Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 albums, folder of note, typewriter and microscope slide box, 45cm
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
David Wilkie was a leading authority on horticulture. He was interested in all living plants, but his chief interest lay in plants from mountainous regions of the world. His career started as a student gardener at RBGE in 1906 at the age of 14 - a time when plants new to European horticulture were being introduced to the U.K. from the Himalayan regions - he dedicated a large part of his life to the cultivation and study of these plants, becoming a recognised authority, gaining some of the highest awards in horticulture, including an R.H.S. Associateship of Honour in 1946. In 1933 he was part of the group responsible for the formation of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which he became President in 1959. He was also a member of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, holding the Presidentship in 1951. Wilkie's book on Gentians was published in 1936. L.P. from Wilkie's obituary in the Scotsman.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Items were donated by Wilkie's family in 2013
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Set of material relating to David Wilkie and his work including:
book of typed notes on gentians
Wilkie's typewriter
3 photograph albums of plants at RBGE
wooden box of microscope slides
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
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/
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission required from RBGE.
Language of material
- English