Charles Curtis

Charles Curtis (1853 – 23 August 1928) was an English botanist who was sent by James Veitch & Sons to search for new plant species in Madagascar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Moluccas, before settling in Penang, where he became the first superintendent of the Penang Botanic Gardens.

Early days Curtis was born in Barnstaple, Devon, His paternal grandfather, a Norman by the name of Courtois, had settled at Barnstaple many years previously. Like his brothers, Curtis worked as a garden boy at the local Bale's Nursery. and various other tropical plants, including Angraecum sesquipedale.

From Singapore, Curtis travelled to Pontianak in Dutch Borneo, with the special object of obtaining a consignment of Phalaenopsis violacea, then known in England but still rare. He was successful in locating the plant, but again, owing to a mishap with the boat, a month's collections and all his clothes and instruments were lost, and he narrowly escaped with his life. He also sent back the orchid which was originally named Paphiopedilum curtisii, and was introduced in the James Veitch & Sons catalogue in 1883.

Other plants introduced to England by Curtis, include two species of Vireya rhododendron – Rhododendron multicolor (with the red variety Curtisii named after him) and R. teysmannii (now considered to be subspecies of R. javanicum) – before he terminated his engagement with Veitch early in 1884. Cirrhopetalum curtisii Gastrochilus curtisii Luisia curtisii Medinilla curtisii Nepenthes curtisii (subsequently synonymised with Paphiopedilum superbiens) Pentace curtisii Rhododendron multicolor var. curtisii

He was also honoured by the genus Curtisina,

Penang Botanic Gardens In mid-1884, following a recommendation from Kew Gardens, Curtis reported to a Superintendent, Nathaniel Cantley, who was also the Curator of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Curtis was placed in charge of the Penang region of the Forest and Gardens Department, which included the "Waterfall Gardens", together with some 3,575 ha of forest reserves. The forest reserves included areas reserved for recreational, fuel, forestry harvesting and protection purposes, mostly on Penang Island. The Forests and Gardens Department was initially engaged mainly in the cultivation of essential commercial plants, inspecting crops and advising the planting community. responsible for the layout of the gardens, and their transformation from an old granite quarry site.

On accepting the position, Curtis proposed a long-term strategy as to the development of the gardens and its potential role as a botanical repository and clearing house. Curtis' immediate actions were to develop a plant nursery and undertake a programme of works to create a pleasurable recreational and botanical garden in the valley. This vision was spelt out in detail in his 1885 annual report to Cantley as part of the Department's Annual Report. This included proposals to extend and develop the existing "Waterfall Gardens", the construction of road circuits, the erection of plant-houses for the propagation and cultivation of various species, and the provision of recreational venues.

On short leaves of absence he made collections of both living and herbarium specimens at Penang, Burma and neighbouring coastal areas. On some of the trips he was accompanied by Henry Nicholas Ridley, superintendent of The Singapore Botanic Gardens. Both men were interested in the development of the rubber industry, and experiments they made in Penang proved exceedingly valuable to planters. Ridley recorded in 1910 that "Mr Curtis was a man full of energy and skill as a landscape gardener and was not to be daunted by difficulties".

Retirement Following his retirement, his main herbarium was transferred to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Curtis returned to England, settling in his native town of Barnstaple, in Devon, where he spent his retirement tending his own collection of peach trees, carnations, orchids, sweet peas, streptocarpus, and meconopsis in a garden close to Barnstaple Victoria Road railway station.

In the summer of 1928 he fell ill and in need of an operation in hospital. For a while it appeared as though he might make a full recovery, but five weeks after surgery, on 23 August, he died at his home at Barnstaple.