List of gardener-botanist explorers of the Enlightenment
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A much-sought-after and transported plant in the Age of EnlightenmentPainted by John Miller
The
the Indies.[1]
The Age of Discovery was followed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by the
Naturalists, including botanists and zoologists, were an integral part of these voyages and the new discoveries were recorded not only in their journals but by on-board illustrators and artists.[3]
Among the naturalists on these colonial voyages of scientific exploration were gardener-botanists.Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle) in Paris and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London as France and Britain sought to expand their colonial empires and influence by sea.
Sent by André Thouin from the Jardin du Roi
During the Enlightenment both France and England organised elaborate programs of plant introduction to explore the potential of plants not only as food for their colonies but as botanical novelties of all kinds. In Paris the project planning was placed in the hands of the Head Gardener of the
Jardin du Roi, André Thouin, who recommended an inventory of plants, both native and exotic, in each colony, and the development of a reciprocal exchange – all under the control of the garden in Paris. Part of this program was the sending of outstanding horticulturists and botanists (élèves-botanistes and élèves-jardiniers) on voyages of scientific exploration.[6]
- Jardin du Roi in Paris sent by Thouin to collect on the Ile de France, Madagascar, Cape and Caribbean.
- La Pérouse expedition to the South Seas, 1785–1788, on the flagship Boussole.
- Pierre-Paul Saunier (1751–1818) a French gardener who, in 1785, accompanied the botanist André Michaux to North America where he assisted in the establishment of a garden for the French crown.
- Bruni d'Entrecasteauxexpedition (1791–93) which was sent by the French National Assembly to search for the missing explorer La Pérouse.
- Anselme Riedlé (1775–1801) A French gardener on Nicolas Baudin's scientific expedition (1800–1804) in the corvettes Géographe and Naturaliste to chart the coast of New Holland (Australia), make scientific observations and collect natural history specimens. He was Head Gardener in a team of five gardeners on this expedition.
- Antoine Sautier (?–1801) an Assistant Gardener who served on Nicolas Baudin's scientific expedition (1800–1804) in the corvettes Géographe and Naturaliste to chart the coast of New Holland (Australia), make scientific observations and collect natural history specimens. He was a member of a team of five gardeners that served under Head Gardener Anselme Riedlé. He died at sea on 15 November 1801.
- Antoine Guichenot (fl. 1801–1817) a French Assistant Gardener who served on Nicolas Baudin's scientific expedition (1800–1804) in the corvettes Géographe and Naturaliste to chart the coast of New Holland (Australia), make scientific observations and collect natural history specimens. He was a member of a team of five gardeners that served under Head Gardener Anselme Riedlé. He survived to serve on the 1817 voyage under Louis de Freycinet).
- François Cagnet a French Assistant Gardener who served on Nicolas Baudin's scientific expedition (1800–1804) in the corvettes Géographe and Naturaliste to chart the coast of New Holland (Australia), make scientific observations and collect natural history specimens. He was a member of a team of five gardeners that served under Head Gardener Anselme Riedlé but became ill and abandoned his ship when he landed at the Ile de France. Gardener Merlot also disembarked at the Ile de France.[7]
- Guyane.
Sent by Sir Joseph Banks from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Joseph Banks, following his botanical collecting with Daniel Solander at Botany Bay and elsewhere in New Holland, had maintained a keen interest as a patron of scientific work in this region. His paid collectors were sent there at first as visiting explorers, and later as temporary or permanent residents who would return specimens to Banks or Kew.
- botanist and gardener, and Kew Gardens’ first plant hunter; sent from Kew by the newly appointed Sir Joseph Banks he sailed with James Cook on HMS Resolutionto South Africa, landing in October 1772. He stayed until 1775 and sent back to England over 500 plant species. In 1776 he went to Madeira, Canary Islands, the Azores and the Antilles. In 1783 he collected plants in Portugal and in January 1786 returned to South Africa, remaining until March 1795.
- Anthony Pantolean Hove Polish-born gardener sent to Gujarat, India in April 1787, officially to collect plants for Kew but unofficially to collect seed of cotton.
- David Nelson (?–1789) botanical collector and horticulturist on Cook's Third Voyage, 1776–1779, and on William Bligh's HMS Bounty (1787–1789).
- Peter Good (?–1802) assistant to Robert Brown, the botanist on Matthew Flinders' Voyage to Terra Australis (1801–1803).
- George Austin (fl.1780s) was one of two gardeners (the other being James Smith) trained at Kew and sent by Joseph Banks to care for mostly agricultural plants on the supply ship HMS Guardian which was sent to the British of New South Wales in New Holland (Australia) in 1789, about one year after the First Fleet. Plants were supplied by Hugh Ronalds, a nurseryman in Brentford.[8]
- George Caley (1770–1829) was an English botanist, horticulturist and explorer sent to New Holland in 1799 (arriving at Port Jackson in April 1800) by Banks on a salary of 15 shillings a week, to collect plants and seed for Banks and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
- William Baxter (died c. 1836) was an English gardener who collected in Australia on behalf of English nurserymen and private individuals.
