[[1]]
Dec[embe]r 31 1905 -Ja[nuar]y 3d/[19]06
The Camp,
Sunningdale.
My dear Mrs Hodgson *1
The receipt of your very kind letter gave me great pleasure; for I have often thought
of writing to you -- the good intention going the proverbial way!
We have been very quietly at home all the year, with the exception of 3 weeks at
Sidmouth for perfect rest, which Hyacinth *2 wanted badly; for my big family with its
varied interests, gives her a lot of work, & she cares for all alike & above all spares
me more trouble than I desire or deserve. Her correspondence is really Enormous &
seems
[[2]] to increase yearly; She is a Lady President of the League of Mercy, which is a very Laborious office. Her
mother Mrs Symonds is still with us & at her age a great anxiety. Latterly she
(Hyacinth) has been suffering from acute rheumatism of the right leg & hands, & I am
only waiting for the holidays being over (28th) to take her to Bath for the waters. What
keeps her now is my grandchild Frances, Brian's dau[ghte]r, aged 14, who Hyacinth
has taken to educate for a Governess & who is now home for the holidays, she being
at a school at Malvern. We have a governess for her during the holidays chiefly in
French. She is a clever child & will I hope do well. Brian [Brian Harvey Hodgson
Hooker] is absolutely impecunious[?], having been out of work for nearly 2 years. I
had him home for a year hoping he might get some employment (mining work)
through English agencies, with the help of Willy [William Henslow Hooker] (who is now
in business for
[[3]] himself) but all in vain; he is strangely lethargic, happily not vicious -- I had to
send him back to Australia, where he must take any thing he can get, however small.
Meanwhile he, his wife & 4 children are in my hands & have been for 2 years.
Hyacinth conducting all the correspondence, payments &c &c &c].
Of the rest of my people I speak with pleasure. Harriet [Harriet Anne Thiselton--Dyer
née Hooker] is well, but not strong. Sir W[illiam Thiselton] Dyer has resigned, & the
Directorate of Kew is given to L[ieutenan]t Col[onel David] Prain late of the Calcutta
Bot[anic]. Garden, a first rate Botanist & very accomplished agreeable man.
Charlie [Charles Paget Hooker] is in very fair practice in Cirencester, Grace [Grace
Ellen Hooker] continues the work she chose & loves with Charity Organization
Society & is also a helper to Miss Octavia Hill. She often comes here for 2 or 3 days
at a time.
Reggie [Reginald Hawthorn Hooker] continues in the Agricultural Dept. -- under
which Kew is now placed; but he has nothing to do with that.
Joe [Joseph Symonds Hooker] is with his regiment at Hansi, & has plenty to do [1
word crossed out, illeg.] in Military Engineering &
[[4]] Mapping &c. His regiment being one of Sappers *3 is in point of intellectual work
much above the ordinary routine work of line.
Dick [Richard Symonds Hooker] is carrying out his wish of being a Medical man & is
at Emmanuel College, Cambridge -- He keeps up his Violin during the holidays & is a
talented artist as such. He is a very quiet fellow &, like Joe, a great favorite[sic]
wherever he goes.
I suppose you know that Dyer has bought a very nice house & some 15? acres in the
Cottiswolds[sic], not far from Gloucester & Cheltenham. He keeps the Kew house
for 3 months, in order to instruct his successor in the many & various duties &
responsibilities of the post, to which are now added Official Advisorship to the India,
Colonial & Foreign Offices.
As for myself I keep almost entirely at home, occupying myself with a little Botany &
much reading. My eyes are as Good as Ever & my hands have not lost their
cunning[?] in dissecting plants. I very rarely
[[5]] go to London or Kew, never visit or dine out, even at my favorite[sic] haunts of
old, the "Athenaeum" & "the Club" -- my deafness prevents my enjoyment of these,
but beyond a troublesome but very endurable eczema, I am well & too well cared for.
I assume that you are not in your own Menlove[?] house. Are you alone?? You see
no doubt a great deal of Lady Colvile. Please give my love to her I often think of the
old times in Calcutta & Scotland with my never to be forgotten friend Sir James.
Of old Indian friends I have R. Strachey alone. but have not seen him for years -- we
correspond now & then.
E[ve]r dear Mrs Hodgson | Affectionately y[our]s | Jos.D. Hooker [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. Susan (Susie) Hodgson née Townshend (1844--1912). Photographer and second
wife of naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801--1894), they married in 1869 or
1870.
2. Lady Hyacinth Hooker, née Symonds then Jardine (1842--1921). Joseph Hooker's
second wife, they married in 1876.
3. A sapper, also called pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who
performs a variety of military engineering duties such as bridge building, laying or
clearing minefields, and other kinds of construction and demolition.
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