42 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



with iiiap.s, unci an expansion oi thw views put on record in the 

 1855 tract; it was printed at Tliirsk, where the bulk of it was 

 stored on the author's busijiess premises, when a lire in 1804, 

 due Id tlie carelessness of a passer-by, destroved the house and 

 contents, iniludin^ Ins own lierhariuiii and botanical library, ile 

 had in Auj^u>t LStiU married Hannah Unthank, and their first- 

 born, Edmund (xilbert, an inlanL bt)rn on the Uth February, 18(54:, 

 was carried out to safety. 



Tlie sympathy of his large circle of botanical and other friends 

 made good, in part, his botanical losses, though the stock of his 

 ' JSorth Yorkshire " could not be replaced. But Baker's future 

 life was determined by this accident ; in the same year he had 

 publislied in tiie ' iS'aturalisL' for ]8ti4 a revision of the British 

 Hoses, which even drew attention on the part of foreign botanists ; 

 in 1865 he printed a monograph of British Mints in the ' Journal 

 of Botany.' In 1802 Mrs. iiorrer liad given to Kew the whole 

 of her late husband's herbarium, and the incorporation of a 

 certain portion was needed for the Director's immediate work. 

 Sir W. Hooker had noted tiie excellence of Baker's work on 

 Koses, and also his increasing inclination to the study of ferns 

 in the Club reports; the invitation to this was sent, but in 

 August 1865 Sir \V. Hooker died at the age of 80. Among the 

 unpublished material left by the veteran was tlie unfinished 

 MS. of the 'Synopsis Filieum,' the pi'eface, and proofs of the 

 first three sheets. The new Director's hands were full of 

 executive work, and the completion of the ' Synopsis ' could only 

 be done at Kew. This involved the creation of a new post, whicli 

 was arranged thus. In 1801 Oliver, already mentioned as the 

 Librarian at Kew, had been allowed to augment his stipend by 

 accepting the Chair of Botany at University College, vacated 

 by Dr. .lohn Lindley due to failing health, and in 1804 by the 

 Keeper of the H.erbarium, A. A. Black, resigning that post to 

 seek health in a warmer climate. The Keepership and Librarian- 

 ship were then amalgamated, and the Assistant Directorship lapsed 

 when the younger Hooker succeeded his father. The post of 

 Eirst Assistant was confirmed on the 1st April, 1806, Baker 

 having taken up his duties in anticipation on the 1st of January 

 in that year. On the 5tli of April, five days after the official con- 

 firmation of his new appointment, he was elected a I'ellow of 

 our Society. 



Soon after he was thus permanently settled in his new 

 appointment, he was permitted to follow the example of his 

 chief and add to his income outside. Thus from 1869 to 1881 he 

 was lecturer on botany at the London Hospital Medical School ; 

 in 1874 one of the lecturers to young gardeners at Kew, which 

 lie retained till l'J04, five years after he had retired from ofiice ; 

 also lecturer at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1882 to 1896. 



AVhen Prof. D. Oliver retired at sixty years of age. Baker was 

 promoted to the vacant office on 1st June, 1890, which he held 

 until he himself reached the age of 65 in 1899. On leaving office 



