James Herbert Veitch F.L.S., F.R.H.S. (1 May 1868 – 13 November 1907), was a member of the

Veitch Veitch or Vetch is a Scottish surname, and may refer to: Veitch * Arthur Veitch (1844–1880), horticulturist * Bill Veitch (1870–1961), New Zealand politician * Champion Doug Veitch (born 1960), Scottish musician and songwriter * Colin Veitch ...

family who were distinguished horticulturists and nursery-men for over a century.

Early days

James was born at Chelsea, London, the elder son of

John Gould Veitch John Gould Veitch (April 1839 – 13 August 1870) was a British horticulturist and traveller, one of the first Victorian plant hunters to visit Japan. A great-grandson of John Veitch, the founder of the Veitch horticulture dynasty, he also v ...

(1839–1870) and his wife Jane Hodge. His father died of tuberculosis shortly after he was born and the family nursery based in Chelsea was afterwards managed by his uncle, Harry. He was educated at Crawford College,

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, and in technical subjects in Germany and France, beginning work at the Chelsea, London branch of the family nursery in 1885. He was elected fellow of the Linnean Society in 1889 and was also a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Plant collecting

In October 1891 he embarked on a tour of inspection of the great Botanic and Public Gardens maintained by governments in various centres as well as visiting many private horticultural establishments, to endeavour whether the Veitch gardens might be enriched by further additions. He set off by way of Rome and Naples to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, thence overland from Tuticorin to Lahore. He continued to Calcutta and on to the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

. In

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

he visited the Botanic Gardens, whose curator Charles Curtis was formerly employed by James Veitch & Sons as a plant collector, before moving on to Singapore where he visited the Botanic Gardens. He then visited Johore, before returning to Singapore in February 1892, when he climbed Bukit Timah (the highest point on the island) with Walter Fox, curator of the Gardens. He then travelled to

Buitenzorg Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.West Java where he visited the Botanical Gardens. He also explored the crater of Kawah Papandajan (volcano), and visited

Lake Bagendit A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

near Garoet. His travels then took him to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where he met Charles Sprague Sargent of the

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...

, and they undertook a joint plant collecting expedition including ascending the

Hakkōda Mountains The are an active volcanic complex in south-central Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Often called or simply , the mountains are collectively listed as one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Its highest peak, ...

together. After visiting Korea, he reached

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1893. However he found Australia disappointing and wrote that it was easier to collect seed in Japan where there was cheap labour; in Australia "no one will help". He complained that the seeds of many plants "were so tiny he did not know if he was collecting seed or dust". He sent to Kew a collection of dried specimens of 250 species from Western Australia. Later he visited the North Island of New Zealand, before returning to England in July 1893. Among the results of his journey was the introduction of the large winter-cherry, '' Physalis alkekengi franchetii''. He also re-introduced '' Rhododendron schlippenbachii'' and '' Vitis coignetiae''. A series of letters on the gardens visited during the journey was printed in the "Gardener's Chronicle" (March 1892 – Dec 1894), and privately printed collectively as ''"A Traveller's Notes"'' in 1896.

Veitch Nurseries

In 1898 the firm of James Veitch & Sons was formed into a limited company, of which Veitch became managing director. One of the first steps taken by the company, in accordance with the firm’s earlier practice, was to send out Ernest Henry Wilson to China and Tibet to collect plants. The business proved too much for James, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. He became withdrawn and eccentric, offended customers, and business began to decline. After his death at only 39 years of age, his brother John succeeded to the Chelsea business. He also did not have the ability to run the business successfully, and his uncle Sir

Harry Veitch Sir Harry James Veitch (24 June 1840 – 6 July 1924) was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London. He was instrumental in establi ...

returned to take over control and put the business back on track. Following John's death in October 1914 at the age of 45, Sir Harry (who was knighted in 1912) closed the business. James died of

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

on 13 November 1907, and was buried there. He had been married in 1898 to Lucy Elizabeth Wood, who survived him without issue.

''Hortus Veitchii''

In 1906 Veitch, assisted by various members of his family, prepared for private distribution, under the title of ''Hortus Veitchii'', a sumptuous history of the firm and its collectors, illustrated with portraits. The botanical nomenclature was revised by George Nicholson, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This book was a study of the history of the botanical plant collecting explorers and hybridists, working for the nurseries of Robert Veitch and Son, Exeter and James Veitch and Sons, Chelsea during the period of 1840 to 1906. The book detailed the 1500 plants the business had introduced and their origins and the lengths its collectors went to secure them (the Veitch nurseries were the first to employ professional plant-hunters). The limited edition volumes were not for general consumption but gifts to libraries, universities, botanists and prestigious customers. Copies of the 1906 edition are now extremely rare and achieve prices of up to £1000. In 2006, Exeter horticulturist Caradoc Doy, an authority on the

Veitch Nursery The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into t ...

, re-published a facsimile of this seminal work to mark its centenary. Doy went to great lengths to ensure the authenticity of the book. He meticulously sourced a thick, slightly yellowy paper to mirror the Victorian original and even had a special brass stamping plate made to replicate the cover embossing. ''Hortus Veitchii'' is an essential reference for plants introduced during the Victorian era, listing many which are still available from nurseries today and therefore helping gardeners to accurately replicate historic gardens within that period. This is also important for those wishing to preserve rare plants introduced to Britain at that time, as well as being a fascinating historical account of Victorian plant collecting.

References

External links

Versions of "Hortus Veitchii" on-line at American Libraries websiteDictionary of National Biography. Edited by Sidney Lee. Second Supplement. Volume 3. (Published by Adamant Media Corporation) Page 555

Publications by James Herbert Veitch on www.amazon.co.ukDetails of re-publication of "Hortus Veitchii"The Production of Hortus Veitchii
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veitch, James Herbert English horticulturists 1868 births 1907 deaths People from Chelsea, London Veitch Nurseries Fellows of the Linnean Society of London