From:
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
To:
John Firminger Duthie
Date:
7-1-[1886]
Source of text:
JDH/2/3/4 f.52, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Summary:
No summary available.
Contributor:
Hooker Project
Showing 21–40 of 44 items
No summary available.
JDH apologises for not writing to Asa Gray sooner, he has been answering enquiries about the future of RBG Kew. He congratulates Gray on receiving a silver presentation vase. JDH mentions the heavy snow. William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] has been appointed Director of RBG Kew & [Daniel] Morris Assistant Director. WTTD & Harriet are wary of moving into the Director's House. John Smith will retire in Mar when he turns 60. JDH discusses his pension. JDH has set up his son 'Willy' [William Henslow Hooker] in a house in Kew. Charles Paget Hooker is at Cirencester & Brian Harvey Hodgson Hooker has got a job at silver mine in New South Wales on the Murrumbidgee River. Reginald Hawthorn Hooker is preparing for Cambridge with Mr La Touche. Joseph Symonds Hooker is proving to be a good reader & Richard Symonds Hooker is developing as all babies do. JDH's father in law Reverend William Samuel Symonds' health is uncertain, Mrs Rothry is getting better. JDH is settled at The Camp, he works productively there & in the RBG Kew herbarium & is relieved to be Director no more. JDH discusses his work on the FLORA OF BRITHSH INDIA, specifically Litsaea or 'Tetranthera', Persea & a genus near Eudiandra. He has also been working on George Bentham's flora & proofs of GENERA PLANTARUM. He is still on the councils of the Royal Society & the Royal Geographic Society. Mentions an RGS lecture given by Bryce on commerce & trade, & an upcoming one by Morris. Gives his opinion on teaching geography & declares that teaching any subject is fruitless if people do not wish to learn. He wonders what has happened to the alternative botany once taught in Glasgow & Edinburgh. Discusses [Richard] Owen using [William Ewart] Gladstone & the Bishop of Oxford as mouthpieces support the the mosaic narrative over evolution & Darwinism. JDH also recalls Owen's comments on his essay in FLORA AUSTRALIA. JDH reviews Gray's obituary of Louis Agassiz. JDH is disappointed by De candolle's obituary of Boissier.
JDH has a cold. He writes to thank Asa Gray for the SYNOPTICAL FLORA SUPPLEMENT. JDH is glad Gray is working on Ranunculaceae again & hopes he will 'gallop through Thalamiflorae'. JDH is working on Laurineae, he discusses his classification of Litsaeaceae under a single genera: Lindera. If [George] Bentham [GB] had tried to understand Laurineae the GENERA PLANTARUM would not be complete, it requires the patient analysis JDH is better at. JDH assumed GB did the ones for [Robert] Schomburgk & [Richard] Spruce. The obscure, tropical arborescent Orders are hard work but Gray has his own difficulties with Compositae. JDH is printing Indian Polygonums. JDH comments on the absence of a willow in Gray's MANUAL OF THE BOTANY OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES which may already have been published in Anderson's Monograph in De Candolle Prodromus depending on what the correct relative dates of publication are. Also comments on [John Merle] Coulter's Rocky Mountain flora & the definition of an alpine plant. Discusses who should replace [John] Lubbock as President of the Linnean Society, JDH does not want the job himself, he thinks it should be William Thiselton-Dyer but will more likely be [William] Carruthers. D. Jackson's biographical notice of GB is unsatisfactory. JDH wrote to [Mary Louisa Wallon] encouraging her to spend some of the money she inherited from her uncle [GB] supporting the Linnean & Royal Societies. JDH lists some of the works in a botanical library that is being sold, it once belonged to his friend Mr Watson Taylor, an amateur botanical artist. He suggests St. Louis may buy them, JDH is considering a price of about £500 but will consult Wheldon. JDH asks if Sargent is right to call Gray one of the "immortal 8" of the French Academy.
JDH thanks Asa Gray for his letter of 29 Apr [1886]. JDH has finished Laurineae but is dissatisfied with the result, he does not think he improved on the earlier work of [Carl] Meissner. JDH's opinion of Nees von Esenbeck is raised. JDH is working on Euphorbias, of which [Pierre Edmond] Boissieu made too many species, he scoffs at Boissieu's presumption that there could be un-described plants of Heyne[?] in the Vienna & St Petersburg herbaria. JDH has not see O. M. Holmes though they were both at Princess Louise's & Holmes met with [Thomas Henry] Huxley at a public dinner. JDH is working on ICONES [PLANTARUM]. He misses [George] Bentham [GB] & is frustrated that his affairs are not settled. He works in GB's old room in the herbarium. JDH is impressed by Daniel Oliver's knowledge, particularly of Phaenogams. He discusses staff changes at RBG Kew: [Daniel] Morris is installed, [George] Nicholson replaced [John] Smith & [William] Watson is in charge if tropical cultivation as Assistant Curator. Mitford, Secretary of the Board of Works, has inherited his Uncle, Lord Redesdale's, property. He will probably be replaced by one of 'mad Gladstone's secretaries'. JDH is working on new editions of GB's [HANDBOOK OF THE BRITISH FLORA] & the Primer [BOTANY, 1876]. Mentions that specimens arrive from China & are dealt with by [William Botting] Hemsley, material from Africa is usually poor quality. [George] King promises to do the figures for the FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA but systematic botanist rarely live up to promises, except Baker. [William] Carruthers is President of Linnean Society, Jackson Botanical Secretary & [James] Murie Prime Minister. Offers Gray duplicates of Indian specimens, they are from collections by Wallich, Cuming & Lobb. [James Edward Tierney] Aitchison is working on his Turkmenistan & Afghanistan collections. JDH would like word of Mr Ashburnham Newman, now of San Francisco, who is married to his niece: Margaret McGilvray. JDH has received no pension yet.
