Sir Abraham Hume botanical manuscript Hortus Wormleyburiensis, 1811-1812, later used as a scrapbook by Robert Hardie, 1864

MLMSS 7992

fonds

1811-1864

911023

0.05 metres of textual material (1 volume)

Sir Abraham and Lady Hume were renowned in the horticultural circles of their day. Their estate at Wormleybury in Hertfordshire was one of the most important exotic gardens of England. Under the guidance of Lady Amelia (1751–1809), it became the nursery for any number of newly introduced plants from around the globe, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the great botanists of the day visited the estate. Sir James Edward Smith, for example, was in close contact with the Humes while preparing his 'Exotic Botany' (1804-5), and the descriptions of several plants in this important work are based on examples at Wormleybury. From Wormleybury House, the Humes were in correspondence with Joseph Banks (who sent them seeds) and Josephine Bonaparte (to whom they sent plants), and they introduced several new plants to England for the first time. Such was their stature that Latin plant names including the word Humea do so in honour of Lady Hume.

The name Roxburgh which is written beside several entries in the Hortus is almost certainly the surgeon William Roxburgh, who was appointed Superintendent of the British East India Company garden at Sibpur in 1793. He is known to have sent seeds and cuttings to the Humes and illustrations to Joseph Banks. Roxburgh produced his own Hortus ('Hortus Bengalensis') in 1814.

This volume, containing sheets watermarked 1811 and 1812, details the exotic Australian, Pacific and American plants grown on the estate of Sir Abraham and Lady Amelia Hume at Wormleybury in Hertfordshire. The manuscript lists over 200 specimens. Divided into two sections, ‘Stove Plants’ and ‘Cape & Greenhouse Plants’, the plants are listed alphabetically and carry dates between 1789 and 1812. In addition to listing at least five native Australian plants, the Hortus includes species from as far afield as India, Hawaii, the Caribbean, South America and South East Asia.

Given the dates of the watermarks (1811, 1812), it seems that in addition to being a catalogue of the garden, this volume may also have been prepared as a tribute to the recently deceased Lady Amelia.

The spare pages in the volume were later used by Robert Hardie for a scrapbook in which he transcribed or noted the following:
'A letter wrote by a Quaker to His Sister Copied by Robt Hardie', 4 Oct. 1864
Sermons preached in Northampton beginning 18 Aug. 1864
Poetry by the honourable Mrs Norton, written in scrapbook beginning 27 Sept 1864

Out of copyright:
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