Johann Birschel (Curator 1858 – 1860)
Summary
The post of Curator was clearly attractive, with so many applying for the job.
However, resurrecting the gardens into a fit state was quite a task.
Fortunately, the old Committee was disbanded, and a new set of members installed with some interest in improving the state of the gardens. That they did not involve the curator in the detailed plans for the new hot houses is incredible, but not unexpected.
It was a shame that Birschel was forced to resign after only 2 years, before he could put his own stamp on the gardens.
Previous Experience
Johann was born in Hanover, Germany in 1831. He tried to join Kew in April 1851 on the recommendation of Professor Trevenanus of Bonn but was told that there would be no vacancies until the following Spring. He tried again in June when he got the Prussian Minister to write to Hooker in June 1851 and was taken on in the August.
The records say that he joined on September 12th, 1851. He was appointed Foreman of the Herbarium in March 1853 and left Kew in January 1854, as he was engaged by a Mr Houlton to go to Venezuela to collect plants.
On his return to England, in 1855, he stayed for a few months in the Royal Gardens, Kew. In their “Goods Inwards” in on September 15th, 1855, there is a record of Kew “purchasing a collection of 100 papers of seeds that he had collected in Venezuela”. He was then discharged for cutting the Castanea chrysophyllum (related to our Sweet Chestnut) in the pleasure garden!
Among the smaller collections of dried plants included in Sir W. J. Hooker's herbarium was one comprising about 200 specimens collected near Caracas, Venezuela by J. W. Birschel.
He left Kew to work for Sir Joseph Paxton at Chatsworth for about two years. He probably lived in Baslow near Chesterfield in Derbyshire as that was the address he used when he wrote to Hooker for his testimonial for the job in Liverpool. In April 1858 to left to become the Curator of the Liverpool Botanic Garden.
Report on the State of the Gardens
On his arrival on the job, he was asked by the committee to review and report back on the current state of the gardens. He did not mince his words!
Excerpts are:
- The Botanic Gardens are in a very poor state indeed, it will require much time, labour and expense to make it worthy not only of its name, but also of the Corporation of Liverpool.
- There seems to have been nothing but neglect prevailing.
- The collection of plants in the open grounds is very poor indeed, herbaceous plants are few, Annuals there are none at all.
- The collection of Stove and greenhouse plants is very poor indeed. The manner in which these plants have been treated is really disgusting, and if immediate steps are not taken the collection will disappear altogether. The plants are either starved (or) scorched by the rays of the Sun, or unnaturally increased in length. What should be the most valuable in the gardens is a disgrace to the place and immediate steps should be taken to remedy the Evil, permit me to point out to you the causes of all this:
- In the first instance it appears the temperature of the Houses has never been regulated, for there is not one single Thermometer in the whole Gardens, while there should be one in every House and the out of doors; six thermometers are required.
- There is no shading whatever in the Houses to protect plants from the scorching rays of the Sun during summer.
Resignation
Birschel married Mary Anne Noyes at St Peters Childwell on 10th March 1859, with John Davies as his best man. Louis Birschel was born on 21st May 1860 in the Botanic Gardens, almost certainly in the Curators Lodge. His birth was registered on the 30th of May.
Birschel presented his plans for new Propagating Houses at the September 1859 committee meeting. He maintained thar they were essential for the gardens and would cost about £400. It was not until March 1860 that Beckwith, Gardner and Stearns were appointed to a new Sub-Committee to superintend the erection of these propagating houses. There is no further comment in the Committee minutes until, on the 17 May 1860, the Committee were informed that the Curator had said he was dissatisfied with the arrangement and construction of the new plant houses. His main objection was that he had asked for several environmentally separate rooms and what had been built had only one! Messrs Stearns and Gardner agreed that the alterations necessary should be made in the fittings up and arrangements of the new Forcing and Propagating House and should be carried out under the direction of the Curator and the Surveyor.
Birschel did not get his objections cleared in a manner acceptable to him, so on 21st June 1860 he resigned. He held office until his successor was appointed.
On the Census of 7th April 1861 he and his family are living at 177 Fleet Street, Liverpool.
Birschel died on 29th April 1867, aged 36, of chronic bronchitis ulceration of the trachea, a common disease. He had been ill for a month before he died. The address given was now 9 Westminster Street (road?), Liverpool; with his occupation given as Gardener/Domestic Servant.
At the time of his death, Mary was 5 months pregnant, already with Louis aged 7 and Eva aged 4, so this must have been a very difficult time for her. By the time John William Birschel was born in August, the family had moved again to 13 Byford Street (close to the Botanic Garden).
W. B. Latham, one of his former colleagues at Kew recalls knowing him, in the Journal of the Kew Guild of 1901, as “Mr. Birschel had a splendid memory, and his knowledge and lore of plants was most remarkable. He had enjoyed and made good use of an excellent education and was much respected by all his fellow-workers. He was always ready to impart any botanical or horticultural knowledge to his friends, and delighted to spin yarns about his experiences in Brazil, etc.”
In the Kew Bulletin of 1923, there is a note that “It has seemed worthwhile to put on record what is known of Birschel, as his name does not appear in the "Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists”, nor in the list of collectors whose plants are in the Kew Herbarium.