MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



101 



subject to a most gracioys Sovereign, I do hereby give 

 and bequeath to His Majestj for the use of the estabhsh- 

 ineut of the Royal Boiaiuc Gardens of Kew all_ those 

 drawings and sketches of plants that have grown in the 

 said gardens and have been made at my costs and cliarges 

 by Mr. Frederic Bauer, of Kew Green, and are now de- 

 posited in his custody. Deeply impressed by an opinion 

 wliicli I still continue to hold and believe to be founded 

 in truth, that the establishment of a botanic garden win- 

 not be compleat unless a resident drauglitsuian to be con- 

 stantly employed in makuig sketches and finished draw- 

 ings of all new plants that perfect their tiowers or fruits 

 in it be a part thereof, I long ago determined to fix such 

 a jDcrson at Kew and maintain him at my own expense, 

 and I accordingly engaged Mr. Frederic liauer, who has 

 now filled that station for several years, and whose col- 

 lection of drawings and sketches will, I trust, prove a 

 valuable addition to the important science of natural his- 

 tory. I did this under a hope amoiming almost to an 

 expectation that the truth of my opinion would in due 

 time become manifest, and that the charge of maintaining 

 Mr. Bauer w'ould then be transferred from me and placed 

 on tlie establishment of the Garden. Tliis pleasing hope 

 is still warmly clierished in my bosom, and receives ample 

 support from the ivell-known and often experienced love 

 of science which makes a part of the c4iaraeter of our be- 

 loved King. In case, however, of its being deemed in- 

 expedient by His Majesty's advisers to make this small 

 addition to the Royal Establishment of the Gardens, 

 it is my wUl, and I hereby in confirmation of the codicil 

 to the said will direct that my heirs or the persons in 

 whom under my wiU my Lincolnshire estate shall in suc- 

 cession become vested as long as they continue to receive 

 the rents and profits thereof, pay to Mr. Bauer annually 

 in equal quarterly payments the sum of three hundred 

 pomids during the term of his natural life, provided that 

 he continues to make drawings and sketches as he has 

 hitherto done as long as his health will permit, and de- 

 posits the same in the hands of William Townshend Alton, 

 Esquire, and his successors, to be added to those before 

 by me bequeathed to the Royal Establishment of the 

 Botanic Gardens at Kew. And it is my will and desire 

 that my dear relative. Sir Edward I&iatchbuU, Baronet, 

 be requested to look over all my boxes of papers and other 

 things deposited in my room and the passage room next 

 to it in my house in Soho Square, and that he do burn 

 all papers in my handwriting except such as have refer- 

 ence to any part of my estate or to the County of Lincoln, 

 and that he do deliver all such other written or printed 

 papers as shall be found in any of them to the persons to 

 whom he thinks they will be most acceptable. The 

 papers respecting the Royal Society and the aifairs thereof 

 to the Royal Society, those respecting the Mint or Coin- 

 age to the Mint, and that all papers and letters relative 

 to the County of Lincoln be sent to Revesby Abbey and 

 be deposited in the evidence room there. My foreign 

 correspondence bound and unbound to be sent to the 

 British Museum, and all the other things in the said 

 rooms to be disposed of as the said Sir Edward Knatch- 

 bull shall think best. And I hereby ratify and confirm 

 my said will and codicil in witness whereof I the said 

 Sir Joseph Banks have to this further and second codicil 

 (and to a duplicate thereof) to my last will and testament 

 contained in two sheets of paper set my hand and seal 

 this seventh day of March One thousand eight hundred 

 and twenty. .Jos. Banks (LS). Signed, sealed, pub- 

 lished and declared by the said Sir Joseph Banks as and 

 for a further and second codicil to his last will and testa- 

 ment in the presence of us who have subscribed our 

 names as witnesses in his presence and of each other — 

 Henry Bateman, Lincoln's Inn ; William Hepburn, 

 Edwd. J. Horton, Clerks to Messrs. Bateman and Jones, 

 Lincoln's Inn. 



Proved at London with two codicils 19th Septem- 

 ber, 1820, before the Worshipful Stephen Lushing- 

 ton, Dr. of Laws and Surrogate, by the Oaths of the 

 Honble. James Hamilton Stanhope, Sir Henry 

 Hawley, Baronet, and Sir Edward KnatchbuU, Bart., 

 three of the executors to whom Admon. was granted 

 "being first sworn duly to administer power resented 

 to Dame Dorothea Banks, widow, the relict the 

 other executor. 



