Portraits Collection

Carl von Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and taxonomist
Line and stipple engraving of Carl Linnaeus by Charles Edward Wagstaff, after Magnus Hallman Stipple.Linnaeus wears the Swedish Order of the Polar Star

Marianne North at her easel, circa 1883
Photograph of Marianne North (1830-1890), botanical artist, pictured here in Grahamstown, South Africa circa 1883. Marianne North generally travelled unaccompanied

Matilda Smith, botanical artist
Matilda Smith, Joseph Hookers second cousin, began training as a botanical artist in 1877, at the age of 23, and remained in Kews employ for 45 years

Henry Ridley
When Henry Ridley took over directorship of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, (1888-1911)there were many overgrown jungle areas and he was tasked with making a preliminary forest survey

Marianne North by Julia Margaret Cameron
The artist Marianne North photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron, circa 1877, Ceylon

Carl von Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and taxonomist
Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl von Linnaeus (Carolus von Linnaeus, later Carl von Linne) 1707-1778. Artist: Mrs Anderson (fl. 1858)

Eleanor Morland, Gertude Cope and Alice Hutchings, Kew gardeners, 1898
Eleanor Morland, Gertude Cope and Alice Hutchings, Kew gardeners, pictured in 1898, at RBG Kew. By 1902 all the women gardeners had left to take up horticultural posts elsewhere

Francis Bauer 1758 - 1840, Botanical Illustrator
Portrait of Francis Bauer (1758-1840), F.R.S. F.L.S, oil on canvas, ca. early 19th century. Unknown artist. 920 mm x 700 mm

Thomas Drummond A. L. S. (1793-1835)
Portrait of Thomas Drummond (1793-1835), coloured chalk on paper, by Daniel Macnee (1806-1882). Drummond was born in Angus c. 1793. He was the first Curator of Belfast Botanic Garden, 1828-31

Group portrait showing Women Gardeners
Photograph showing eight gardening staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, including the first two women gardeners, in work uniform. Photograph taken in the Rock Garden, c.1898

Portrait of George Bentham (1800 -1884)
George Bentham (1800-1884), CMG, LLD, FRS, PLS (copy of a portrait by Lowes Cato Dickinson) by Emily Mary Merrick (attributed to) Portrait of George Bentham (1800-1884)

Marianne North by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1800s
Photographic portrait of Marianne North by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1800s

Portrait of William Townsend Aiton (1766 - 1849)
Lithograph portrait of William Townsend Aiton

William Aiton (1731-1793)
Portrait of William Aiton (1731-1793), holding a plant in his right hand (species of Aitonia), and a magnifying glass in his left

Elizabeth Aiton (c. 1740-1826)
Portrait of Elizabeth Aiton (c.1740-1826), wife of William Aiton (1731-1793)

Portrait of William Aiton (1731-1793), holding a plant (Aitonia) in his right hand, and a hand lens in his left

Robert Fortune (1812-1880) born in Berwickshire, Scotland, was a botanist and plant-hunter best known for smuggling tea plants out of China at the behest of the East India Company

Stella Ross Craig, botanical artist
Stella Ross-Craig, born in 1906, received an early induction into plant life from her father, a botanist, who taught his young daughter to identify wild flowers

Portrait of Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865)
Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865). Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1841-1865. Photographic print on paper

Portrait of Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928)
Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1885-1905. Photographic print on paper

William Aiton (1731-1793)

Joseph Reardon pictured during service in WWI
Joseph Reardon joined the staff as a gardener in July 1914, having trained at Tully Nurseries, Kildare. He attended Kews " Mutual improvement Society" scoring the highest numbers in

Frank Norman Howes, RBG Kew
Frank Norman Howes inspecting samples of wood in the Museum store. Born in South Africa, he was Economic Botanist in the Gold Coast Department of Agriculture before becoming an Assistant in Kew

