Category Archives: London

Plant of the Month: March 2018

Posted on 27/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

The primroses are out in splendid fashion this year – two severe blasts of snow appear not to have cramped their style (let’s see what the third, allegedly due later this week, will do). Quintessentially plants of woodland and hedgerow, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Cambridge University Botanic Garden, John Parkinson, Linnean Society, primrose, Primulaceae, Sir J.E. Smith, spring flowers, William Hudson | Leave a comment

The Holwood Oaks

Posted on 22/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

It’s a complete truism that London used to be a relatively small place, with a great deal of naturally occurring ‘green belt’ both between the City and Westminster, and also between London and the surrounding villages, often used for market … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged abolition, Bromley, Earl Stanhope, Holwood, oak tree, William Pitt, William Robinson, William Wilberforce | 3 Comments

Burkat Shudi

Posted on 15/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

I had been vaguely aware for some time that there existed in London in the eighteenth century a harpsichord-maker called Burkat Shudi. On 12 March I noticed that his date of birth was 13 March 1702. On 13 March I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Cambridge, London, Museums and Galleries, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged Burkat Shudi, Frederick Prince of Wales, G.F. Handel, harpsichord, John Broadwood, Mrs Delany, William Dale | 2 Comments

Chapmen

Posted on 08/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

Looking the other day at the brief record of the bankruptcy of Christian Schindler, who may have been the ‘Honest Man’ commemorated by his friends at St Martin within Ludgate in 1830, I was struck by how many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, France, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged chapman, door-to-door, Hieronymus Bosch, pedlar, Pieter Breugel the Elder, selling, spectacle sellers, Wencelaus Hollar | 2 Comments

St Martin within Ludgate

Posted on 24/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

I occasionally potter up and down Ludgate Hill, usually in the context of an event at the St Bride’s Foundation, and never without thinking of that wonderful stanza, ‘The timid, inoffensive tapir / Is never in the morning paper. / … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, History, London, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Brookwood Cemetery, London churches, London history, Robert Hooke, Samuel Purchas, Sir Christopher Wren, St Bride's Foundation, St Martin of Tours, St Martin within Ludgate | 5 Comments

Mr and Miss Morris

Posted on 10/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

I did something the other week which I’d never achieved before: I went to the end of a London Underground line! I have to say that I was a bit disappointed that the Victoria Line remained resolutely Underground until Walthamstow … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, History, Literature, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Uncategorized | Tagged Arts and Crafts, embroidery, John Ruskin, May Morris, Morris & Co., Pre-Raphaelites, Walthamstow, William Morris Gallery | 8 Comments

The Legacy of Sir J.E. Smith

Posted on 08/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

A terrific bargain available once a month in London is a ‘Treasures Tour’ and visit to the Library of the Linnean Society, in Burlington House, Piccadilly. (I have now managed one way and another to get inside the Royal Astronomical … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged Burlington House, Daniel Solander, Linnaeus, Linnean Society, Sir J.E. Smith, Sir Joseph Banks | 11 Comments

Small But Perfectly Formed

Posted on 19/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

When I was unexpectedly cast upon the shore of the Island of Leisure, nearly three years ago now, one of the resolutions I made to myself in contemplation of the Rest of the Journey of My Life was that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Exploration, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged British Museum, history of medicine, Jan Van Huysum, Maria Sibylla Merian, Middleton Stoney, Natural History Museum, Royal Society, Sir Hans Sloane | 15 Comments

The Mustard Plant of the Scriptures

Posted on 05/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

Discussion of conifers and mention of David Don brings me back to Mr Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761–1842), whose great work on the genus was published in seven parts, with plates by Ferdinand Bauer (collaborator on John Sibthorp’s Flora graeca, artist … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Natural history | Tagged Aylmer Bourke Lambert, botany, Cory Library, Exploration, herbaria, Linnean Society, Sir J.E. Smith, Sir Joseph Banks | 1 Comment

The Consequences of Varicella (Part 2)

Posted on 07/12/2017 by carolinemmurray

Continuing (rather belatedly – I’ve been busy with retail) the exploration of a small area of the East End of London by foot and buggy – we lose our way, but are guided onward by the pinnacles of an extraordinary … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Daniel Solander, Linnaeus, London churches, Lord Brabazon, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Octavia Hill, St George's in the East, Swedenborg, Whitechapel Museum | 3 Comments