flower/looking good in the Garden, etc.
Open access; no personal data witnessed, but any entry containing personal date would be subject to restrictions.
Permission required from RBGE.