Annie M Gulvin
Annie Gulvin and Alice Hutchings were the first female gardeners at Kew in 1896. Annie Gulvin (pictured here) left in 1897 to take up the post of head gardener on an estate in South Wales

William Dallimore (1871-1959), known to his colleagues as " good old Dallimore" was a well-liked and long serving member of staff at RBG Kew for more than 45 years

Henry Ridley and rubber tree, Singapore
Extension of original cutting on an old Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis - Henry Ridley ( Rubber Ridley ) and rubber tree, tapped for latex

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker

Sir William Jackson Hooker
Photograph of Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, (1841-1865). No date

John Haverfield (c. 1694-1784)
Portrait of John Haverfield Senior, process unidentified (photographic copy by Webster Brothers, London, of painting in oils ), no date

John Haverfield (c. 1741-1820)
Portrait of John Haverfield Junior. Unidentified process (hand doctored photographic copy by Webster Brothers of London, from an original painting ), no date

Portrait of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911)
Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1865-1885. Photographic print on paper

Sir Joseph Hooker at his writing desk
Photograph of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1865-1885). Dated 30 June 1906

Portrait of Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865) by Spiridione Gambardella.Painted circa November 1842. Classmark:BO 001.RBG Kew Art and Artefacts Collection. Oil painting: 275mm x 327mm

Portrait of David Douglas, F. L. S. (1799-1834) by Daniel Macnee
Portrait of David Douglas, F.L.S. (1799-1834) by Daniel Macnee. Classmark: MO 017. Personal Author:Macnee, Daniel. Dated 1828. Physical Description:1 drawing, 318mm x 368mm

Carl von Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and taxonomist
Engraving of Carolus Linnaeus M.D. taken from the frontispiece of Systema Naturae, 1748. Artists name: Bernigeroth, Johann Martin (1713-1767)

John Wilfred Sutch, born 8 November 1923, worked as a gardener in the T-Range, Palm House and Arboretum. At the age of 18 he left Kew to join the army

Botanist Mary Ruth Fussel Jackson Taylor, RBG Kew, 1939
Botanist Mary Ruth Fussel Jackson Taylor, working in the Herbarium, RBG Kew, 1939

Charles Metcalf became Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory in 1930. Here, he is identifying a timber specimen

Dr R. Melville, scientist at Kew, 1940 s
Dr R. Melville, scientist at Kew, working under Dr Hutchinson, Keeper of Museums, during the 1940 s, is seen here scraping pollen onto glass from a South African marigold

Jodrell Laboratory staff, 1963, with Charles Metcalf (Keeper of the Jodrell laboratory) centre

John Hutchinson, Keeper of Museums at Kew from 1936 to 1948. He curated Economic Botany collections and advised british ministries and colonial governments

William Thiselton Dyer
On becoming Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, William Thiselton-Dyer appointed himself Inspector of the Kew Constabulary, a title that is still held by serving directors

William Thiselton Dyer, Director of Kew for thirty years from 1875

Sir William Thiselton Dyer in court dress with his Order of St Michael and St George, on being knighted in 1899

William Thiselton Dyer, Director of Kew Gardens
William Thiselton Dyer (1843-1928), Director of Kew Gardens 1885 to 1905 after the retirement of Joseph Hooker

The Royal Botanic Gardens Constabulary, ca 1910-1915
Photograph of William Thiselton Dyer and Royal Botanic Gardens Constabulary, ca 1910-1915. William Thiselton Dyer is the white-haired officer carrying the cane in the centre

The first four Keepers of the Herbarium, Kew Gardens
The first four Keepers of the Herbarium, left to right: Professor Daniel Oliver (Keeper 1864-90), W. Botting Hemsley (1899-1908), Dr Otto Stapf (1908-22) and J. G

George Appleby joined Kew as a pony-boy (a stable hand), at the age of 14 in April 1931, earning 18 shillings a week. After three years he was promoted to the post of junior Carter

For sale as Licensed Images

Choose your image, Select your licence and Download the media