Copy letter from A.H. [Alexander Henderson, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] [to Robert Fortune]

Title

Copy letter from A.H. [Alexander Henderson, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] [to Robert Fortune]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/1/42

Date

6 Mar 1845

Scope & content

Written from the Horticultural Society, 21 Regent Street [London]

Fortune's note of 10 Aug 1844 was 'duly laid before the council of the Horticultural Society', but as the meeting was 'not very full', no resolution on his application was made; most of the members did, however, feel that a salary increase or a reward for his 'zealous exertions' should be considered once the mission was completed; he reminds Fortune that the Society is covering all his expenses in addition to his salary, and has 'liberally permitted' him to undertake profitable commissions from other parties: 'the mere pecuniary returns of your mission ought to be but a secondary consideration with you'; as the Society's agent in China, he has had access to introductions and facilities which would not have been available to him otherwise, and his work for the Society will have gained him status, 'from which I have no doubt that on your return you will reap the greatest advantages'; the council has approved of his plans for the spring and summer, and do not think he should travel to Manilla [Manila, Philippines], but after finishing his travels in China and dispatching his collections, he should go in October or November to the Malay Isles [Malay Archipelago] and stay there until February before returning home; winter has not destroyed all the previously weak hard-wooded plants, and they have only lost a rose and an azalea from Shanghae [Shanghai, China], and the fingered citron, from which they have however succeeded in grafting a new plant; the seeds in the last dispatch were mostly in good order, apart from the Crataegus, which however is now growing from seeds received two years ago from Mr Tradescant Lay [George Tradescant Lay, botanist and missionary, who was in China 1836-1839, and returned to China as a British consul in 1843]

Extent

3 page letter (1 sheet)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Royal Horticultural Society

Credit Line

RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)