Área de identidad
Código de referencia
Título
Fecha(s)
- 1930 - 1952 (Criação)
- 1903 - 2014 (Agregación)
Nivel de descripción
Colección
Volumen y soporte
Comprehensive; collection includes:
39 Plant lists
24 reels of cine-film
15 Envelopes of photographic negatives
15 Lists of primulas
11 Publications
10 Original diaries
8 Boxes of photographic material (prints and negatives)
8 Bundles of letters
6 Maps
6 dvds
4 Greetings cards
2 Lists of photographic material
2 Itineraries
2 Lists of seed recipients
2 Photocopied diaries
2 passport translations
1 passport covering letter
1 Tibetan passport
1 Tibetan letter and translation
1 Location log
1 List of costs
1 Garden Register
1 Peter Cox donation letter
Área de contexto
Nombre del productor
Historia biográfica
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.
Nombre del productor
Historia biográfica
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.
Institución archivística
Historia archivística
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.
Origen del ingreso o transferencia
Donated by Betty Sherriff and Peter Cox. Gathered and arranged by RBGE.
Área de contenido y estructura
Alcance y contenido
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.
Valorización, destrucción y programación
This is an important collection, therefore record appraisal and destruction should not be carried out.
Acumulaciones
No accruals are expected
Sistema de arreglo
The material is arranged in a hierarchical system as has been arranged chronologically and numerically where appropriate.
Área de condiciones de acceso y uso
Condiciones de acceso
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/
Condiciones
Collection is still in copyright; where possible, permission is required from RBGE.
Idioma del material
- inglés
- tibetano
Escritura del material
- tibetano
Notas sobre las lenguas y escrituras
All Tibetan documents have at least a partial translation into English catalogued alongside them.
Características físicas y requisitos técnicos
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 access.
Instrumentos de descripción
Uploaded finding aid
Área de materiales relacionados
Existencia y localización de originales
The originals of Ludlow's diaries are located at the India Office Library, London.
Existencia y localización de copias
Unidades de descripción relacionadas
Área de notas
Notas
Notas
Identificador/es alternativo(os)
Puntos de acceso
Puntos de acceso por materia
Puntos de acceso por autoridad
- Smith, Sir William Wright (Materia)
- Cowan, John MacQueen (Materia)
- Cooper, Roland Edgar (Materia)
- Sherriff, Betty (Materia)
- Sherriff, Catherine (Materia)
- Taylor, Sir George (Materia)
Tipo de puntos de acceso
Área de control de la descripción
Identificador de la descripción
Identificador de la institución
Reglas y/o convenciones usadas
ISAD(G)
ISAAR
Estado de elaboración
Nivel de detalle
Parcial
Fechas de creación revisión eliminación
Description created by Julia Wylie, 2015
Idioma(s)
- inglés