Source of text:
RBG Kew, Archives, Letters from Joseph Hooker vol., Ada-Bar, ff. 158-9.This volume consists mainly of transcriptions, most in the form of typescript carbon copies, of Joseph Hooker's letters. There is no indication in the volume as to the date or author of the transcriptions, or the location of the originals, and the Archivist at Kew in June 2000 had no knowledge of the provenance of the volume. Folios 152-260 are to Sir Henry Barkly, October 1865 to November 1876, with one of 18 August 1866 (possibly an enclosure) to Charles Meller (see below) and 261-263 to Lady Annie M. Barkly, July-August 1867. There are some gaps in the text and a few possible misreadings. Many letters have been annotated or asterisked in red ink and in pencil. Each letter in the Barkly series has been numbered. The subjects of the early letters are Hooker's various difficulties with the Board of Works 'under a department of Govt. already tired of scientific expenditure on Kew' (19 January 1866, f. 154), and Meller's journey to, and health, conduct, and position at Mauritius, which apparently gave cause for concern