Sir W. 1. 



ThiscUon- 



Dj/er, 



K.C..M.G., 

 F.K.S. 



[copy.] 

 Sir J. D. Hooker to Royal Gardens, Kew. 



The Camp, Sunningdale, 

 January 3, 1899. 

 My Dear Dyer,— I have been endeavouring to trace 

 the history of Bauer's drawings of Kew plants. 1 think 

 that there can be no dotibt that they were, after Banks's 



death, transmitted as executed to the British Museum, 

 where, according to a statement in the obituary notice 

 of Bauer's life (Proc. Linn. Soc. i. [1841], 102) they are 

 now. 



With regard to any other drawings deposited at Kew, 

 khey must have formed part of the herbarium whicli accu- 29 Nov 



mulaied at Kew under the direction of the two Aitons. \ 



These, my father informed me in 1843, were (previous to 

 his appointment) tnider instructions from Mr. Brown 

 (keeper of the Botanical Department, B.M.), transferred 

 by Mr. Alton to the B.M. It is not probable that any 

 drawings by Bauer were amongst them. 



You are probably aware that many drawings by Bauer 

 werp aokl after liis death. 



Bauer must have regarded some of his work as private 

 property, if I am right in supposing that he lent the 

 drawings of orchids to Lindley for publication by the 

 latter under the title of "Illustrations of Orchidaceous 

 Plants," 1830-1838. 



Ever afi"ectionately yours, 



(Signed) Jos. D. Hooker. 



[copy.] 



BANKSIAN HERBARIUM. 



Secretary, — I submit the following observations on 

 these interesting papers. 



The botanical (living) collections at Kew were com- 

 menced in the middle of the last century by the Princess 

 Dowager of Wales. 



Whatever we may think of George IH. as a states- 

 man, it cannot be doubted that he was a man of wide 

 culttrre and scientific tastes. He was also devoted to the 

 memory of his mother. 



Under George IH. tlie botanical work of Kew was car- 

 ried on with extraordinary vigour. The moving spirit 

 was Sir Joseph Banks, who was a personal friend of the 

 King, a Privy Councillor, and President of the Royal 

 Society. 



It is evident from such of the Brabourne papers as, are 

 available (I have addressed you separately on this matter) 

 that under Sir Joseph Banks the botanical work of Kew 

 was carried on very much on its present lines. He not 

 merely had the ear of the King, but the confidence of 

 Ministers. Exijeditions were despatched for the scien- 

 tific exploration of the southern hemisphere, a long series 

 of collectors were sent out, and botanical enterprise was 

 vigorously pushed in the West Indies. Banks himself 

 accompanied Captain Cook in one of his voyages, and he 

 promoted tlie weill-known voyage of the " Bounty," which 

 incidentally led to the foimdation of the great Dutch 

 garden at Buitenzorg in Java. 



Banks was allowed to retain all the fruits of this work, 

 and in this way the Banksian Herbarium was built up. 

 There can be no doubt that it was virtually public pro- 

 perty, and it was probably so regarded by Banks. It 

 is believed that the present herbarium house was pur- 

 chased by the Crown for its reception, though I can 

 adduce no documentary evidence of the fact. 



In 1820 things came to a crisis. The King was dying. 

 It was probably seen that his successor in no way sh.ired. 

 his father's tastes. There was no probability that he 

 would maintain the scientific character of Kew, which 

 still remained the private property of the Ci-own. 

 Banks's own health was failing. By the first codicil 

 he therefore bequeathed his herbarium to the British 

 Museum. This was probably the best thing he could 

 do under the circumstances. 



It is, however, important to observe that Banks ex- 

 pressly stipulates that his herbarium is to continue to 

 be available for the service of Kew, and it is provided 

 that its keeper, the well-known botanist, Robert Brown, 

 shall continue to "assist" the superintendent as he had 

 previously done. The clear inference is that at that time 

 the Banksian herbarium performed' the same functions 

 towards the establishment that our own herbarium does 

 now. 



Banks and the King both died in 1820. George lY. 

 was more interested in Brighton than in Kew. William 

 IV. devoted some attention to Kew, but not in a scien- 

 tific direction. Public interest was, however, still main- 

 tained. The proposal to disestablish it on the accession 

 of the Queen was defeated. Kew received a fresh start 

 under a new Director, Sir W. Hooker. 



He started witi a complete tabula rasa. Not a single 

 book, paper, or specimen relating to the previous work 



1900 