From the Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Botanic Garden who in 1852 joined the HMS Herald expedition to the southwest Pacific (1852–1856) as a botanist. The expedition visited, inter alia, Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, and Western Australia. Milne was accompanied by fellow Scots botanist John MacGillivray who left the ship early in 1855 after being dismissed as the result of a dispute with the captain Henry Denham.
From the Palace of Schönbrunn in Vienna
- Mascarenes(1786–1788).
- Georg Scholl (fl. 1786) was a gardener at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, sent by Emperor Joseph II as assistant to Franz Boos to collect specimens for the royal garden and cabinet on a collecting trip to the Cape of South Africa.
American
- Quakerwith no formal education he devoted a small area of his farm to growing interesting plants and later made contact with European botanists and gardeners willing to exchange North American plants.
See also
References
- ^ Arnold 2002, p. 11
- ^ see Oxford Dictionary[dead link]
- ^ Brosse 1983
- ^ British Museum - Plant Collectors
- ^ Duyker 2003, p. 95
- ^ Ly-Tio-Fane 1991, pp. 333–362
- ^ Brosse 1983, pp. 78, 85, 96, 108, 196
- ^ Ronalds, B.F. (2017). "Ronalds Nurserymen in Brentford and Beyond". Garden History. 45: 82–100.
External links
- British Museum - Database of Plant Collectors
- Flora Malesiana - Database of Plant Collectors in Malesia
- Plant Explorers Web Site
Bibliography
- Arnold, David (2002). The Age of Discovery, 1400–1600, Lancaster pamphlets. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27996-8.
- Brosse, Jacques (1983). Great Voyages of Exploration. The Golden Age of Discovery in the Pacific. Transl. Stanley Hochman. Sydney: Doubleday. ISBN 0-86824-182-2.
- ISBN 0-522-85010-3.
- Ly-Tio-Fane, Madeleine (1991). "A reconnaissance of tropical resources during Revolutionary years: the role of the Paris Museum d'Histoire Naturelle". Archives of Natural History. 18 (3): 333–362. .
Further reading
- Bean, William J (1992). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-2256-0.
- Coats, Alice M. (1969). The Plant Hunters. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Lindsay, Ann (2005). Seeds of Blood and Beauty: Scottish Plant Explorers. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-345-7.
- ISBN 978-0-86473-507-2.
- Finney, Colin M. (1984), To sail beyond the sunset: natural history in Australia 1699-1829, Melbourne: Rigby, ISBN 0-7270-1881-7
- Good, Peter (1981). Edwards Phyllis I. (ed.). The journal of Peter Good: gardener on Matthew Flinders voyage to Terra Australis 1801–03. Library of Australian History.
- Gunn, Mary; Codd, Leslie E (1981). Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema. ISBN 0-86961-129-1.
- Guillaumin, André (1910). "Un Membre Méconnu de l'Expedition à la Rechereche de La Pérouse: le Jardinier Lahaie". Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris. 16: 356–358. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
- Guillaumin, André (1922). "Notice Complémentaire sur le Jardinier Delahaye (Alias Lahaie)". Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris. 28: 109–110.
- Hadfield, Miles; Harling, Robert; Highton, Leonie (1980). British Gardeners: A Biographical Dictionary. London: A. Zwemmer. ISBN 0-302-00541-2.
- Hamilton, Jill (1998). Napoleon, the Empress and the Artist. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7318-0834-2.
- Horner, Frank (1995). Looking for La Prouse. D'Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792–1793. Melbourne: Miegunyah Press. ISBN 0-522-84451-0.
- Kisling jr, Vernon N (1998). "Colonial menageries and the exchange of exotic faunas". Archives of Natural History. 25 (3): 303–320. .
- ISBN 978-1-921313-20-2. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
- Robbins, William, J; Howson, Mary C (1958). "André Michaux's New Jersey Garden and Pierre Paul Saunier, Journeyman Gardener". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 102 (4): 351–370.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - van Steenis, Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan; van Steenis-Kruseman, Maria Johanna (1974). "Cyclopaedia of Collectors". Flora Malesiana. 1 (1): 464. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- Ly-Tio-Fane, Madeleine (1996). "Botanic gardens: connecting links in plant transfer between the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean regions". Harvard Papers in Botany. 8: 7–14.
- Richard, Hélèn (1986). Le voyage d'Entrecasteaux á la recherche de Lapérouse. Paris: Editions du Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques.
- Spary, Emma C. (2000). Utopia's Garden. French Natural History from Old Regime to Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-76863-5.
- St. John, Harold (1976). "Biography of David Nelson, and an account of his botanizing in Hawaii". Pacific Science. 30 (1): 1–5. hdl:10125/1529.
- Williams, Roger L. (2003). French Botany in the Enlightenment: The Ill-fated Voyages of La Pérouse and his Rescuers. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 1-4020-1109-1.