104
ON A COLLECTION OF PLANTS MADE BY THE
LATE LORD LISTER BETWEEN THE YEARS
1844-8, MANY OF THEM FROM THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF UPTON.
By G. LISTER, F.L.S.
[Read 31st January 1925]
THE collection of plants which I have the pleasure of
presenting to the Field Club to day was made by my uncle,
the late Lord Lister, between the years 1844 and 1848, while
he was a student at University College, London. They were
gathered chiefly during the spring and summer vacations, and
number about 250 species. Of these, over a hundred were found
in Essex, and not far from his home at Upton.
Joseph Lister was born in 1827, in Upton House, Upton
Lane, which was then a quiet winding country road leading
from Plaistow to the Romford road. The house, or the greater
part of it, still stands, but the delightful garden behind has
long since been built on. I well remember that garden, the
two grand old cedars on the lawn, the field to the south with
elms, and the spacious vegetable garden ending in the "terrace
walk," and a thick holly hedge. It was over this hedge that
the last wild red deer of Hainault Forest bounded when escaping
from the king's huntsmen in 1829, when my uncle was two
years old. The frightened animal took refuge in the stable
yard, and was there surrounded ; its antlers were sawn off and
presented to my grandmother, and the deer itself carted away
uninjured, to be let loose in Windsor Forest. Beyond the
garden, open meadows and fields under cultivation stretched
away to the Thames and the marshes around East Ham and
Barking. It was still a country walk along the river to London.
On the west side of Upton Lane was Ham House, the home
of Samuel Gurney, the banker, and his family, who were friendly
neighbours to the Listers. The extensive grounds, enriched
with interesting plants by a former owner, Dr. Fothergill,
have been preserved for the recreation of the public as West
Ham Park.
It was in this rural neighbourhood, in a home of peace and
beauty, that Joseph Lister grew up, the middle one of a family
of four brothers and three sisters. From a child he made up