Henry James Chalwin, son of Henry Chalwin and Mary Vokes, was a British horticulturalist at the Gold Coast [now Ghana] Botanical Station. Later he moved to the Cape Colony where he served on the first committee of the City and Suburban Horticultural Society, which was established in Cape Town in 1885. From 1886 or earlier he was head gardener at the Botanic Gardens in New Street, Cape Town. In 1893 his post was named Superintendent of the Municipal Gardens of Cape Town, and from 1896 Superintendent of Public Gardens and Tree Planting. He still held that position in 1909. During these years he amassed one of the best collections of orchids in South Africa. In 1897 he sent plant specimens to the Government Botanist, P. MacOwan*. He contributed many specimens from the gardens, including nine greenhouse orchids, to the herbarium of the South African Museum in 1907, followed by more cultivated plants in 1908. At this time he was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.

List of sources:

Cape of Good Hope. Annual Reports of the Committees and Curators of Public Parks and Botanic Gardens, 1893; Annual Reports of the Curators and Superintendents of Public Gardens, 1894-1904.

Cape of Good Hope. Report of the trustees of the South African Museum, 1907, 1908.

Cape of Good Hope. Report of the Government Botanist..., 1897, pp. 7-8.

City and Suburban Horticultural Society. [Rules and regulations of the society]. Cape Town: Wynberg Times, 1885.

FamilySearch: Henry James Chalwin. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MVKH-28X/henry-james-chalwin-1849-1910

General directory and guide-book to the Cape of Good Hope and its dependencies..., 1886.

General Directory of South Africa, 1890/1, 1903, 1908, 1909.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://www.national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Chalwin, Henry James.

The eponym dictionary of South African plants, at http://www.calflora.net/southafrica/1C-F.html

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2023-11-23 09:56:59