Frank Ludlow graduated from Cambridge in 1908 with a BA in natural sciences and on leaving university was appointed vice principal at Sind College, Karachi. During the First World War he served in Mesopotamia after which he went to Poona as Inspector of European Schools. In 1923 he opened a new school at Gyantse, Tibet. Although this closed in 1926 he remained on good terms with the Tibetan government and was almost uniquely allowed access to that country for a number of years. In 1927 he retired to Srinigar in Kashmir and from this date started travelling extensively, collecting birds and plants for the British Museum of Natural History. In 1928 he met George Sherriff in Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan and with their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants they began a lifelong friendship which led to a series of major expeditions to the Eastern Himalayas and South East Tibet. During the 1930s they trekked through the Tian Shan mountains, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, collecting thousands of plant specimens, though on these journeys Ludlow was more concerned with the collection of birds on which he wrote extensively. During the Second World War Ludlow was in charge of British Mission in Lhasa from 1942 to 1943 and was Joint Commissioner in Ladakh from 1940-42 and again from 1943-46. He continued collecting in 1946 setting off for South East Tibet again with Sherriff. Their sixth and final great expedition together was collecting alpine and temperate flora in Bhutan in 1949. They both returned to Britain in 1950 where Ludlow spent his remaining years working on their collections in the British Museum.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
published
Partial
LSH
GB 235
This collection consists of material created and gathered from the expeditions of F. Ludlow and G. Sherriff, thought their expeditions of Bhutan and Tibet during 1933-1949.
The collection consists of 5 sub-series: plant documents, expedition documents, diaries, correspondence and visual material.
[1] This series consists of a variety of material which includes plant and seed lists from their expedition with a large focus on Primula, Meconopsis and Rhododendrons, as well as publications gathered by Ludlow and Sherriff which cover their shared interest in the Himalayan region and it's flora and fauna. There is also a garden register donated by the Knox Finlay family detailing the progress of plants/seeds in their gardens acquired from various expeditions including Ludlow and Sherriff's between 1951-52.
[2] This series consists of a variety of expedition documents ranging from itineraries and maps to administration lists and passports.
[3] This series consists of originals and photocopies of the diaries of Sherriff and Ludlow during their expeditions.
[4] This series consists of a variety of correspondence from and to Sherriff and Ludlow over the course of their expeditions.
[5] This series consists of a variety of material including: photographic material, films and videos. Photographic material ranges from prints and negatives taken by Sherriff and Ludlow to prints of digital images taken as exhibition documentation in 2014. The films are..... There have been dvd surrogates made of the films to ensure continued accessibility.
The material is arranged in a hierarchical system as has been arranged chronologically and numerically where appropriate.
The RBGE does not currently have access to equipment to allow viewing of the films. The majority of these have, however, been digitised and are available on dvd. to enable easy access.
This is an important collection, therefore record appraisal and destruction should not be carried out.
Donated by Betty Sherriff and Peter Cox. Gathered and arranged by RBGE.
No accruals are expected
This is an artificial collection put together by library, archives and RBGE staff throughout the 20th century - i.e. it was not put together by Ludlow and Sherriff themselves. Rather it contains correspondence, papers, photographs, etc sent by Ludlow and Sherriff to various correspondence, diaries, items donated by his family or associates and rather than store them as individual collections put together by these bodies, it was thought best to store them together as the Ludlow and Sherriff Collection.
The originals of Ludlow's diaries are located at the India Office Library, London.
The Ludlow and Sherriff Collection stretches far throughout the RBGE. There is additional material available through the library, the herbarium and the living collection.
The library currently has 8 records attached to Ludlow and Sheriff. The catalogue is viewable online at: http://library.rbge.org.uk
The herbarium currently has 1820 digitised records attached to Ludlow and Sherriff, with many more available within the herbarium. The herbarium collection is currently being digitised and some material is already viewable through their online catalogue: http://elmer.rbge.org.uk/
Details of the living collection can be access by contacting the RBGE library and archives for more information. There are a number of Sherriff and Ludlow plants currently growing in the public gardens at RBGE, locations of which can be provided.
