Henry John Elwes
Encyclopedia
Henry John Elwes, FRS
(16 May 1846 - 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist
, naturalist
, collector
and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalayas
and Korea
. He was the first person to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society
in 1897. He is the author of Monograph of the Genus Lilium (1880), and Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (1906) with Augustine Henry
, as well as numerous articles. He left a collection of 30,000 butterfly
specimens to the Natural History Museum
, including 11,370 specimens of Palaearctic butterflies.
, Gloucestershire
. He was described as "a giant of a man, and a very dominating character". with "a booming voice which carried well across his Gloucestershire estate, but was very disconcerting elsewhere" At 13, Elwes was sent to study at Eton College
. After the age of 17 he spent at least part of every year abroad. He was sent to tutors in Paris, Brussels
and Dresden
before spending five years in the Scots Guards
in 1865. He apparently did not take soldiering very seriously, being more interested in ornithology
which in those days consisted of collecting specimens and eggs
. He resigned his commission in 1869 and from that point onwards lived the life of traveling naturalist and country gentleman. He visited to various parts of the world studying aspects natural history including ornithology, botany, entomology and big game. He combined horticulture with entomology and big game hunting with estate management and raising prize-winning show livestock, and sitting on the District council. He would later to ascribe his interest in plants to his wife, Margaret Lowndes, whom he married in 1871. His first garden was at Miserden, near Cirencester
; he later moved to Preston House, Cirencester, before inheriting the Colesbourne estate on the death of his father in 1891.
In 1870, Elwes was made a member of a mission organized by the Geographical Section of the British Association which would take the party through to the Sikkim
Himalaya, crossing the border into then-forbidden Tibet
. The journey was inspired by reading Joseph Dalton Hooker
's "Himalayan Journals"; it was the first of Elwes' many visits to Asia, and resulted in the major paper "On the geographical distribution of Asiatic birds" read to the Zoological Society in 1873. This was his last major ornithological contribution, as his interest moved on to insects and, increasingly, to plants. It was this visit to the Himalayas
that sparked his interest in lepidoptera. His Sikkim expedition alone yielded nearly 530 records of butterflies
. Elwes' visit to Turkey
in 1874 was somewhat fortuitous as it replaced a trip to Cyprus
at short notice. It is evident that on this journey Elwes' interest was focused on plants, and he collected numerous species of bulbs. In early April, whilst in the mountains near Smyrna
(modern Izmir
), he came across "the fine large snowdrop which now bears my name" (Galanthus elwesii). Before leaving Turkey he arranged for bulbs to be collected later; the first of the many millions exported ever since.
He also made collection trips to the United Provinces
, the Punjab
, the Central Provinces
, Bengal
, South Canara
and Travancore
. Along with T. Edwards, Elwes wrote a monograph on the Oriental Hesperiidae. He also made a trip to the Altai region in 1898. His posthumously published Memoirs (1930) includes a chapter describing his visit to Nepal
in 1914, at a time when Europeans were seldom admitted. He also mentions an unnamed companion, now known to be the English naturalist Aubyn Trevor-Battye
, who took some of the photographs used to illustrate this chapter. Elwes was famous for his breeding of Nerine
and Eremurus
. Horticulturalist and garden writer Edward Augustus Bowles
noted that he was specially interested in Arisaema
, Crinum
, Crocus
, Fritillaria and Iris
, as well as Kniphofia
, Paeonia
and Yucca
. It is from Bowles' memoir in Elwes' posthumous biography that we get most information about the Colesbourne garden, but even this is sadly scanty.
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Elwes' horticultural interests largely concentrated on bulbs, and he was said to have the finest collection in private hands. In 1880, he published the magnificent folio Monograph of The Genus Lilium, instigated by Elwes and written with assistance from J. G. Baker at Kew Gardens, but he wrote disappointingly little about his gardening experiences. To ensure that the text was as accurate as possible, and that the range of lilies was as complete as possible, he consulted the greatest botanical experts in the field for help in writing the text. This level of excellence was perpetuated in the illustrations, and Elwes was able to execute his plan to illustrate the monograph with hand-coloured plates by the best available botanical artist, with each member of the genus shown full-size. Between March 1877 and May 1880 subscribers received seven parts (at a total cost of seven guineas), illustrated with 48 plates by Walter Hood Fitch
(1817–1892). In his garden he was able to grow many of the members of the Lilium genus becoming a recognized expert in the field. However, Elwes played down his level of knowledge.
