History and Heritage

History

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911)

Joseph Hooker trained as a doctor in Edinburgh, but his principal interest was in botany. Between 1839 and 1843, he travelled as assistant surgeon and botanist on HMS Erebus, visiting many places including Madeira, the Cape of South Africa and the Antarctic.

Subsequently, he journeyed through northern India and Nepal (1848-51), surveying the flora there and sending back specimens to Kew. Among them were many previously unknown species of rhododendron, some of which can be seen in Kew's Rhododendron Dell. His book The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya was followed by two volumes of Himalayan Journals and The Flora of British India.

In 1865, he succeeded his father Sir William Hooker as the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His contributions to the Gardens included the T-Range glasshouses (since superceded by the Princess of Wales Conservatory), the first Jodrell Laboratory and the Order Beds, where the plants are arranged according to the Bentham-Hooker classification. Also during his regime, the artist Marianne North donated hundreds of her paintings of wild plants from around the world and provided a gallery to house them. Sir Joseph Hooker retired from Kew in 1885 and his role as Director was taken by his son-in-law, William Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928).

Further information

A wealth of further information can be found at www.jdhooker.org.uk

There are several portraits of Sir Joseph Hooker in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery.