Ref NoMS/1
TitleCatalogue of plants of Bedfordshire - Charles Abbot
AdminHistoryRev. Charles Abbot (c1761-1817) was a grammar school teacher who became an ordained minister in Bedfordshire. He worked as Usher [Assistant Master] of Bedford School, as well as Vicar of Oakley
Reynes and of Goldington (villages near Bedford).

In November 1787, Charles Abbot married Sarah Harris of Chocken Hall [Cherkenhill], a hamlet some 4 miles north-west of Great Malvern, Worcestershire. Sarah, who was a keen botanist herself, often accompanied her husband on his trips to collect plants and butterflies.

He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1793 and submitted his 'Plantae bedfordiensis', a list of 200 less common plants of the county of Bedfordshire to the Society in 1795. The work was published in 1798 and is considered a model of a county flora. The book, entitled 'Flora Bedfordiensi, comprehending such plants as grow wild in the county of Bedford, arranged according to the system of Linnae' [Carl Linnaeus] was dedicated to Queen Charlotte and, unlike his manuscript, was in English.

Abbot and Sir James Edward Smith often corresponded and Abbot presented Smith with a copy of his 'Flora' publication, which Smith often referred to in his own publication, 'Flora Britannica' (1800). Smith's copy, which contains annotations, is in the library of the Linnean Society.
DescriptionBound volume containing a handwritten list of 956 plants local to Bedfordshire by Caroli Abbot [Charles Abbot]. The manuscript, which is in Latin, is entitled 'Catalogus plantarum in comitate Bedfordiae sponte crescentium, secundus systema Linnaeanum digestus' [Translation: 'Catalogue of plants spontaneously growing in the County of Bedfordshire'].

Also contains a printed drawing of 2 deer on the reverse (only partially visible).
Date[1790-1795]
LevelFile
Extent1 bound volume
LanguageLatin
Publn_Note'Flora Bedfordiensi, comprehending such plants as grow wild in the county of Bedford, arranged according to the system of Linnae' by Charles Abbot (1798).
Creator NameAbbot, Charles
Access_StatusOpen
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