Open
Collection is still in copyright
George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
Frank Ludlow graduated from Cambridge in 1908 with a BA in natural sciences and on leaving university was appointed vice principal at Sind College, Karachi. During the First World War he served in Mesopotamia after which he went to Poona as Inspector of European Schools. In 1923 he opened a new school at Gyantse, Tibet. Although this closed in 1926 he remained on good terms with the Tibetan government and was almost uniquely allowed access to that country for a number of years. In 1927 he retired to Srinigar in Kashmir and from this date started travelling extensively, collecting birds and plants for the British Museum of Natural History. In 1928 he met George Sherriff in Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan and with their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants they began a lifelong friendship which led to a series of major expeditions to the Eastern Himalayas and South East Tibet. During the 1930s they trekked through the Tian Shan mountains, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, collecting thousands of plant specimens, though on these journeys Ludlow was more concerned with the collection of birds on which he wrote extensively. During the Second World War Ludlow was in charge of British Mission in Lhasa from 1942 to 1943 and was Joint Commissioner in Ladakh from 1940-42 and again from 1943-46. He continued collecting in 1946 setting off for South East Tibet again with Sherriff. Their sixth and final great expedition together was collecting alpine and temperate flora in Bhutan in 1949. They both returned to Britain in 1950 where Ludlow spent his remaining years working on their collections in the British Museum.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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The material was both collected by RBGE, during the period of operation, and donated by Peter Cox in 1982. The Garden Register was donated by the executors of the estate of Mrs Knox Finlay in 1989.
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This material was collected by RBGE during the period of operation.
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Currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 12
George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
Frank Ludlow graduated from Cambridge in 1908 with a BA in natural sciences and on leaving university was appointed vice principal at Sind College, Karachi. During the First World War he served in Mesopotamia after which he went to Poona as Inspector of European Schools. In 1923 he opened a new school at Gyantse, Tibet. Although this closed in 1926 he remained on good terms with the Tibetan government and was almost uniquely allowed access to that country for a number of years. In 1927 he retired to Srinigar in Kashmir and from this date started travelling extensively, collecting birds and plants for the British Museum of Natural History. In 1928 he met George Sherriff in Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan and with their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants they began a lifelong friendship which led to a series of major expeditions to the Eastern Himalayas and South East Tibet. During the 1930s they trekked through the Tian Shan mountains, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, collecting thousands of plant specimens, though on these journeys Ludlow was more concerned with the collection of birds on which he wrote extensively. During the Second World War Ludlow was in charge of British Mission in Lhasa from 1942 to 1943 and was Joint Commissioner in Ladakh from 1940-42 and again from 1943-46. He continued collecting in 1946 setting off for South East Tibet again with Sherriff. Their sixth and final great expedition together was collecting alpine and temperate flora in Bhutan in 1949. They both returned to Britain in 1950 where Ludlow spent his remaining years working on their collections in the British Museum.
Sources: R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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This garden register has come from the Knox-Finlays at Keillour. It contains lists of information relating to the plants/seeds received and subsequently grown from the expeditions of: Ludlow and Sherriff - Bhutan; Lowndes - Nepal; Tilman - Nepal. Interleaved towards the back pages is an extensive list titled: Sherriff Seed Collection 1928.
