MAKERS OF ORCHID HISTORY
By Peter WinterThe history of orchid cultivation is replete with details of wonder and interest. The facts concerning the introduction of orchids to European glasshouses and gardens, the difficulties necessarily overcome before their cultivation was properly understood, and the long list of illustrious names who have each played an important part in orchidology, all combine to make the history of the Orchid Family an absorbing and unique study.
In the 1800s, interest in orchids had reached fever pitch. Expeditions to discover new exotic varieties were commonplace and thousands of plants were being shipped to the Continent from countries of the New World.
When George Ure Skinner accepted an opportunity for trade relations with the Republic of Guatemala in 1831, it is unlikely that he knew anything about orchids. That was about to change dramatically during his time in Guatemala.
Skinner was born on March 18th, 1804 into a Scottish ecclesiastical family, as the second son of the Very Reverend John Skinner MA, the Dean of Dunkeld and Dublane. His grandfather was the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and bishop of Aberdeen, and his great grandfather was a well-known ecclesiastical historian of Scotland and one of the best Hebrew and Latin scholars of his era.
Despite such a heritage of scholarly forebears, it must have come as a great surprise to his family to learn that he had no desire to enter the Church, opting instead for the call of the sea and a naval career. His father must have said plenty on the subject because, in deference to his father's wishes, he became a clerk in the banking house of Barclay, Bevan & Co., London. Later he moved to Yorkshire and settled in Leeds, where he gained employment as a general merchant.
It was not too long before he was off to Guatemala, a little known country at that time, to enter partnership with Mr. McKlee, and thus the mercantile house of McKlee, Skinner & Co. of Guatemala came into being. As merchants they established trade in cochineal and indigo, commodities destined to become the staple industry of Guatemala. In his early years in the republic there was strife brought about by savage Indian hordes, and Skinner had to bear arms for the cause of the ill-fated President Morazan. However, the victor, Indian chief Rafael Carrera, after taking power, treated Skinner with respect and consulted him on many matters throughout his rule.
When Skinner was a child in Scotland he was a passionate lover of nature, but during his time working in London and Leeds he had little opportunity to pursue his interest. What a contrast he must have found when he moved to Guatemala. In 1834 he still had not heard of orchids. He was, however, extremely fascinated by the country's native birds and insects and spent a considerable amount of time collecting them. One of his shipments of specimens to the Museum of Natural History at Manchester, England attracted the attention of James Bateman who was a horticultural student at Oxford at the time. Bateman was, of course, eager to seize the untouched and known area, and so he wrote to Skinner, explaining by means of descriptions and sketches the sort of plants orchids were, hoping to interest the man in searching for them. This was the start of a very productive relationship between collector and horticulturalist.
James Bateman was born on July 18, 1811 in Bury, England. His early interest in horticulture was encouraged by his father and James received his B.A. in 1834 from Oxford. Bateman was an industrious hobbyist anxious to establish acquaintance with anyone who lived in areas where orchids grew naturally. He could not have predicted the response to that first letter of his addressed to George Ure-Skinner.
The day Bateman's letter arrived, Skinner apparently looked upon it afterwards as a "new birthday" in his life, for it gave a new perspective in his life which was to last him to the end of his days. Though untrained in botany, he soon discovered the orchids which were detailed in Bateman's letter and he began collecting a range of specimens.
At the earliest opportunity he sent a box of carefully packed plants to Bateman, all of which were new to England. Among them were [Lycaste] aromaticum, Cattleya auranticiaca, Oncidium cavendishianum, Oncidium leucochilum, and Odontoglossum bictoniense.
The first box was followed by more boxes arriving with practically every mail leaving Guatemala, each one including new discoveries.
The list of Skinner's orchid discoveries is lengthy, nearly 100 species. In addition to his first shipment, he was the first to find Odontoglossum grande, his own particular favourite, Odontoglossum pulchellum, Schomburgkia tibicinis, Epidendrum stanfordianum, Epidendrum alatun, Catteya skinneri, Stanhopea saccata, Cynoches ventricosum, and Lycaste skinneri, to name but a few.
During the period when orchids were at the peak of their popularity and interest in England, Skinner originated the orchid sales at Stevens' Auction rooms and when in England he loved to go there and help prepare and catalogue the orchids. He also sent plants to the Veitch Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, and they put a glasshouse at his disposal to accommodate his importations.
James Bateman established the orchids received from Skinner in his greenhouse at Knypersley Hall. Within ten years he possessed the finest examples of Guatemalan orchids then available in England.
Several excellent orchid books emanated from his pen, particularly notable is the Orchidacea of Mexico and Guatemala. Bateman also contributed regularly to the Gardeners' Chronicle, doing a series of papers entitled "Dies Orchidianae". On November 27, 1897 James Bateman died, at the age of eighty-six, leaving a legacy of work which contributed greatly to the understanding of orchids.
After thirty-five years of business and collecting, and considerable travel back and forth across the Atlantic, Skinner decided to retire and return home to England. He had been a widower for many years and he intended to settle down with the Rev. James Skinner near Malvern. He left for Guatemala on December 2, 1866 in order to conclude his business affairs before returning to England the following year. He reached Colon in Panama the first week of January 1867 and crossed by rail to Panama. Finding that the first ship leaving that port for the Pacific was overcrowded, he decided to wait for the next vessel, due a week later. To occupy the time he set about collecting plants and birds. He returned to Colon for church services. While there, it is presumed, he contracted yellow fever because, three days later - January 9 - he died.
Although he did not complete his life as he would have wished his accomplishments remain as remarkable testament to a remarkable man.
From The Canadian Orchid Society - Orchidian Vol.5 No.1