Don reveals trouble in family tree caused by ancestor cast out of RHS
BBC gardening presenter says 200-year-old rift provoked by leaked plant secrets is now healed
MONTY DON has revealed his family had a feud lasting almost 200 years with the Royal Horticultural Society after his ancestor was cast out of the RHS in disgrace for sharing plant secrets.
George Don, the BBC gardening presenter’s great-great-great-great grandfather, was the society’s first plant hunter.
But he got into trouble with the RHS when he revealed his rare discoveries in a rival scientific journal.
George had been given the task of searching all over the world for new and rare plants to grow and showcase in the UK for the RHS.
His travels began in 1821, and they spanned the Canary Islands, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Brazil and New York.
On the trip, during which he collected many plants for the horticulture charity, he fell seriously ill with a fever. The two marines he was travelling with died, but he managed to recover.
It is also thought he became angry that his salary was the same as that of a horticulturalist doing the same job in the safe conditions of the UK.
This caused a rift between the RHS and the plant collector, and the relationship was irreparably damaged when George gave a newly discovered pine tree specimen to his brother’s employer instead of the RHS.
He also published his work in a rival journal when he was supposed to be writing about his findings exclusively for the RHS.
The RHS cut ties with him, and took out an injunction preventing him from publishing his work in England. George left the charity in disgrace.
However, he managed to publish work in Edinburgh, which did not fall under English law, and became a successful botanical writer in Scotland.
Monty Don revealed the story at Gardeners’ World Live last week as he told the audience that his new grandson was named after George.
He said: “He went to South Africa, round the West Indies, to the Americas and back again. George Don then fell out with the RHS and his name was mud.
“He spoke out about his plant hunting and broke an embargo and they cut all ties with him.”
However, Mr Don said that the family’s relationship with the RHS had been mended.
“Now, the RHS invited me back to look at their plant library. So they have forgiven the Don family – it only took 170 years,” he said.
Despite the rift between his family and the RHS, Mr Don has been happy to work with the charity for years, frequently appearing at Chelsea Flower Show.
Fiona Davison, head of libraries and exhibitions, said: “George Don was an RHS-funded plant collector from 1821 to 1825 whose papers documenting his travels and discoveries – including 17 varieties of tropical fruit which had never been described scientifically before – we are currently researching and cataloguing.
“In 1825 there was a falling-out between the RHS and Don after he published findings from one of his trips in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal rather than our own.
“Fast forward 200 years and we’ve long decided to let bygones be bygones and are delighted to work closely with Monty Don who is a descendant of another branch of the Don family tree, one that features many gardeners and botanists.”