Presented by the executors of Mrs Knox Finlay's estate, 1989
currently in box 11
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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- Frank Kingdon Ward, 'Burma's Icy Mountains', reprint from the Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, January 1948, pp.9-17
- Frank Kingdon Ward, 'Tibet as a Grazing Land', reprint from the Royal Geographical Journal, vol. CX, January 1948, pp.60-75
- 2 Airgraph letters from William Wright Smith to George Sherriff found inserted here, 4 Sep 1943 and 4 Feb 1944, moved to correspondence folder and filed alongside other similar Airgraph letters
- Sir Robert Reid, 'India's North-East Frontier', reprint from the Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, 1944, pp.165-174
- Sir Robert Reid, 'The Excluded Areas of Assam', reprint from The Geographical Journal, Vol. 103, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Feb., 1944), pp.18-29 - with photos
- Frank Kingdon Ward, 'Botanical and Geographical Exploration in the Assam Himalaya', reprint from the Geographical Journal, v. XCVI, No.1, July 1940, pp.1-13
- J. Hanson-Lowe, 'A Journey along the Chinese-Tibetan border', reprint from the Royal Geographic Society Journal, May 1940, pp.357-367 - with photos
- H.W. Tilman, 'Peaks of the Assam Himalaya', reprint from Royal Geographic Society Journal, November 1939, pp.402-404
- F. Kingdon Ward, 'The Irrawaddy Plateau', reprint from the Royal Geographic Society, October 1939, pp.293-308 - with photos
- F. Kingdon Ward, 'The Distribution of Primulas from the Himalaya to China, with Descriptions of some New Species', reprint from Annals of Botany, v.XLIV, No.CLXXIII, January 1930, pp.111-125, annotated by George Sherriff
- Ronald Kaulback, 'A Journey in the Salween and Tsangpo Basins, South-Eastern Tibet', reprint from The Geographical Journal, v.XCI, No.2, pp.97-122 - with photos
- Patrick Fitzgerald, 'The Yunnan-Burma Road', reprint from The Geographical Society Journal, v.XCV, No.3, March 1940, pp.161-174 - with photos
- Swami Pranavananda, 'The Sources of the Brahmaputra, Indus, Sutlej and Karnali: with notes on Manasarowar and Rakas Tal', reprint from Journal of the Royal Geographic Society, February 1939, pp.126-135 - with photos
- H.W. Tilman, 'The Mount Everest Expedition of 1938', reprint from the Geographical Journal, v.XCII, No.6, December 1938, pp.481-498 - with photos
- C.B.M. Warren, 'Mountain-Sickness and the Physiological Problems of High Altitude Mountaineering', reprint from the Alpine Journal, November 1939, pp.271-283 - with photos
- Col. R. Meinertzhagen, 'On the Birds of Northern Afghanistan', reprint from Ibis, 1938, pp.480-520
- C.P. Fitgerald, 'The Tiger's Leap', reprint from The Geographical Journal, v.98, no.3, September 1941, pp.147-153 - with photos
Due to condition of the bundle, the reprints were frozen as a precaution in May 2022
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Currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
Currently in brown envelope
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currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
More sketch maps can be found interleaved in some of the pages of G. Sherriff's diaries.
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Currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in brown envelope.
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currently in brown envelope.
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currently in brown envelope.
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Routes: 1933-38, 1943-47, enlarged map of 1938 and 1946-7 route. Scale - 1:1,000,000 and 1/250,000
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Currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 4
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A short passage about the Lamyig can be found in 'Botanic Treasure - Objects from the Herbarium and Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh' a copy of which is available in the RBGE library.
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George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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Gifted by Betty Sherriff.
George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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Gifted by Betty Sherriff.
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currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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The original diaries were received from Sir George Taylor and examined by Mr A Grierson in 1981.
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A note on the file reads 'there are no documents numbered 190-200'.
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A note on the folder reads 'there are no papers numbered 296-300'.
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currently in box 12
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Gifted by Peter Cox
currently in box 10
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
This file contains 14 letters from George Taylor of the British Museum to G. Sherriff.
currently in box 10
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
currently in box 10
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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currently in box 10
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Gifted by Peter Cox
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
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Gifted by Peter Cox, 1982
Some photographs have notes relating to the sections to crop or enlarge written on the reverse. Some photographs are stamped with 'velox' on the reverse.
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Gifted by Peter Cox
Photos had been posted onto paper which had been stuck onto plywood lengths for display purposes (presumably in 1978). Still in this condition in 2014. Record shots of the display form where taken and the photos were peeled off and placed in binders with caption information copied onto the back of the photos in square brackets.
