History Collection (page 5)

Ernest Henry Wilson (back row, second from right) with colleagues while working as a gardener at Kew, circa 1897. Two years later, in 1899, he would begin work as a plant collector

Kew Road and Entrance to Kew Gardens
A horse-drawn trolley bus and a horse and cart in Kew Road, close to the entrance of Kew Gardens. Trolley buses such as these ran from the Orange Tree public house near Richmond Station to Kew Bridge

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

Joseph Rock (1884-1962), a Viennese-born naturalist, author and linguist. From 1922 to 1949 he travelled through south-west China studying the flora, peoples, culture and languages of the region

John Hutchinson on expedition in Northern Transvaal in 1930, using his plant-press as a makeshift seat

William Turrill botanising aquatic plants with his vasculum slung over his shoulder. WIlliam Turrill was Keeper of the Herbarium and Library at Kew from 1946-57

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

Henry Ridley and houseboat, Kuala Tembeling, Malaysia, 1911
Henry Ridley standing by a houseboat at Kuala Tembeling in Malaysia, 1911. He travelled extensively in the Malay peninsula while director of the Singapore Botanic gardens

John Davenport Snowden and wife, Uganda 1916
John Davenport Snowden, botanical explorer and plant collector, with his wife, standing outside their tent at a camp near Kampala, Uganda, in 1916

Ringing the work bell, India circa 1910
Bell tolled to summon staff to work, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Kolkata, India, circa 1910. The bell is being rung by a Nepali durwan (doorman)

House of Walter Haydon, curator of the botanic station at Kotu in Gambia
House of Walter Haydon, appointed curator of the botanic station at Kotu in Gambia in 1894. The house was built for him on site so that he could always command a view of all the ground under

Japanese hemp production circa 1910. This image came to Kew from the Japan-British exhibition of 1910, which was held to encourage Japanese-British relations

Preparing cinnamon, Sri Lanka, 1880 s. The cinnamon is contained in the inner bark of the tree. Once the shoots have been harvested the outer bark is peeled off by rubbing with a brass rod or blunt

Drying coffee in the Straits Settlements, Southeast Asia, 1899
Workers drying coffee in the Straits Settlements, Southeast Asia, 1899. Once harvested, the coffee " cherries" were sorted

Preparing cinnamon quills for drying, Sri lanka, 1880 s
Preparing cinnamon quills for drying, Sri Lanka, 1880 s. Once the inner bark has been cleaned, the quills are placed one inside another to form quills 1metre long, which are then dried on racks

Coffee harvest at Batu Cave Estate, Singapore, 1899

Directors House and Garden, Kew. Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer and Harriet Anne Thiselton-Dyer (Nee Hoche). He became Assistant Director of Kew in 1875

Men laden with Brick tea for Tibet
Tachienlu (now Kanding), West Sichuan, China : Men laden with Brick tea for Tibet. One mans load weighs 317 lbs, the others 298 lbs

Drying or withering tea leaves
Drying out the tea leaves, known as withering. Approx. 80% of moisture needs to be removed from freshly picked leaves to preserve them and enhance the teas flavour

Packing tea in India for export to the west

Bringing in the plucked tea leaves in India. Workers with baskets of tea leaves ready to be processed for export

Tea plantation, Far East
Terraces of a tea plantation in the Far East, showing Camellia sinensis var sinensis, used to produce Chinese and green tea. Women harvest the tea leaves, a process known as " plucking"

The Palm House, Kew Gardens
A visitor sits reading inside the Palm House, Kew Gardens. The Palm House was opened in 1848. Decimus Burton was the architect and Richard Turner as engineer provided the ironwork

Harvesting tea leaves, India
Harvesting tea leaves, often known as plucking, India. The leaves need to be picked selectively to maintain the quality of the tea and could not be held in the hand long

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

Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930) Ernest Henry " Chinese" Wilson, better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about 2000 of Asian plant

Adrien Rene Franchet - 1834-1900
Portrait of Adrien Franchet, Bull.Soc.Bot.France (1900), French botanist, based at the Paris Museum national d Histoire Naturelle

Pere Armand David - 1826-1900
Pere Armand David (1826-1900) Lazarist missionary Catholic priest, zoologist and botanist

Emile Bretschneider M. D. 1833-1901 - St Petersburg Nov 15 1883
Emile Vasilievic Bretschneider M.D. - Physician of the Mission Legation, Peking - St Petersburg Nov 15 1883. Emil Bretschneider (1833-1901) physician, botanist and sinologist

D. Oliver, Otto Stapf, W. Botting Hemsley, J. G. Baker. The first four Keepers of the Herbarium, RBG Kew, photographed in 1916

Victor Lemoine c. 1899
Victor Lemoine 1823 - 1911 c.1899. Portrait of Victor Lemoine Revue Horticole (1912). Victor Lemoine was a French hybridist plant breeder and nurseryman

Ernest Henry Wilson - May15th 1922
Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930) May15th 1922 - Ernest Henry " Chinese" Wilson, better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about 2000

W. Botting Hemsley, 29 Dec 1843 - Oct 7 1924 - (1893) botanist

Joseph Rock 1884-1962
Joseph Rock (1884-1962) China Explorer pictured in Honolulu

Ernest Henry Wilson - May15th 1922
Ernest Henry Wilson - 1876-1930 - May15th 1922 - Ernest Henry " Chinese" Wilson, better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about

Joseph Rock and Elizabeth McClintock
Joseph Rock 1884-1962 - China Explorer aged 78 in Honolulu - with Elizabeth McClintock. Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884, ?? 1962) was an Austrian-American explorer, geographer, linguist and botanist

Henry Fletcher Hance
Dr. Henry Fletcher Hance - (1827-1886 ) photographed in 1867, botanist and diplomat who worked in Hong Kong, Whampoa and Canton, China, on diplomatic roles

Ernest Henry Wilson - Gardners Chronicle p.114 - Feb 25 1905 - Ernest Henry " Chinese" Wilson, better known as E. H

Maurice de Vilmorin
Portrait of Maurice de Vilmorin (1849-1918) French seed producer

Pioneers Cabin at the base of a Sequoiadendron giganteum
" Pioneers Cabin" at the base of a Sequoiadendron giganteum, California, USA. Joseph Hooker purchased this photograph, probably during his expedition to the United States (circa 1877)

Cultivation of Cinchona succirubra trees on the Madulsima Cinchona Cos estate, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1882. The plants pictured are 8 -10 years old

Arthur Hill, Director of Kew 1922-41. A keen horseman, Arthur Hill used to take a ride every morning but unfortunately met his death in 1941 when he fell from a horse on the Mid Surrey Golf Course

Richard Spruce (1817-1893) botanist, explorer, plant collector

Alexander Wollaston, doctor, explorer and naturalist. photograph from an album illustrating the zoological and botanical expedition Wollaston led to the Snow Mountains of Dutch New Guinea 1912-1913

C W Anderson with Cannonball tree, Couroupita guianensis photographed at the Botanical Gardens, Georgetown
C W Anderson with Cannonball tree, Couroupita guianensis, photographed at the Botanical Gardens, Georgetown, Guyana (then British Guiana), early 20th century

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Director of Kew Gardens, London, 1865. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM GCSI CB FRS (1817 - 1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century

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

Sir William Hooker (1785-1865). Botanist, illustrator and the first public Director of Kew Gardens 1841. He also held the post of Regius Professor of Botany in Glasgow in 1820

For sale as Licensed Images

Choose your image, Select your licence and Download the media