| Description | The Miscellaneous Reports Collection contains 772 files relating to global economic botany and the work of Botanic Gardens, and Agricultural and Forestry Stations across the world, with particular emphasis on former colonial territories. The collection dates primarily from 1850-1930, and documents Kew's interactions with these institutions, and also with government administrations, botanists and scientific interests, commercial bodies, and amateur botanists, gardeners and inventors. The collection also includes later printed reports that have been added to the collection, dating to 1979.
In addition to information regarding the cultivation of usable plant products, the Miscellaneous Reports also cover botanical exploration, the use of plants by Indigenous communities, the movement of seeds, plants and personnel across colonial and global networks, as well as subjects such as botanical, agricultural and horticultural education, and the publication of Floras and other guides.
439 files are classed as 'printed' and consist of published reports and documents, such as annual reports from Botanic Gardens. The remaining 333 files are considered 'manuscript' volumes, and include manuscript and typescript letters and reports, newspaper cuttings, photographs, illustrations, and plant and product samples, in addition to printed reports and documents. In both cases, the printed material is frequently annotated. Both types of file are mixed together within the catalogue. For printed files, each publication is listed within the 'Description' field.
The Miscellaneous Reports Collection is a useful resource in particular for research in the following areas:
- History and culture of Indigenous communities
- Economic botany
- British and World history: social, political and economic
- History of science
- Geography
The collection also contains contextual information relating to Kew's Economic Botany and Herbarium collections.
The catalogue for the Miscellaneous Reports Collection includes colonial and other historical place names, and language which may be considered offensive. Where volumes contain index pages (primarily the ‘manuscript’ volumes) these have been replicated in the catalogue entry. These indexes reflect the arrangement of the volumes at the time of binding and what is, and is not, included in these indexes, reflect the context in which the material was created and organised.
The cataloguing process is ongoing, and if you have any comments or feedback about the catalogue, please contact archives@kew.org with the subject line ‘Miscellaneous Reports catalogue’.
There is a varying level of detail across the catalogue, and enhancement of the catalogue is ongoing. |
| Administrative History | The following contains information relating to key developments in the history of Kew, and the Directors in position during the main time frame of the Miscellaneous Reports. For further information, please consult Ray Desmond, THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW (2007).
Kew Gardens began as a royal garden for Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta, neighbouring the Richmond estate of Frederick's parents George II and Queen Caroline. Following Frederick's death in 1751, in 1759, Augusta Dowager Princess of Wales founded a botanic garden at Kew. On the death of George II, Augusta and Frederick's son, George III inherited the Richmond Estate in 1766. On the death of his mother in 1772, George III united the Kew and Richmond estates, and Sir Joseph Banks became Kew's unofficial Director.
In 1840, the Treasury approved the transfer of Kew from the Lord Steward's Department to the Office of Woods and Forests, and Sir William Hooker was appointed its first official Director. In 1851, due to the re-organisation of the Office of Woods and Forests, Kew was transferred to the new Department of Works and Public Buildings. The gardens were now opened to the public, and Kew began a more active role in supporting developments in botany and economic botany across Britain's colonial territories and dependencies, and wider geographic networks.
In 1865, William Hooker died, and was succeeded as Director by his son Joseph Dalton Hooker. In 1875, William Thiselton-Dyer was appointed Assistant to the Director, and succeeded Joseph Hooker as Director on Hooker's retirement in 1885. In 1902, the Director of Kew Gardens was officially appointed as botanical adviser to the Colonial Office, although in practice had been fulfilling this function prior to this date.
In 1903, Kew Gardens was transferred from the Office of Works to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. At the end of 1905, Thiselton-Dyer retired as Director, and was succeeded by David Prain in January 1906. In 1907 Arthur William Hill was appointed Assistant Director. In 1922 Sir David Prain retired as Director, and was succeeded by Arthur Hill. Thomas Ford Chipp was appointed Assistant Director, and in 1931 John S L Gilmour took over this post. In 1941, Sir Arthur Hill was killed in a riding accident, and was succeeded as Director by Sir Geoffrey Evans.
In 1984, responsibility for Kew Gardens was vested in a Board of Trustees under the authority of the National Heritage Act, 1983. In 2003, Kew was awarded World Heritage Status by Unesco. |
| Custodial History | The collection has remained in the custody of RBG Kew. At an unknown date, many of the papers were bound into volumes, grouped thematically and within an overarching geographical arrangement. However, many of the papers appear to have been grouped according to subject (often plant product), possibly in preparation for publication in the Kew Bulletin. Further research on this process is currently being undertaken. |