From 1900 to 1913 Elwes undertook his greatest work, "The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland", in conjunction with the botanist Augustine Henry
. Between them, in seven large volumes, they described every species of tree then grown outdoors in the British Isles
, and recorded the finest specimens then to be seen. Henry's contribution to the book was unique insofar as he devised a system of identification based on leaves and twigs and on the position of buds to aid identification even in the absence of fruit and flowers. Most of these were visited and recorded personally, a process which caused Elwes to wear out two cars. In addition Elwes undertook numerous journeys abroad to study the trees in the wild, even visiting Chile
to see Monkey Puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana
). The work remains an invaluable source of information on trees and arboriculture
.
) and the first seven parts of the supplement were published between July 1933 and February 1940, with 30 hand-coloured lithographed plates, all but two by Lillian Snelling (1879–1972). Two final supplements were published in 1960 and 1962 by William Bertram Turrill
.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(16 May 1846 - 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
, naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
, collector
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. He was the first person to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
in 1897. He is the author of Monograph of the Genus Lilium (1880), and Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (1906) with Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry was an Irish plantsman and sinologist. He is best known for sending over 15,000 dry specimens and seeds and 500 plant samples to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. By 1930, he was a recognised authority and was honoured with society membership in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland,...
, as well as numerous articles. He left a collection of 30,000 butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
specimens to the Natural History Museum
Natural 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...
, including 11,370 specimens of Palaearctic butterflies.
Biography
Elwes was the eldest son of J. H. Elwes of Colesbourne Park near CheltenhamCheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. He was described as "a giant of a man, and a very dominating character". with "a booming voice which carried well across his Gloucestershire estate, but was very disconcerting elsewhere" At 13, Elwes was sent to study at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. After the age of 17 he spent at least part of every year abroad. He was sent to tutors in Paris, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
before spending five years in the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
in 1865. He apparently did not take soldiering very seriously, being more interested in ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
which in those days consisted of collecting specimens and eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
. He resigned his commission in 1869 and from that point onwards lived the life of traveling naturalist and country gentleman. He visited to various parts of the world studying aspects natural history including ornithology, botany, entomology and big game. He combined horticulture with entomology and big game hunting with estate management and raising prize-winning show livestock, and sitting on the District council. He would later to ascribe his interest in plants to his wife, Margaret Lowndes, whom he married in 1871. His first garden was at Miserden, near Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
; he later moved to Preston House, Cirencester, before inheriting the Colesbourne estate on the death of his father in 1891.
Career
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
Himalaya, crossing the border into then-forbidden Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. The journey was inspired by reading Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
's "Himalayan Journals"; it was the first of Elwes' many visits to Asia, and resulted in the major paper "On the geographical distribution of Asiatic birds" read to the Zoological Society in 1873. This was his last major ornithological contribution, as his interest moved on to insects and, increasingly, to plants. It was this visit to the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
that sparked his interest in lepidoptera. His Sikkim expedition alone yielded nearly 530 records of butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
. Elwes' visit to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1874 was somewhat fortuitous as it replaced a trip to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
at short notice. It is evident that on this journey Elwes' interest was focused on plants, and he collected numerous species of bulbs. In early April, whilst in the mountains near Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
(modern Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
), he came across "the fine large snowdrop which now bears my name" (Galanthus elwesii). Before leaving Turkey he arranged for bulbs to be collected later; the first of the many millions exported ever since.
He also made collection trips to the United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
, the Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
, the Central Provinces
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, South Canara
South Canara
South Canara was a district under the British empire, located at . It was bifurcated in 1859 from Canara district. It was the undivided Dakshina Kannada district...
and Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
. Along with T. Edwards, Elwes wrote a monograph on the Oriental Hesperiidae. He also made a trip to the Altai region in 1898. His posthumously published Memoirs (1930) includes a chapter describing his visit to Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
in 1914, at a time when Europeans were seldom admitted. He also mentions an unnamed companion, now known to be the English naturalist Aubyn Trevor-Battye
Aubyn Trevor-Battye
Aubyn Bernard Rochfort Trevor-Battye, MA, MBOU, FLS, FRGS, FZS was a British traveller, naturalist and writer....
, who took some of the photographs used to illustrate this chapter. Elwes was famous for his breeding of Nerine
Nerine
Nerine is a genus of plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae Native to South Africa, there are about 30 different species in the genus. Nerine have been widely cultivated and much hybridized and are now spread world wide....
and Eremurus
Eremurus
Eremurus is a genus of 35-40 deciduous perennial flowers, also known as the foxtail lilies or desert candles. The inflorescence looks similar to a long spike or a bottlebrush. It consists of many flowers in copper, bright yellow, snow white, pastel pink, orange or any combination of those colors....
