CHAPTER IX 
SIR WILLIAM THISELTON-DYER, 1885 TO 1905 
The resignation of Sir Joseph Hooker in November, 1885, was shortly 
followed by the appointment of his son-in-law, William Turner 
Thiselton-Dyer, as director. Mr. Thiselton-Dyer had been assistant 
director of Kew since 1875, and previously he had been connected 
with the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, the Royal College 
of Science for Ireland, and the Royal Horticultural Society. A varied 
experience in botany, agriculture, and horticulture, therefore, rendered 
him exceptionally well fitted to guide the fortunes of Kew. 
It has already been pointed out that the foundations of Kew 
as laid by Sir William Hooker were so broad-based as to need but 
little extension. The chief work of his successors 
Jf^Kew ° 1Uti ° n ^ as b een t° carr Y on and enlarge the various spheres 
of activity which owed their genesis to him. That, 
however, has been a work of no small dimensions, needing much 
thought, labour, time, and steady perseverance. Some of the depart- 
ments of Kew as left by Sir William Hooker were very ill-developed 
in comparison with what they have since become. The Arboretum 
is an example. It was founded on its present area by Sir W. 
Hooker in 1848-50, but owing to various causes had made but 
unsatisfactory progress up to the time of his death. It was his 
son and successor who reorganised and remodelled it on its present 
lines. But even then it was not till the last two decades, when it 
received many refining touches, that it could be regarded as having 
become really worthy of the establishment. The evolution of Kew, 
in fact, has been a very gradual process. 
The most notable part of Sir William Thiselton-Dyer’s work in 
the outdoor department has been its improvement from the point of 
view of landscape. It has been shown that an area given over 
largely to the accommodation of botanical collections is not incap- 
able of artistic treatment. The beauty of the Lake has been greatly 
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