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JDH writes to inform Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that, sue to illness, he is unable to come to the herbarium as planned. JDH is reading [James Anthony] Froude's OCEANA, Froude is a fan of the Australian gardens. JDH has received a letter from Asa Gray, whose only news is that he is starting work on the Ranunculaceae for the American Flora, JDH thinks Gray will find the Thalamiflorae easy.
JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] for his letter & mentions a geological [society?] dinner. JDH describes his contentment with his short commute from the Camp in Sunningdale. He is not surprised that the [RBG Kew Directors'] House needs a lot of work as it has not been renovated in over 100 years & the basement used to flood regularly, but JDH is surprised that WTTD would have to pay for any repairs. He discusses the practicality of WTTD combining the 2 studies in the house. JDH concedes that WTTD may need to go to the 'Liver's' [for new livery?] but hopes that his old herbarium sword & coat will still be usable. JDH offers to write to Welby, on WTTD & [Algernon Freemna-]Mitford's behalf, about the imprudence of giving Byrne any power. JDH will dine with the X club on Thursday & then join WTTD at the Athenaeum Club. He hopes to come to Kew on Monday.
JDH informs Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer that he has received a reply from the Treasury [regarding his pension]. Stanhope has asked JDH if he can propose him to North as a Commissioner in connection with a potential international exhibition that the Government of South Australia wants to hold in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the colony, & JDH must accept. [Thomas Henry] Huxley is in good health & has taken up botany, he is studying Grisebach & comparing the distribution of Gentians to Crayfish. JDH has received some Perak plants to work on from Kings, including Andas. JDH [& his wife Hyacinth] are going to Bournemouth. He comments on the Prince [Edward] starting an institute which will include a museum of trade & art etc. He has had no news from 'Brian' for a long time. William Lister & his wife visited JDH & they discussed the Widow [Charlotte Page] Hance & the likelihood of getting her a pension for the work of her deceased Consul husband [Henry Fletcher Hance]. Charlotte Hance has appealed to Alcock to help her get a pension but it is very unlikely, she will continue to live in Hong Kong with her children, who are; 'too delicate for England'. 'Young Hooker' of Egypt is going to marry, he has reported that the French are being rapidly being ousted from Egypt & also given his opinion of Wolfe 'an extraordinary fish' socially but a brilliant at managing people & business.
Letter to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer regarding the action JDH is taking to pursue a fair pension payment for himself from the Government & the Navy, he has written a memo to Lord Salisbury [memo not present], called on Potter[?] & Fitzgerald[?] & written to Sir john Reid Director of the Medical Department of the Navy, & to the Secretary of the Admiralty. JDH has also written to Sir Hubert Maxwell about his pension complaining about the conduct of a Mr Plunket[?]. JDH also informs WTTD that he has written to Alcock & von Haast, reassuring them with platitudes. He refers to some exhibits as 'utterly demoralizing' & the ingratitude [of Alcock & von Haast] as typical of Germans who have benefited by England. He notes Gustav Mann as an 'honourable exception'. Notes that Welby will be attending a Royal Society dinner.
JDH informs Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer of his latest negotiations for securing his own pension. He has met with the Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty, Evan Mc Gregor, & with Lord George Hamilton's secretary. Their conversation will be passed on to Welby. Lord Salisbury [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil] has informed Lubbock that he will look into the matter of JDH's civil fund pension. JDH is of the opinion that he should get his Naval Pension, but not half pay, as well as the civil pension. JDH also notes that [Johann Franz] von Haast has written to him [possibly regarding an exhibit].
JDH thanks Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] for the copy of the Treasury letter & recounts previous correspondence sent to the Treasury [regarding his pension?]. JDH does not understand their attitude to him, but says it is now done with & should be forgotten. JDH was upset to hear about the havoc caused in the Gardens. He cites two further incidents in 1853-4 & 1865-6 or 1866-7. The former caused damage to a few old trees, but the latter, caused by snow, lead to many trees being killed or destroyed, such as Oaks, Bay & Laurel trees. Tells WTTD that there will be an allusion to it in the Kew Annual Report. Says that WTTD will be pleased to hear that Reggie [Reginald Hawthorn Hooker] has passed first class in all three divisions of his Littlego exams. JDH would like him to come to come up to Kew with him for the day but Reggie says he is too busy. Canon Girdlestone has 'taken Reggie in hand' for two days a week [at Sunningdale school].
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