23
THREE OLD ESSEX HERBARIA.
By W. G. CLARKE, F.C.S.
THERE are now in the possession of Mr. W. H. Freeman,
of High Street, Brentwood, three herbaria, two made
by his father and the other by his grandfather. Two of
these are in bound quarto volumes, with the plants well-
preserved and beautifully mounted, the paper used being first
class. Each specimen is named; and, in the two volumes, I
found one error only. Unfortunately, however, localities are
not given, though there is every reason to believe that most
of the plants were collected in Essex.
The older of these two herbaria is described as a "Hortus
Siccus," and is dated 1808. It was the work of John Freeman,
who was born in 1784, at Chipperfield, Herts, and died in 1864.
He became assistant to Dr. Newman at his school at Bromley-
by-Bow, and subsequently at Stratford, afterwards becoming
proprietor of the latter, a Well-known educational establishment
opposite the present Passmore Edwards Library and Museum.
John Freeman was a prominent Baptist and examiner
in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac, of the students of Stepney
College. Both as an astronomer and botanist, he was well
known to the scientific men of his day. He was a close friend
of Mr. Brewer, author of the Flora of Reigate, and, as a cousin
of the wife of Mr. F. E. Hulme. F.L.S., enjoyed his intimate
friendship. The plants in this herbarium include Campanula
rapunculus, Lavatera arborea, and Euphorbia portlandica, as well
as many others, all probably collected in the neighbourhood
of Stratford.
The other herbarium was made by Joseph Freeman,
L.C.P., who was born at Bromley-by-Bow in 1813 and died
in 1907. The specimens were collected between 1832 and 1837,
and include Lathyrus macrorrhizus, Sedum album, Mentha
hirsuta, Trientalis europaea (from Scotland), Narthecium ossi-
fragum, Hyoscyamus niger, Glaucium luteum, Geranium striatum,
Datura stramonium. Campanula trachelium, C. hederacea (found
in a. bog at High Beech), Ophrys apifera, Paris quadrifolia,
Hutchinsia alpina (from the Alps; presented by Dr. McCreight),
Aceras anthropophora, Ophrys muscifera, and Orchis ustulata.
The presence of these orchids is probably accounted for by the