[[1]]
7 Terrace Road. Buxton
Sept[ember] 29th 1865
Dear [Asa] Gray
My wife lost a post in writing to you from Kew, which partly accounts for the
delay in you receiving the news of our deep sorrow -- you should indeed have
heard still earlier but owing to the Epidemic at Kew, I did not allow my wife to
come to me (from Yarmouth where she was with the children) for the first
fortnight of my illness.
My dear father[']s illness was short & almost painless. On Monday he
escorted Queen Emma of Sandwich Islands over the garden. & party. I never
knew him more lively & active. On Tuesday I had to go to examine candidates
for Ass[istan]t surgons[sic] at Chelsea
[[2]] & asked him to come with me to Battersea Park en route to see the
subtropical plants put out there. We had a good walk of some 2 hours, & I saw
him off in plenty of time to catch [the] train. but he saw people hurrying,
hurried himself & then had long to wait yet he got home to early dinner & (as
his serv[an]t] informs me) ate well. In [the] afternoon Thomson*1 &
Berkely[sic]*2 called & he went all over garden &c with them -- far too much
after his morning[']s exercise-- however he made a good Tea & only
complained of [an] slight cold. At 4am on Wednesday he awoke with [an]
inflamed throat & inability to swallow saliva. He was then alone in his home I
alone in mine. The Doctor told me he had 36 cases of this in Kew, & that all
depended on his
[[3]] holding out till he could take food. At 80 this was ominous -- active
remedies were applied to throat, a London Doctor got down, nutritive enemas
& every expedient resorted to in vain. He was cheerful. & mind often
wandering, on Sat[urday] he was insensible & died at 4 pm without a struggle
-- He never realised his danger & altogether his illness & end were
unspeakably peaceful & happy for himself & those around him. For the first 2
days his faithful serv[an]t & I missed him. My mother returned from Yarmouth
(by Telegraph) on Thursday & was with him (I of course in bed, immoveable
arms & legs) [.]
On Wednesday it was very hot, & I aired his room by a dressing room, in
which I laid down to sleep on the ground, as I slept the wind got up, & I awoke
with pain & stiffness all over -- I held out over Thursday but on Friday fainted
or all but on
[[4]] attempting to leave my bed. Rheumatic fever came on apace & I suffered
severely for 3 weeks. My old friend Campbell*3 of Darjiling [Darjeeling] called
& insisted on having a London Doctor who ordered me out of Kew to Notting-Hill where Campbell had me to his house. There I improved (after a few
relapses) greatly & was ordered hither where the fine air has done wonders
(the baths & waters nothing perceptibly[)]. I gradually gain flesh & can walk 4 or 5 miles
slowly, but the Rheumatism will not leave my upper limbs & all the joints of my
hands are affected (whence the scrawl). I eat voraciously but am still awfully
thin & suffer much from night sweats. I have had loads of medicines, but none
have done me any good but Morphine & (in consequence) seidlitz -- powders,
nor have they done me any harm. Mr Cowper *4 (First Comm[issione]r. of
Works &c)
[[5]] our immediate master under the wrote the other day most handsomely &
kindly a private letter offering me the Directorship without an Ass[istan]t
Director[,] & proposing sundry changes in the gardens, most of them good &
which I had myself proposed to the Board through my father. I accepted
provided I found I could when changes were matured & provided they gave
me some able scientific assistance. I have no answer from Mr Cowper and did
not expect one till I am well, but one of the Sec[retarie]s who alone knows the
working of Kew, to whom I wrote at [the] same time, assures me there will be
no difficulty. I want another Oliver *5 to take up Ferns, do my trifling
correspondence & help me with answers to endless questions now directed to
us, & keeping correspondence in order.
[[6]] My doctors give insist on my absence from Kew till [the] 20th. October to get well,
then I shall return to Kew, arrange my Father[']s home, & begin life afresh with
a sad energy. Since my father came to live at Kew he has improved his
income greatly, partly the by increase to salary & quiet living, & partly by the great
rise in all investments. 8 years ago I was saddled with a debt by his will (of some
£2000) after payment of my marriage settlements (£3000) -- now each of his
children has £5000 clear & my mother £700 a year. Herb[ariu]m & Library are
left to me, with instructions to offer them to [the] nation at a moderate
valuation to be determined by 3 valuers on my side & as many on theirs.
Smith *6 the Curator undertakes my current duties during my absence.
I heard from Darwin *7 to day, he is better again under Dr Bence
[[7]]Jones, & attributes it to rigid diet. still he cannot read without ringing[?] in
[his] head.
I must answer your letters another time as writing makes my hand ache. My
wife is with me & sends kindest regards to you & yours. Children all well. Willy
[William Henslow Hooker] at Weybridge ".semper idem" -- Charlie [Charles
Paget Hooker] & Harriett [Harriet Anne Hooker] at schools at Brighton. Brian
[Brian Harvey Hodgson Hooker] with a friend of my wife's in Cambridgeshire.
My mother in Yarmouth[,] Mrs Lombe *8 in Norfolk, will winter at Torquay. &
my mother probably with her. Maria all well in Aberdeen, she alone could
come to [the] funeral. T. Brightwen *9, T. Lombe *10, Thomson, Bentham *11, &
old & young new Smith &
[[8]] a few old foreman were the only mourners.
Ever y[ou] affec[tionate] | J D Hooker. [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. Probably Thomas Thompson (1817--1878). Botanist and surgeon with
the British East India Company.
2. Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803--1889). Botanist.
3. Dr Archibald Campbell or Dr Arthur Campbell (1805--1874) was the first
superintendent of Darjeeling, India, an East India Company representative
and a great friend of Joseph Hooker. His first name has been subject to
debate.
4. William Francis Cowper--Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple Privy Council of
the United Kingdom (1811--1888). British Liberal Party politician, statesman
and President of the Board of Health.
5. Daniel Oliver (1864--1890). Assistant under Joseph Hooker at the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew and later Keeper of the Herbarium.
6. John Smith (1798--1888). Botanist and first curator at the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew.
7. Charles Darwin (1809 --1882). Naturalist, Geologist and author of The
Origin of Species (1859). A great friend of Joseph Hooker.
8. Probably the wife of Thomas Robert Evans Lombe, Joseph Hooker's sister:
Elizabeth Evans Lombe neé Hooker.
9. Thomas Brightwen. Joseph Hooker's uncle.
10. Thomas Robert Evans Lombe. Joseph Hooker's brother in law.
11. George Bentham (1800--1884). Botanist, Fellow of the Royal Society and
President of the Linnean Society of London (1861--1874).
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