People Collection

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

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

William Barrons Tree Transplanter
William Barron (1805-91)s Tree transplantor at Kew. Barron devised a horse-drawn machine that would allow trees to be uprooted and carried distances of up to 32km without damage

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

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

24. Sea-shore near Valparaiso, Chili
The vegetation on the rocks consists largely of Puya, Cereus and Mesembryan-thermum chilense, Molin. This is the only species of the last named genus in Chili

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

Walter Fitch, Llewllyn House, Kew. Presented by his widow in 1904. Walter Fitch (1817-1892) was appointed as a botanical artist for Curtis Botanical magazine by William Hooker

Harvesting and processing cinchona bark on a Java plantation

The Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1867
Newspaper article by The Illustrated London News, 11th May, 1867, describing the Temperate House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Carnegiea gigantea, 1862-1865
Illustration of Carnegiea gigantea, commonly known as saguaro, from Flore des Serres by Louis Van Houtte, vol 15, 1862-1865

Hyphaene thebaica, 1823-53
Illustration of Hyphaene thebaica, commonly known as doum palm or gingerbread tree from Historia Naturalis Palmarum by Karl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, 1823-53

A cinchona forest in Latin America, 1880
A cinchona forest in Latin America, from Illustrated Travels: A Record of Discovery, Geography, and Adventure, edited by H.W. Bates, 1880

Kew Guild dinner at the Holborn Restaurant, London, 1905. The Guild was established in 1893 to bring together past and present members of staff

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

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

Ann Webster, botanical artist, RBG Kew, 1951
Ann Webster studied at Guildford School of Art before becoming a freelance botanical artist, contributing to Curtiss Botanical magazine, Flora of Tropical East Africa and other Kew publications

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

The Kew Fire Brigade was operated on a voluntary basis by staff from the Gardens with, from 1882, a station in the Melon Yard on the Kew Road near the southern tip of Kew Green

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

snow couple
a snow sculpture

Iris Dell with flowering azaleas, Wakehurst Place, Sussex. To the southeast of the Black Pond is a water body and waterfall surrounded by Japanese irises, maples and rhododendrons

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

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

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

Lalbagh Botanic Gardens, Bangalore, India were established in 1760 by Hyder Ali. Once they came under state control in 1856

J. A. Simon, gardener at Kew in the 1940 s, had been a farmer in Alderney, the Channel Islands, before fleeing the German occupation in World War II

The Slips, Wakehurst Place, West Sussex

Kew Gardens at Christmas, in the snow, with fairground rides for children and Kew Palace in the background

Princess of Wales Conservatory
Exterior of the Princess of Wales Conservatory, RBG Kew

Palm House panorama, RBG Kew

The Mounting Room
Two members of staff working int the Mounting Room, Kew Gardens. Once collected specimens have been dried and pressed, they are mounted onto a herbarium sheet of archival quality paper with an

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

H. W. Sayer
H.W. Sayer Sub-Foreman of the Temperate House pits, RBG Kew, May 1924. this was where plants destined for the Temperate House were propagated

C. F. Coates, Aboretum propagator, 1943
C.F. Coates, Arboretum propagator seen here taking a bud from a cutting for grafting onto new stock in 1943

Kew Pier and steam boat
Steam boats were introduced in 1816. Initially they went straight to Richmond without stopping at Kew but eventually a stop at Kew Pier was added

Pagoda in the autumn

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