Large-flowered Butterwort
On 29th May 1811, Ellen Hutchins wrote to Dawson Turner, just after she had received various things from him. He had sent a parcel of engravings of liverworts made by William Jackson Hooker for his book, British Jungermanniae, and a long list of comments from William Borrer, a specialist on lichens, giving Ellen help to identify species she had found that had puzzled her.
Dawson Turner’s letter to Ellen written on 6th May had also arrived. You can read that here.
Ellen’s letter to him of 29th May is here.
This is the fifth and last in a series of posts featuring letters written by Ellen ‘On This Day 210 Years Ago’. The first post was on 8th March. Another series will start on 12th July.
Pinguicula grandiflora Large Flowered Butterwort
This beautiful flower is pictured above. It is native to Ireland but not to Britain. The scientific name comes from the Latin pinguis meaning fatty or greasy, as the leaves feel this way to the touch. See here for more images and information.
Cross-hatching
The professional transcriber struggled on this letter with a few sections as some of it is cross-hatched or over-written. This is where Ellen had written on all of her piece of paper, and then turned it sideways and wrote over it the other way. A two sheet letter cost twice as much as a one sheet letter to post and the postage was paid by the person receiving it. Dawson Turner made a plea to Ellen in one of his letters for her to send two or three sheet letters without hesitation. He was, it seems, happier to pay the extra rather than decipher the cross-hatching.
The image below is of the first page of one of Ellen’s letters to Dawson Turner showing cross-hatching. Her letters to him are in bound volumes of Dawson Turner Correspondence in the beautiful Wren Library of Trinity College Cambridge. The image is reproduced here by kind permission of the Master and Fellows of the college.
Filling in the gaps
That’s a tricky one to decipher, but I’ll try my best. Suggestions as follow:leaves tiled [tilted?] – I think tilted makes more sense here, as how the leaves are arranged in relation to the stem is a feature that can help with identification in some species.The firtil[as?] – perhaps ‘fertile’.[?] short necks [?] – not at all sure on this.throws out roots just under the involucres[?] – think this might be reference to the fertile shoots (with involucres) creeping along the ground, rather than being upright.[__] shoots of Byssacea – ‘fertile shoots’ maybe, so what she might be saying in these lines is that she thinks that what she has is different from byssacea, as it has fertile shoots that run along the ground, while Byssacea has upright fertile shoots.
I hope that’s of some help, I’m not certain I’m right, but that’s one possible interpretation.
Franking or ‘under cover’
This was a way of avoiding paying for parcels and letters by using (abusing) a free post privilege given to members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords and including Bishops. See here for more information. The abuse of the system was extremely widespread in the early nineteenth century.
Ellen’s botanical correspondents
Correspondence has survived between Ellen and Dawson Turner and between her and James Townsend Mackay at Trinity College Dublin. This letter shows that Ellen was also in correspondence with Sir Thomas Gage and Lady Alyesford, and it is very likely that she corresponded with Thomas Taylor and Lewis Dillwyn as well. So far none of these letters have been found.
The next series of letters
The next letter of Ellen’s to Dawson Turner that has survived was written on 12th July 1811. This will be the first of another short series of Ellen’s letters written ‘On This Day 210 Years Ago’.
Madeline Hutchins
Researcher on Ellen and her great-great-grandniece
29th May 2021
