9./6./80.
Herewith, dear Mr Chanter,1 I send you bill of loading of a large case of wood-implements &c, which I forwarded to you pr. Carpathian. These articles were procured on my private expense for you, 2 in accordance with a wish expressed by the Hon. Malcolm Fraser,3 Surveyor General of Western Australia.
Perhaps I have not correctly understood your requirements. In such a case I would ask you to hand the things over to Sir Jos. Hooker of Kew, who anyhow would perhaps like to secure some of the specimens for the great economic Museum of Kew.4
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller,
M.D.
Chantre wrote to John Jackson, Curator of the Kew Museum, on 23 September 1880:
Enclosed please find a letter I received some time ago from Baron Von Müller advising mea Case and package of specimens of wood illustrating the various applications & properties of the different woods of Sth Australia, & requesting me in case he should not have sent specimens of a suitable nature for my small Museum, to hand the things over to the Kew Museum, saying that Sir Joseph Hooker would be glad of them —
I have to day received the shipment — though most interesting for a large Museum like that of Kew, the specimens are much too bulky for my own small rooms, consisting of all sorts of domestic implements, twisted shafts etc — to show all the [re]sources of the wood —
In accordance with Baron Von Müller's request I therefore beg to inform you that I hold these specimens at the disposal of your Museum - you would therefore receive them & enter them as presented by Baron Von Müller himself, as I am out of it myself, asking your authorities only to refund me my disbursements. (RBG Kew, Kew correspondence, Australia, Mueller 1871-81, f. 275).
The gifts were accessioned at Kew on 29 September 1880, with the donor listed as 'Baron von Mueller Melbourne per C Chantre Esqre' and included 21 items, including an egg cup, parts for carts, furniture components and handles for axes, hoes, brooms and forks. Most were made from Acacia melanoxylon or Eucalyptus globulus. Six items were withdrawn from the museum in 1903 (acc. no. 103, RBG Kew, Center for Economic Botany, Museum entry book Kew 1879-81, p. 35).
Please cite as “FVM-80-06-09a,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/80-06-09a