George Richmond RA (28 March 1809 – 19 March 1896) was an English painter and portraitist. In his youth he was a member of The Ancients, a group of followers of William Blake. Later in life he established a career as a portrait painter, which included painting the portraits of the British gentry, nobility and royalty.He was the son of Thomas Richmond, miniature-painter, and was the father of the painter William Blake Richmond as well as the grandfather of the naval historian, Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond.
​His success as a portrait-painter was due as much to his power of drawing out the best from his sitter in conversation as to skill in delineation. Being a very skilful and rapid draughtsman, he was able, while putting himself into sympathy with his sitter, to report the happiest moment and fleeting changes of expression, and to get out of his subject more than at first sight appeared to be there. His ideal of portraiture was ‘the truth lovingly told;’ and he never consciously flattered. He was also a most industrious and clever sketcher from nature, and he produced (for his own pleasure and instruction) hundreds of drawings in pencil and watercolour, many of great beauty, of figure and landscape.

The planting of these trees was done with great care. We checked the pH of the soil - neutral, had cleared the brambles and fallen hedgerow trees - (the HIB Team) then Craig had hand  dug a large hole for each tree and filled it with compost donated by Agrovista, covered the surround with more compost and bark mulch after clearing away all grass, drove in 8 foot posts around each tree which had been painted with Barn Paint donated by Ridgeons and stapled on chicken wire as protection against deer and rabbits. The Giant Redwood was sponsored by the Leverett family and the Magnolia by the residents at Magnolia House.

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Our Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was an internationally renowned botanist, a close friend and early supporter of Charles Darwin, and one of the first-and most successful-British men of science to become a full-time professional. He was also, Jim Endersby argues, the perfect embodiment of Victorian science. A vivid picture of the complex interrelationships of scientific work and scientific ideas, Imperial Nature gracefully uses one individual's career to illustrate the changing world of science in the Victorian era.
By analysing Hooker's career, Jim Endersby offers vivid insights into the everyday activities of nineteenth-century naturalists, considering matters as diverse as botanical illustration and microscopy, classification, and specimen transportation and storage, to reveal what they actually did, how they earned a living, and what drove their scientific theories. What emerges is a rare glimpse of Victorian scientific practices in action. By focusing on science's material practices and one of its foremost practitioners, Endersby ably links concerns about empire, professionalism, and philosophical practices to the forging of a nineteenth-century scientific identity.

At Kew we saw this stunning Berberis Darwinii which we will be planting in the Town Park to commemorate Hooker's championing of Darwin
Berberis Darwinii is a fast growing evergreen shrub or plant ideally suited as hedging, or screening.  Masses of scented golden yellow flowers in spring followed by berries in autumn providing all year round colour.  Berberis Darwinii is a very special evergreen shrub with stunning yellow flowers.
Clusters of small, nodding, orange-yellow flowers appear in mid- and late spring, followed by bluish-purple autumn berries. This upright, evergreen shrub has small, spiny, dark green, holly-like leaves and is useful to fill a difficult spot in the garden, provided it has space to spread out. It also makes a good informal, flowering hedge. Vigorous and easy-to-grow, it often produces a second flush of flowers in autumn.
Characteristics
Spiny growth will deter unwanted visitors – fantastic vandal proof hedge!
Produces masses of golden yellow scented flowers in spring followed by berries in autum and is a great for food provider for wildlife

• Position: full sun or partial shade·     
• Soil: well-drained soil· 
• Rate of growth: fast-growin·      
• Flowering period: April and May
• Hardiness: fully hardy

Can you design a Victorian  Plant Hunter
 To help celebrate the work of Joseph Hooker?
Drawing, painting, collage… all welcome!
Your work will be professionally framed, and displayed locally -

Please ask for more information and a form at the Library as you will need the painting or drawing must be  on special paper for framing