History Gallery

"Kewites and wives" Kampala, Uganda, 1923

This group photograph of "Kewites and wives" was taken in Kampala, Uganda, in 1923. Second from the right: John Davenport Snowden, with his wife, centre. Arthur Marshall (back row far right) was the pony boy in Kew Gardens but after attending lectures he obtained the Kew certificate and was elected honorary member of the Ugandan Branch; his wife is seated in front of him. The third woman, Dorothy Halkerston, sits in front of her husband Donald Halkerston, chair of the Ugandan Branch of the Kew Guild

© RBG KEW

Seedlings of Cinchona succirubra, India, 1861

Seedlings of Cinchona succirubra, photographed on arrival in Ootacamund, southern India, 9 April 1861. Collected by Richard Spruce in Ecuador, the plants were received by WIlliam McIvor, a former Kew gardener, who was superintendent of the Botanic Garden in Ootacamund, where he successfully cultivated the red bark trees. Extracts of the bark of Cinchona produced quinine, a malaria medicine

© RBG KEW

Cultivation of Cinchona succirubra trees on the Madulsima Cinchona Cos estate, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1882

Cultivation of Cinchona succirubra trees on the Madulsima Cinchona Cos estate, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1882. The plants pictured are 8 -10 years old. The outer bark has been shaved and the trunks covered with grass to encourage the regrowth of the bark, from which quinine alkaloids were extracted for use as a malaria medicine

© RBG KEW