. Horticulturalist and garden writer Edward Augustus Bowles
Edward Augustus Bowles
Edward Augustus Bowles, VMH , known professionally as E. A. Bowles, was a British horticulturalist, plantsman and garden writer. He developed an important garden at Myddelton House, his lifelong home at Bulls Cross in Enfield, Middlesex and his name has been preserved in many varieties of...
noted that he was specially interested in Arisaema
Arisaema
Arisaema is a genus of about 150 species in the flowering plant family Araceae, native to eastern and central Africa, Asia and eastern North America. Its species are often called Cobra lilies, particularly the Asiatic species...
, Crinum
Crinum
Crinum is a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants that have large showy flowers on leafless stems, and develop from bulbs. They are found along the sides of streams and lakes in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, including South Africa....
, Crocus
Crocus
Crocus is a genus in the iris family comprising about 80 species of perennials growing from corms. Many are cultivated for their flowers appearing in autumn, winter, or spring...
, Fritillaria and Iris
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...
, as well as Kniphofia
Kniphofia
Kniphofia , also called Tritoma, Red hot poker, Torch lily or Poker plant, is a genus of plants in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae, that includes 70 or more species native to Africa...
, Paeonia
Peony
Peony or paeony is a name for plants in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America...
and Yucca
Yucca
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
. It is from Bowles' memoir in Elwes' posthumous biography that we get most information about the Colesbourne garden, but even this is sadly scanty.
Monograph of the Genus Lilium
Walter Hood Fitch
Walter Hood Fitch was a botanical illustrator, born in Glasgow, Scotland, who executed some 10,000 drawings for various publications...
(1817–1892). In his garden he was able to grow many of the members of the Lilium genus becoming a recognized expert in the field. However, Elwes played down his level of knowledge.
Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry was an Irish plantsman and sinologist. He is best known for sending over 15,000 dry specimens and seeds and 500 plant samples to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. By 1930, he was a recognised authority and was honoured with society membership in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland,...
. Between them, in seven large volumes, they described every species of tree then grown outdoors in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, and recorded the finest specimens then to be seen. Henry's contribution to the book was unique insofar as he devised a system of identification based on leaves and twigs and on the position of buds to aid identification even in the absence of fruit and flowers. Most of these were visited and recorded personally, a process which caused Elwes to wear out two cars. In addition Elwes undertook numerous journeys abroad to study the trees in the wild, even visiting Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
to see Monkey Puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana
Araucaria araucana
Araucaria araucana is an evergreen tree growing to tall with a trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile, western Argentina and south Brazil. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria...
). The work remains an invaluable source of information on trees and arboriculture
Arboriculture
Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science....
.
Later years
Shortly before his death in 1922, Elwes asked A. Grove, a friend and fellow lily expert, to undertake the task of producing a supplement. Dame Alice Godman, who was related by marriage to Elwes, agreed to underwrite the cost of the work (co-written by Grove and the botanist A.D. CottonArthur Disbrowe Cotton
Arthur Disbrowe Cotton was an English plant pathologist, mycologist, phycologist, and botanist.A.D. Cotton was born in London and educated at King's College School and the Royal College of Science, where he completed a degree in botany in 1901...
) and the first seven parts of the supplement were published between July 1933 and February 1940, with 30 hand-coloured lithographed plates, all but two by Lillian Snelling (1879–1972). Two final supplements were published in 1960 and 1962 by William Bertram Turrill
William Bertram Turrill
William Bertram Turrill OBE was an English botanist.He was born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire to William Banbury and Thirza Mary Turrill and educated at the Woodstock National School...
.
Works
- Monograph of the Genus Lilium, London: Taylor and Francis, 1877-80.
- On the butterflies of Amurlan, North China, and Japan, 1881, LV-LIX: 856-916
- The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland Private publication with Augustine HenryAugustine HenryAugustine Henry was an Irish plantsman and sinologist. He is best known for sending over 15,000 dry specimens and seeds and 500 plant samples to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. By 1930, he was a recognised authority and was honoured with society membership in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland,...
, 1906. - On the Lepidopteren of the Altai Mountains, pp. 295–367, pl. XI-XIV, 1899.
- Memoirs of Travel, Sport, and Natural History, Edited posthumously by E. G. Hawke. Benn, London, 1930.
External links
- View digitized titles by Henry John Elwes in Botanicus.org
- Lepidopterology Biography.
- The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.