DJliTUAiUKS 
lU!) 
OBITUARIES 
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE 
We recoid with deep regret the death on November 26, 1950, of 
ills Grace The Duke of Devonshire, K.G., who had been a member of 
the Society since 1928. This is not, of course, the place to pay tribute 
to the outstanding contributions to our national life made by the Duke 
in his many ])ublic activities. His intere.st in animals and in horticul- 
ture is well known — he was President of the Zoological Society and a 
member of the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society — but it was 
perha])s less widely appreciated that he had a good knowledge and dee]) 
love of British wild flowers, as all who had the privilege of botanizing 
with him can testify. He knew well the flora in the neighbourhood of 
Chatsworth and of Bolton Abbey, and the discovery, in 1949, of a large 
])atch of Ledum groeiilandicu m on one of his moors in Derbyshire acted 
as a great stimulus to his interest in wild plants. Those who accom- 
l)aiiied him on the long and rough climb up to the remote locality wdiere 
it grows will not easily forget the enthusiasm and excitement that he 
communicated to his com])anions. Had he lived, he could, I think, 
have been persuaded to ]day as important a role in the small world of 
British Botany as he had done in his larger s]dieres of activity. The 
Society joins the manj^ other bodies that he helped and encouraged in 
mourning his early death. 
J. S. L. G. 
GERTRUDE FOCGITT nee BACON (1874-1949) 
Geitrude Bacon was born on the 19th April 1874. She was the 
daughter of the late Rev. J. M. Bacon, Cold Ash, Newbury, who was a 
scientific aeronaut, and whom she assisted in his work. She accompanied 
him on Eclipse Expeditions to Lapland, India and America. She was 
herself a pioneer, being the first woman to make a “ right away ” 
voyage in an airshi]). She wrote a number of books on flying and 
described her recreation as “ hunting wildflowers.” She was educated 
at home. 
In 1929 she married County Aldeiman T. J. Foggitt of Thirsk, him- 
self a distinguished botanist (see B.E.C. Re%). 1034, 808-810). She was 
made a Justice of the Peace. 
Ip 1939, five years after Mr. Foggitt’s death in 1934, she went to 
I’eside with her brother, Frederick Bacon, Professor of Engineering at 
University College, Swansea, and after his death moved to Sway, Hants. 
She died there very suddenly on December 22, 1949, and was buried 
at Hordle. Mr. N. Douglas Simpson, an old friend and childhood 
neighbour of Mr. Foggitt’s, kindly represented this Society at the 
funeral. 
