Constance Georgina Adams (6 August 1883 – 21 June 1968), also known as Constance Georgina Tardrew, was a South African

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

and collector of

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

specimens. Known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

s Connie and Daisy, Adams was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and spent her early childhood on a farm in

Tulbagh Tulbagh, named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa. The basin is fringed on three side ...

before moving to Warrenton. She subsequently lived in Kimberley before getting married, settling in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

where she became active in the Housewives League of South Africa. Inspired by her parents' interest in botany, she became a successful collector for both the

Albany Museum The Albany Museum, South Africa is situated in Grahamstown in South Africa, is affiliated to Rhodes University and dates back to 1855,Chinsamy, Anusuya. (1997). "Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa." ''Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs''. Edited by ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

and

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

in Kimberley. She also cultivated a friendship with the Director of the latter,

Maria Wilman Maria Wilman (29 April 1867 – 9 November 1957) was a South African geologist and botanist. She was the first Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa and the second female South African to attend the University of Cambridg ...

. She collected over 240 specimens, which were presented to the Albany Museum, McGregor Museum and the National Herbarium in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

Life

Constance Georgina Adams, known in her early life as "Connie" and later "Daisy", was born in

, Cape Colony, on 6 August 1883. Her father, John Adams, was a farmer in the district of

, and she spent the first few years of her life on the family farm, Waterfalls. At age 14, she attended Vredenburgh High School, in Cape Town where she won numerous prizes for botany, and then later trained as a teacher. In 1907, the family moved to Kimberley, where she lived until leaving home. In 1910 she married her cousin, Peter Tardrew, moving first to

Bloemhof Bloemhof is an agricultural town of about 2,000 inhabitants situated on the banks of the Vaal River in North West Province of South Africa. History It was founded in August 1864 when diamonds were discovered in the area. The town was established ...

and then to

in 1936, where she became an active member of the Housewives League of South Africa. The group was an early example of

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

between the races at a time of expanding

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

across the country. She died on 21 June 1968.

Collecting career

Adams developed a passion for botany at an early age. Her family were keen

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...

and took an interest in wild and cultivated flowers, and where among the founders of the first wild-flower show in the district. In 1890, the family moved to Warrenton, where Adams started school. She subsequently spent the vacations while at High School collecting specimens for the Herbarium at the

Selmar Schonland Selmar Schonland (15 August 1860 – 22 April 1940), originally spelt ''Schönland'', the founder of the Department of Botany at Rhodes University, was a German immigrant, who came to the Eastern part of the Cape Colony in 1889 to take up an app ...

, the Director, was a friend of the family and encouraged her. This interest flourished into a substantial collection of over 240 items, which she presented to the museum on 19 September 1919 after moving to Bloemhof. In the meantime, she had become friends with

, Director of the

in Kimberley, for whom she also collected. Her collections are currently held in three herbaria, in Grahamstown, Kimberley and Pretoria, the last in the National Herbarium at the

Pretoria National Botanical Garden The Pretoria National Botanical Garden is one of South Africa's nine National Botanical Gardens. The garden is wedged between Pretoria Road and Cussonia Avenue in Brummeria, in eastern Pretoria, Gauteng, and flanks a central rocky ridge that run ...

. Amongst the specimens which are included are '' Convovulus boedeckeriamus'' and '' Convovulus ocelatus''. Her collections were particularly important to the identification of the plants of

Griqualand The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cape ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Constance Georgina 1883 births 1968 deaths 20th-century South African women scientists Botanical illustrators Scientists from Cape Town 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists