To the Linnean Society of London 1    9 October 1891

 

We, the Undersigned, beg to recommend

L[uke]2 Rodway Esqr.3

of Hobart. Tasmania, for the fellowship of the Linnéan Society, which honor he can fairly aspire to through his microscopic investigation of many plants in the Tasm. flora.

Ferd. von Mueller, M.D., F.LS.

William Woolls Ph.D., F.L.S.

W. H. Catlett, F.L.S.4

9/10/915

 
1
M autograph text and signature; additional supporters' individual signatures.
2
M initially wrote ‘L. Rodway’ but then extended the initial to a name in a way that left this unclear but looking rather like ‘Luke’ as it was read at the Linnean Society. In fact, Rodway’s name was Leonard.
3
Line underlined in crayon.
4

Annotated bottom front of sheet: Read 19 Novbr 1891 Ballot 17 Decbr 1891;

Top front margin: Not joined 28/8/93. See letter from Mr John Bufton 20/7/93 in Guard Book Does not esteem Fellowship a sufficient distinction;

Back: Luke Rodway elected 17th Decbr 1891.

Bufton's comment that ‘Incidentally I may mention that Mr Leonard Rodway, Hobart, told me in a letter that he was once a Fellow but esteemed it so little of a distinction that he ceased to be such' (Guardbook 1885-93, p. 311) should be compared with Rodway to B. D. Jackson, 8 May 1892: ‘I received your intimation of my election to the fellowship of the Linnean Society some months ago & have delayed answering in the hope of being able to find the wherewithal to pay my fees. I have now with the deepest regret to own my total inability to do so. Between the time of my proposal, & the present we have had a time of financial crisis that has reduced me among others from a state of affluence to one bordering on poverty. The loss I sustain in not being in a position to avail myself of the advantages of your honorable Society is considerable but I trust my present failure will not tell against me should I ever be in a position to be proposed again.’ (Guard Book 1885-93, p. 269).

5
The date is possibly in the hand of William Woolls.

Please cite as “FVM-91-10-09,” 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 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/91-10-09