Newspaper and paper wrappers from an unmounted collection from the herbarium of Dr. Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn.
A box of unmounted specimens from Cleghorn's herbarium and annotated as from ‘Cumbaukum Droog’ [Kambakkam Durgam] was discovered in the basement longstore at RBGE in 2025. It was assessed by Henry Noltie; the specimens were mounted and added to the herbarium collection, and the newspapers and folders used by Cleghorn to wrap his collection were seen as significant enough to be added to the Archive. Henry described the process in a Botanics Story: (right click, open link in new tab) https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/40144
The Collection includes manuscript lists relating to the Cumbaukan flora and a journal article cutting, made by Cleghorn, from the 1835 volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society: an article titled an ‘Account of the Ragery Hills, near Madras’ by a Colonel Monteith.
The specimens were contained in newspaper flimsies dating between 1853 and 1859, most of which were placed in covers made of Indian ‘country’ paper annotated with the numbers and names of 20 plant families. Although the specimens were collected in December 1853, the majority of the newspapers date from 1858/9, presumably when Cleghorn undertook some herbarium curation. They are trimmed to uniform size, c 27 x 44 cm – some more or less whole sheets folded, others cut in half (when the titles are often missing).
The newspapers are of considerable interest, assuming that they were subscribed to by Cleghorn, rather than bought as scrap paper. Two certainly were his as they are inscribed with his name, title, and address while on tour as Conservator of Forests in Salem and Ooty. These tell us something about his reading habits and suggest a great thirst for news both Indian and from Britain. Also used was also a pamphlet advertising a Madras ‘Periodical Horse Mart’ revealing a previously unknown, though unsurprising, interest in horse flesh; and proof that he subscribed to the Gardeners’ Chronicle, suspected but previously unproven. Of the Indian newspapers was one published in Bangalore (The Bangalore Herald) and seven in Madras (Madras Circulator, The Commercial Gazette, United Service Gazette, The Athenaeum, The Madras Times, The Madras Spectator and the official government Fort St George Gazette). Of those published in Britain the largest number of sheets are from The Overland Mail, with smaller numbers from four others (The Indian News, The Morning Herald, The Record and The Examiner). There is also a single half-sheet from an unidentified Fife newspaper to show that he kept up with news from Scotland.
The articles in the papers dating from 1858/9 are of particular interest, with many articles discussing the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny. Interesting though the ‘news’ items are, the papers are equally intriguing for the advertisements and aspects of social history revealed. described here are only a few items that were noticed while cataloguing the plants: a meeting of the Madras Photographic Society attended by Sir Walter Elliot (6 April 1858); the opening of the organ by William Hill in St George’s Cathedral (13 September 1858); stained glass fanlights for the cathedral designed by Archibald Cole, Professor Fine Arts in the Madras School of Industrial Art, made by Nathaniel Wood Lavers of London (later Lavers, Barraud & Westlake) (21 January 1859); an advertisement by J. Deschamps offering three pianos by Erard (1 mahogany grand of 7 octaves; 1 mahogany grand square of 6¾ octaves; 1 rosewood cottage of 6¾ octaves) and 1 mahogany grand square by Broadwood (May 1854); J.J. Fonceca & Co offering ‘Likenesses either in Oil, Water Colors, or Crayon … Landscape and Cattle Drawings … charges so regulated with a view to place their services within reach of all (21 January 1859); an auction by Oakes, Partridge and Co. offered a by then very old fashioned ‘square piano by T. Tomkison, in good order’ (6 July 1853).

Folder of notes comprising Ian Hedge's attempts to discover more about a set of Egyptian specimens in the RBGE Herbarium, mostly incorporating the name of Delile [or Delille, Delisle], but sometimes also, Vahl, Desfontaines, Lippi, Vaillantes or Zorsbial [Forskal?] 'Scattered throughout the Edinburgh herbarium are a number of specimens, probably a few score, which appear from the evidence of the labels, to be an early Egyptian collection. In common with some other of the older collections they are often mounted on sheets which have other specimens and labels on them.' The file includes letters written to other institutions by Ian Hedge with their responses between 1983 and 1986.
The collection also includes a set of correspondence between ,B.L. Burtt and Dr Hagerup, Copenhagen, dating to 1955 and relating to similar/connected collections made by Schumacher, Vahl and Forskal.

Pressed Plant Greetings Card, presumably sent at New Year, 1937-1938.
The pressed plant is a Maianthemum bifolium and was found in the Herbarium collection of Donald Patton alongside his Maianthemum bifolium specimen with the barcode E01360448 by digitiser Rebecca Camfield. The card was sent from 6 Glenan Gardens, Helensburgh and has the message 'Wishing you all much happiness in 1938'. Rebecca's research shows that the card is likely to have been created by Mrs Elizabeth Ewing and was sent by her to Donald Patton at the end of 1937 / start of 1938; an online search of the address on the card revealed a Watson Botanical Exchange Club member's list from 1926-1927 which provided a name of Mrs Ewing. Searching this name and the address Rebecca learnt that this was Mrs Elizabeth R. Ewing, married in 1901 to Peter Ewing. They had met as both part of the Glasgow and Andersonian Natural History and Microscopical Society, where she met several other prominent botanists. He became the President of said society in 1902, yet dies young in 1913. She became President herself between 1919 and 1920. Their herbarium went to Glasgow Herbarium after her death in 1951 at the age of 90.
In 1951 Donald Patton was the President of the Society according to their journal 'The Glasgow Naturalist' which he also edited. They were in the same circles and were probably friends. So this is highly likely like to be a little card she sent to Donald Patton in 1938 which he placed with his own collection of the species. It could also be as that was the year she resigned as the delegate for the British Association for the society?
Most of the above research was obtained from the Naturalist's obituary written by John R. Lee.
(right click, open link in new tab) https://archive.org/stream/glasgowna141519401946ande/glasgowna141519401946ande_djvu.txt

1 Jenner's shoe box containing:

• 11 jotters of pressed wildflowers made when Catherine was 14 years old in 1927/28 for the Girls' Guildry (now the Girls' Brigade) Edinburgh 17th Coy.
• list of the flowers in the 11 jotters
• 2 letters:
  --7th September 1945, Roland Edgar Cooper to Miss C.F. Glen - thank you for sending sprays of heather - RBGE hoping to propagate and name them - shorthand writing on the reverse, and the envelope has been kept.
  --6th September 1948, Roland Edgar Cooper to Miss Glen acknowledging receipt of her 'very fine contribution ' of heather on the 31st August 1948.
• modern photograph showing Catherine Glen in old age.