Collingwood Ingram
Encyclopedia
Collingwood Ingram ornithologist, plant collector and gardener, was an authority on Japanese flowering cherries and is still widely known as ‘Cherry’ Ingram.
, founder of the Illustrated London News
, son of Sir William Ingram, who succeeded Herbert as the owner of the paper, and brother of Bruce Ingram, editor from 1900-1963. On his mother’s side, he was descended from Edward Stirling, the son of a creole mother (a slave or a freed slave) and a Scottish plantation owner in Jamaica.http://www.clanstirling.org/Main/bios/EdwardStirlingbyJudeSkurray.pdf Edward Stirling made a fortune as pastoralist and owner of copper mines in Australia. Collingwood’s uncle, Sir Edward Charles Stirling
, was a noted anthropologist, physiologist and museum director, with a great interest in the natural world. Collingwood married Florence Maude Laing in 1906 and they had four children. He was a Compass Officer with the Royal Flying Corps
in World War I and Commander of his local Home Guard in Benenden
, Kent, in World War II. He was a collector of Japanese art, especially netsuke
, and left his collection to the British Museum
.
, resulting in his first major publication. In 1907 he collected in Japan and for his work there he was made an Honorary Member of the Ornithological Society of Japan. However his main interest was in the field study of birds; he made the first record of marsh warblers breeding in Britain. He was an accomplished bird artist. A planned book on the birds of France was interrupted by the War and never completed, although part emerged as Birds of the Riviera in 1926. His 1916-18 journals record his war experiences and also his off-duty bird observations and sketches behind the lines in northern France. He interrogated pilots, including Charles Portal, on the height at which birds fly, resulting in a short paper after the War. He was member of the British Ornithologists Union for a record 81 years.
On return from one of his trips to Japan he gave a cherry tree seed to each of the Walkhurst cottages on Walkhurst Road, Benenden. One of the resulting cherry trees still stands along this road today.
By 1926, he was a world authority on Japanese cherries and was asked to address the Cherry Society in Japan on their national tree. It was on this visit that he was shown a painting of a beautiful white cherry, then extinct in Japan. He recognised it as one he had seen in a moribund state in a Sussex garden, the result of an early introduction from Japan. He had taken cuttings and so saved for the world the Great White Cherry, ‘Tai Haku’. He introduced many other Japanese cherries to this country as well as a number of his own hybrids. His 1948 book Ornamental Cherries is a standard work.
Ingram introduced many other new garden plants, the best known of which are probably Rubus X tridel ‘Benenden’ (Rubus deliciosus X Rubus trilobus) and the Rosemary ‘Benenden Blue’, a natural variant of Rosemarinus officinalis which he collected in Corsica. He also raised numerous other new garden plants, including many Rhododendron and Cistus hybrids.
Personal life
Collingwood was a grandson of Herbert IngramHerbert Ingram
Herbert Ingram was considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of The Illustrated London News. He was a Liberal politician who favoured social reform and represented Boston for four years until his early death in a shipping accident.-Early life:Ingram was born at Paddock...
, founder of the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
, son of Sir William Ingram, who succeeded Herbert as the owner of the paper, and brother of Bruce Ingram, editor from 1900-1963. On his mother’s side, he was descended from Edward Stirling, the son of a creole mother (a slave or a freed slave) and a Scottish plantation owner in Jamaica.http://www.clanstirling.org/Main/bios/EdwardStirlingbyJudeSkurray.pdf Edward Stirling made a fortune as pastoralist and owner of copper mines in Australia. Collingwood’s uncle, Sir Edward Charles Stirling
Edward Charles Stirling
Sir Edward Charles Stirling was an Australian anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide.-Early life:...
, was a noted anthropologist, physiologist and museum director, with a great interest in the natural world. Collingwood married Florence Maude Laing in 1906 and they had four children. He was a Compass Officer with the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
in World War I and Commander of his local Home Guard in Benenden
Benenden
Benenden is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the Weald six miles to the west of Tenterden...
, Kent, in World War II. He was a collector of Japanese art, especially netsuke
Netsuke
Netsuke are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function...
, and left his collection to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Ornithology
In the early 1900s, Sir William Ingram employed Wilfred Stalker to collect bird skins in Australia for Collingwood to identify and catalogue at the London Natural History MuseumNatural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, resulting in his first major publication. In 1907 he collected in Japan and for his work there he was made an Honorary Member of the Ornithological Society of Japan. However his main interest was in the field study of birds; he made the first record of marsh warblers breeding in Britain. He was an accomplished bird artist. A planned book on the birds of France was interrupted by the War and never completed, although part emerged as Birds of the Riviera in 1926. His 1916-18 journals record his war experiences and also his off-duty bird observations and sketches behind the lines in northern France. He interrogated pilots, including Charles Portal, on the height at which birds fly, resulting in a short paper after the War. He was member of the British Ornithologists Union for a record 81 years.
On return from one of his trips to Japan he gave a cherry tree seed to each of the Walkhurst cottages on Walkhurst Road, Benenden. One of the resulting cherry trees still stands along this road today.
Plant collecting and gardening
After World War I, horticulture took over from ornithology as Collingwood Ingram’s dominant interest. He created his famous garden at The Grange in Benenden and collected plants across the world. His outstanding plant-collecting trips were to Japan in 1926 and South Africa in 1927.By 1926, he was a world authority on Japanese cherries and was asked to address the Cherry Society in Japan on their national tree. It was on this visit that he was shown a painting of a beautiful white cherry, then extinct in Japan. He recognised it as one he had seen in a moribund state in a Sussex garden, the result of an early introduction from Japan. He had taken cuttings and so saved for the world the Great White Cherry, ‘Tai Haku’. He introduced many other Japanese cherries to this country as well as a number of his own hybrids. His 1948 book Ornamental Cherries is a standard work.
Ingram introduced many other new garden plants, the best known of which are probably Rubus X tridel ‘Benenden’ (Rubus deliciosus X Rubus trilobus) and the Rosemary ‘Benenden Blue’, a natural variant of Rosemarinus officinalis which he collected in Corsica. He also raised numerous other new garden plants, including many Rhododendron and Cistus hybrids.