Edward Lugard Papers

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This volume: Major E.J. Lugard, Plant Collecting (1935) contains collected papers and illustrations from the Kew Bulletin, Botanical Magazine, Hooker’s Icones Plantarum, The Flowering Plants of South Africa, and the Cactus and Succulent Journal of America. The volume also contains press cuttings and photographs relating to Edward Lugard, his wife Nell, their son Cyril, and daughter-in-law Kitty. There are several loose photographs of plants tucked into the pages relevant to their description.

Edward James Lugard was born in 1865. In c.1885 he enlisted with the military and joined the 3rd Worcestershire Regiment, transferring then to the Northumberland Fusiliers (1886), and the Bengal Staff Corps (1888). He first started collecting plants during his service in India. In 1896, E. Lugard joined the British West Charterland Company?s Expedition across the Kalahari to Ngamiland [North-West Botswana] (led by his brother Frederick John Dealtry Lugard). Edward Lugard led a second expedition to the same area in 1897-1899. Both expeditions contributed to the publication, ?The flora of Ngamiland? (Published in the Kew Bulletin, 1909). The brothers contributed 92 of 374 species new to science, and 24 of these are named for them. In his later career, Edward Lugard served in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, followed by a period as a political assistant to the high commissioner of Northern Nigeria (his brother, Frederick), during which he also collected plants for Kew.In 1906 he retired from the army and from 1908 to 1912 became secretary to the imperial institute. Edward Lugard was awarded and OBE in 1918. From 1912 to 195 Lugard was secretary to the governor of Nigeria. Following his retirement, he continued plant collecting, notably in Kenya between 1930 to 1931. This produced another publication for the Kew Bulletin entitled ?The Flora of Mount Elgon? in 1933. His wife, Charlotte Eleanor ?Nell? Lugard (nee. Howard), accompanied Lugard on his expeditions in Nigeria and to other parts of the empire, contributing to the plant collecting efforts. Nell Lugard?s collections of specimens and botanical drawings are also held at Kew.