Staff 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

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

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

Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) at Wakehurst, RBG Kew
Staff wearing protective clothing in the frozen vaults of the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) at Wakehurst, RBG Kew

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

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

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

Women gardeners put on their clogs ready for work, World War II
Women gardeners were employed at Kew during World War II, after an interval of nearly a quarter of a century. Fourteen women were enrolled onto the staff in 1940

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

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

Japanese Gateway, Kew Gardens c. 1910
Model of the Chokushi-Mon (Gateway of the Imperial Messenger), better known as the Japanese Gateway, gifted to Kew after its inclusion in the Japan-British exhibition held at Shepherds Bush in 1910

Kews women gardeners, November 1916, during World War I. During the war womens roles at Kew continued to grow. Back row (l-r) K W Harper, I L Lines, H A Rowan, M I Yeo, N J Watson, E M HArper

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

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

Women gardeners, The Rock Garden, RBG Kew, World War II
Women gardeners were again employed at Kew during World War II, after an interval of nearly a quarter of a century. Fourteen women were enrolled onto the staff in 1940

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

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

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

The arrival of the flagstaff off the Sion Vista, Kew, circa 1916
The arrival of the flagstaff off the Sion Vista, Kew: " accepting delivery", circa 1916. Gifted by the Provincial Governement of British Columbia, it was towed along the Thames by tug boat

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

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

Women gardeners, RBG Kew, World War II
Women gardeners were again employed at Kew during World War II, after an interval of nearly a quarter of a century. Fourteen women were enrolled onto the staff in 1940

Potato tuber slices being dried in trays of peat, WWII
Supplies of seed potatoes were insufficient to demand during WWII, so Wiliam Campbell, Curator of Kew Gardens devised a method of growing potatoes using slices from the tuber instead

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

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

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

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

The Great Flagstaff, RBG Kew, ca. 1900-1905
Photograph of The Great Flagstaff at RBG Kew, flying the Union Flag, ca. 1900-1905. It stood until August 2007

Kew Flag pole en route from Vancouver, 1915
The great Kew flagstaff is seen here en route from Vancouver aboard the SS Merionethshire, arriving at Tilbury Docks on 29 December 1915

Kew gardener with wheelbarrow. Verbena bonariensis in the foreground, the Orangery building in the background, RBG Kew

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

Some of Kews female staff, 1942
Some of Kews female staff are shown here in 1942. Back row (l to r) Jessie F Pedgrift, Violet M Clark, Jean E Sharps, Freda Mundy

Female gardener, RBG Kew, World War II
Preparing terracotta pots for planting. Women gardeners were employed at Kew during World War II, after an interval of nearly a quarter of a century

Women gardeners at Kew, 1939-1945
Female gardener in springtime, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, WWII (1939-1945)

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

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

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