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The original G. Sherriff photographs are a range of flora, people and landscape shots. The reverse of the photo often has the date, location, country. If the photograph is of a plant then the name, number of the plant and location will often be written on the reverse. They are stamped on the reverse as being a 'vivid colour print'. The prints of the digital, exhibition display images, have the photo disk number written on the reverse of the print.
Gifted by Betty Sherriff
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Gifted by Peter Cox 1982
Each envelope is titled as follows:
Bhutan: His Highness the Maharaja of Bhutan and Her Highness the Maharani; Kinga Rapden, 8th April 1949
Bhutan: Chomolhari range from near Dochen (with Yaks)
Bhutan: Chorten at Gorsan
Bhutan: Himalayan Peak (Kungpu) 22,000' - East of Chomolhari, from Gyanga Thang
Bhutan: Himalaya from Dungshinggang 1937
Bhutan: Ashe Choden (Maharani), G. Sherriff, His Highness Sir Jigmed Wangchuck, Dr. J. H. Hicks, Jigme Wangchuck (1949) - from left to right.
Bhutan: Kangkarpunsum from highest grazing ground near Bhutan, 9th July 1949
Bhutan: Kangarpunsum from Marlung, 8th July 1949
Bhutan: Jiu La, Dhur Chu from Larko La, 3rd October 1949
Bhutan: Lhuntse Dzong, Kuru Chu, 19th May 1949
Bhutan: Old Bhutanese Man at Ngang Lhakhang, Bhutan, 21st May 1949
Bhutan: Trashigang Dzong (close-up)
Bhutan: Trashigang Dzong Bhutan 1938 (overlooking valley)
Bhutan: Village in Phobsikha, Central Bhutan, 28th August 1949
Bhutan: Waterfall - no details
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George Sherriff attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and fought in the First World War in France in 1918, where he was gassed. In 1919 he was sent to India and served on the north-west frontier. In 1927 he was appointed British vice-consul in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan and while there travelled widely. In 1929 he met Frank Ludlow and their shared interests in ornithology, travel and plants started a lifelong friendship. During the 1930s they went on a series of plant and bird collecting expeditions working eastward along the main Himalayan ranges. In 1933, for example, they travelled to Tibet, Nang-kartse, Gyantse and back to India making 500 gatherings of plants and seeds; their collections included 69 species of rhododendron, 15 new to science. Sherriff resumed his military service during the Second World War, first in Assam and later in Sikkim and in 1943 he succeeded Frank Ludlow in charge of British Mission in Lhasa. After the war he continued collecting in south east Tibet, again with Ludlow. In 1949 both retired from India and went a final expedition to Bhutan to gather alpine and temperate flora. George Sherriff funded virtually all his expeditions himself and, as well as collecting, took thousands of photographs. He was one of first plant collectors to send specimens in crates back by air to Kew, Edinburgh and Wisley and his best plant introductions were rhododendrons, primulas, and peonies. On retirement Sherriff bought an estate near Kirriemuir in Angus where he grew many Himalayan plants with great success. In his later years he served in the Home Guard, on the county council and as session clerk of his local church.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; R. Desmond ‘Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists; obituary folder; H.R. Fletcher ‘A Quest for Flowers’.
D.W.
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
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Box of black and white prints, mostly by George Sherriff, but with a few of Sherriff plants at RBGE taken by Robert Moyes Adam, comprising primulas and some related landscapes.
This consists of a box binder labelled 'Ludlow and Sherriff photographs 1938' that has apparently been added to the collection after it was catalogued by Julia. Presumably the contents were in a box with the same label and repackaged and added later, but only added to the catalogue in March 2024.
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Please note that the RBGE does not currently have the facilities to allow any of the cine-film collection to be viewed on the premises.
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Please note, users are encouraged to bring their own laptop with dvd drive to view the material on, however headphones can be provided.
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These videos can be found within the video section towards the back of the RBGE library.
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Taped onto a Sony video cassette KCA 60. A U-matic tape.
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