JDH tells Asa Gray about the death of his father William Jackson Hooker, at age 80. A few days before his death WJH had given Queen Emma of the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii] a tour of RBG Kew, walked in the gardens with [Thomas] Thomson & [Miles Joseph] Berkeley & went with JDH to see the subtropical plants in Battersea Park. JDH's mother [Lady Maria Hooker] returned from Yarmouth to be by her husband's side. There is an epidemic of throat infections in Kew. JDH himself got sick with Rheumatic fever, possibly as a result of keeping vigil over his father. He went to stay with [Archibald] Campbell in Notting Hill to recuperate. He mentions some of the treatments he had & some lingering symptoms. [William Francis] Cowper [Temple] wrote offering JDH the Directorship of RBG Kew & proposing some changes to the Gardens. JDH wants proper scientific help & another assistant such as [Daniel] Oliver to help handle correspondence & work on Ferns. Discusses what assets his father leaves & the inheritance that his children will get, incl. herbarium & library which are left to JDH with instruction to offer them to the nation at a reasonable rate. JDH has heard that [Charles Robert] Darwin's health is improving under Dr [Henry] Bence Jones. JDH gives a report on the whereabouts of his children: William Henslow Hooker, Charles Paget Hooker, Harriet Anne Hooker, Brian Harvey Hodgson Hooker. Adds that his Mother and his sister Mrs [Elizabeth] Lombe are in Yarmouth & Norfolk respectively & will winter at Torquay. The only mourners at WJH's funeral were JDH's sister Maria [McGilvray], his brother in law Thomas Robert Evans Lombe, his uncle Thomas Brightwen & some old RBG Kew foremen including the old & new John Smiths.