James (Jim) Muir (Curator 1963 – 1980)
Previous Experience
He was born in Aldershot, Surrey, in 1916 and commenced his career in 1929 (aged 13) with the City of Coventry Parks and Cemeteries Department, where his work included nursery work inside and outside, the propagation of all bedding plants, potted plants, trees and shrubs, herbaceous borders and rock gardens.
Amusingly, I found in our records the reference that Percy Conn, whilst General Superintendent of the City of Coventry Parks and Cemeteries Department wrote a reference for Muir when Muir left Coventry in November 1935 to take up the post at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens. He says:
“Muir has been employed in this department for the past 6 years, during which time he has always proved himself to be a keen and willing worker. He has gained valuable experience in the herbaceous and sports section as well as in nursery work. His personal character is good, and he has marked pains to better himself in his profession.”
Whilst at the University Botanic Gardens, Cambridge he worked on the glass and tropical, subtropical, and cool greenhouse plants. He had experience with the propagation of all types of plants, such as ferns, stove and cool greenhouse plants, chrysanthemum and bedding plants. He also collected botanical specimens for university teaching and attended lectures at the Cambridgeshire Technical College on Botany and Horticulture.
From there, in 1937, he went to the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh for 3 years as a student gardener, gaining the Carrion certificate, as well as experience in the following departments: arboretum, herbaceous, alpine, glasshouse and propagating.
Between 1940 and 1946 he served in The Royal Artillery, returning to Edinburgh Botanics in April 1946. In May 1949 he moved to Glasgow and was a propagator at their Botanic Gardens, before transferring to Loch Lomond Park as General Foreman.
Arrival in Liverpool
In November 1952 he returned to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens as Assistant Curator, where he worked on a large range of greenhouses, with one of the finest collections of plants, also herbaceous borders, deck garden, shrub borders, flower garden and students’ arrangements beds. Again, he was responsible for the collection and preparation of plants for university teaching. In 1963 he moved south to be the Curator of the fully resurrected Liverpool Botanic Garden.
In March 1972 Jim wrote a paper in which he included this statement:
The collection at Liverpool apart from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Edinburgh is regarded as one of the finest in Britain having 5,000 orchids and over 10,000 different species and varieties of plants under glass. The main methods of building up a collection is by an International Seed and Plant exchange in which Liverpool exchanges seed with 200 other botanic gardens within 37 different countries, also 17 principal gardens in Britain. In 1971 1,500 packets was sent out and 959 packets received in.
He also gave his vision of the purpose of his Botanic Garden:
The Advancement of Botany; Maintaining a collection of plants in the plant kingdom, from all parts of the world; A place where people can come and see a collection of plants, not only to enjoy their beauty, but to determine what would be suitable for their own Gardens.
He retired in 1980 and was awarded the Associate of Honour by the RHS.
After retiring, he retained enthusiasm for all things horticultural and judged for many years at the Southport Flower Show and at the Garden Festival held in Liverpool in 1984. Jim died on 29th of August 2002, aged 86 years, in Liverpool.