Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent Street, London and 'List of plants in cases, 44-51 inclusive, shipped on the Duke of Portland, Nov 18, 1845'

Title

Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent Street, London and 'List of plants in cases, 44-51 inclusive, shipped on the Duke of Portland, Nov 18, 1845'

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/2/23

Date

18 Nov 1845

Scope & content

Written from Hong Kong

Postmarked ('Hongkong 29NO 1845', '25JA25 1846'). The letter includes an opened seal. Written on onion-skin paper. Marked 'duplicate, by steamer, December 1st'

Letter No 23

He said in his previous letter of 30 Oct that he had safely arrived in Hong Kong with his northern collections; he has been arranging his plants; he shipped cases 44-51 today on the Duke of Portland for London and encloses a list of the contents; there are many 'ornamental and valuable' species; he will bring himself duplicates of some of the rarer kinds as well as single specimens, according to his instructions; he is attempting to find a ship with a poop [poop deck] large enough for 18 cases, with which he will return to England, although it might be difficult to bring back such a large collection

Fortune's expenses for 1 Oct-30 Nov 1845 include 'paid for 15 plant cases, glass &c included at $7 each' $105, '12 coolies [indentured workers] to carry my plants to Messrs Dent's [merchants in China] garden' $3.50, 'wages of servant for the month' $10, 'paid for painting and repairs [of] 6 Shanghae [Shanghai, China] cases' $5.50 and 'sundry personal expenses during the month' $7 [here the list includes 16 more items]

Enclosed is a list of plants in eight boxes (44-51) shipped on the Duke of Portland, dated 18 Nov 1845. The list is marked 'duplicate' and numbered (1-91). The list includes Azalea ('light, spotted variety, gardens, Shanghae'), bamboo ('northern'), Acer ('Japan'), moutan [Paeonia suffruticosa] ('purple, 'tse', 4 plants') and rose ('the fine yellow variety, 1 pot of cuttings') [here the list includes 86 more plants]

Extent

6 page letter (2 sheets)

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)