Sydney, 9. July 1855.
Sir
I do myself the honor to inform you, that I accept the appointment as Botanist for the North Australian Expedition, which his Excellency the Governor General has been pleased to confer upon me, and I beg to express my deepest gratitude for the confidence thus placed in my services. Referring again to a former communication, I beg to solicit, that the scientific elaboration of the botanical collections, which will be accumulated during the expedition might be entrusted to myself, and that I may be permitted to retain for this purpose a full set of botanical specimens after the return of the party, as in all probability my fixed appointment as Government Botanist of Victoria will render it difficult, to return for the purpose of elaborating the collections to England.
All manuscripts, however, which will originate from the intended examination of these specimens after our return, I shall have the honor of laying before the Government according to further instructions.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
your most obedient and humble servant
Ferd. Mueller.
A. C. Gregory Esq.
&c &c &c1
On 14 July 1855 Gregory forwarded M's letter to the NSW Colonial Secretary, E. Deas Thomson, commenting: 'Although any definite promise of the nature above referred to would be objectionable if made at the present time, yet if Her Majesty's Government should approve of the arrangement proposed it would be desirable that the final disposal of the specimens collected were left to the decision of the Governor General.' Gregory's letter was shown to the Governor General, W. Denison, who wrote to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in England on 1 August forwarding a copy of M's letter and suggesting the matter be referred to W. Hooker (Public Record Office, London, CO 201/485, ff. 137-47).
The Secretary of State for the Colonies, London, H. Labouchere, referred M's letter to W. Hooker. Hooker advised, 18 December 1855: 'I will beg of you to assure Mr Secretary Labouchere that nothing can be more just and reasonable than that Dr F. Mueller the Botanist to the North Australian Exploring Expedition should be allowed to retain a full set of the botanical specimens collected during the journey. He will make a good use of them to the benefit of science and of the Colony. I am most happy to bear my testimony to the excellence of the choice made by Sir William Denison in appointing so talented and excellent a man to accompany this Expedition. I hope and trust that on his return he may be put into a condition to bring his collections himself to England where alone he can have the means of publishing them, and that his position as Government Botanist at Melbourne may be reserved for him. In none of our Colonies is there a Botanist more distinguished by knowledge and zeal and industry, and practical application of that knowledge than Frederic Mueller.' (Public Record Office, London, CO 201/488, New South Wales, original correspondence, 1855, Public Offices, vol. 1, f. 357).
In a further letter, 20 December 1855 (CO 201/488, f. 360), Hooker elaborated his position on the plants: 'I would take the liberty to say that all the Botanical collections, save the set granted to Dr Mueller himself, should be sent to the Royal Gardens of Kew. All Govt. collections of the kind are sent here, & Government [has] here, & here alone, provided the needful staff of Officers to see that they are made use of for the public benefit.' '[LL] & HM' commented, n.d.: 'Sir W Hooker seems to lay stress on letting [M]r Mueller bring them in person to England. Perhaps it will be better to say nothing as to the latter point: [M]r Mueller's appointment being under another Government.'
Labouchere transmitted both of Hooker's letters to Denison, 26 December 1855, and added that he (Labouchere) considered it very desirable to adopt Hooker's recommendations. No mention was made of the possibility of M bringing the plants to England. Denison commented, 7 April 1857: 'This is very satisfactory as to Mr Muellers qualifications — we can act upon it when he returns' (M213/B, 4/3351, Colonial Secretary's Deprtment, Archives Authority of New South Wales, Sydney).
On 12 January 1857, after the expedition had returned, the NSW Colonial Secretary's Office wrote to Gregory asking him whether or not M had yet got his botanical specimens together (MS Q426). Gregory replied, 14 January 1857: 'I have the honor to state that only such specimens as were collected on the journey from the Victoria river to Moreton Bay are yet in Sydney. The collections made previous to the 21st June last having been shipped on board the "Tom Tough" and they may therefore be daily expected to arrive per "Messenger"' (No. 57/235, 4/3351, Colonial Secretary's Department, Archives Authority of New South Wales, Sydney).
Please cite as “FVM-55-07-09,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 24 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/55-07-09