J Fraser

[David Price]

There are three J Frasers on herbaria@home -

Firstly, James Fraser fl. 1903-1917 whose plants are at http://herbariaunited.org/specimensearch/?taxon=&taxonid=&collector=James+Fraser&colid=14818&role=prov&from=&to=&search=search&Country=gbie&VC=all&place=&placeid=&Inst=all&search=search#searchlist
[among the above the following specimens look out of place -
1885 Mentha arvensis http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/232334/
1920 Polygala vulgaris http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/320647/
1920 Mentha hybrid http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/232862/
1930 Hypericum perforatum http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/325038/
I think the 1885 Mentha should be allotted to (the second J Fraser; see below) Dr John Fraser (1820 -1909) and the others to (the third J Fraser; see below) John Fraser fl. 1884-1933 ].

So far I have not found any biographical dates or details save that he was a member of Botanical Society of Edinburgh and specialised in aliens and grasses.

Secondly, Dr John Fraser 1820 -1909 of Glasgow and Wolverhampton; a good account of his life and career is at http://www.herb.hull.ac.uk/herbarium/fraser.htm

His plants are at http://herbariaunited.org/specimensearch/?taxon=&taxonid=&collector=Dr+Joannis+Fraser&colid=14892&role=prov&from=&to=&search=search&Country=gbie&VC=all&place=&placeid=&Inst=all&search=search#searchlist

His labels are headed "Ex herbario Johannis Fraser MD" which has led contributors to identify a collector named "Johannis Fraser" (the correct Latin is 'Johannes'; 'John' is better).


but there is a third J Fraser -

John Fraser fl. 1884-1933 whose plants appear on http://herbariaunited.org/core/specimensearch.php?taxon=&taxonid=&collector=John%20Fraser&colid=&role=prov&from=&to=&search=search&Country=gbie&VC=all&place=&placeid=&Inst=all&sort=start&start=0&#searchlist
together with others collected by his namesake (the second J Fraser) Dr John Fraser 1820-1909. So far I have found no biographical details but he can be recognised by his small, round, neat, blue-inked handwriting and his diagnostic notes, usually on Mentha.

[oldnick]

Which of them is the prolific J Fraser approx 1880-1930,
http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/342596/ etc? If the 3rd in your list, then is the labelling not completely different from the link(?) you give? Excellent - and yes, it would be great to clear these up; and to have the above's first name.
For the sake of those editing, 'Joannis' would need still to be on the menu, does 'Dr...MD' help distinguish at all?
Is your '4th' Fraser the same as your 2nd?

[oldnick]

Your message on http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/344024/ has answered some of the above - thanks!

[oldnick]

See http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/233862/ message about correcting the h@h picklist of collectors called J Fraser. Yet another version on the picklist is 'John Fraser 31/1/1854 - 24/1/1935' (8 Surrey & Hampshire specimens) who corresponds to the third J Fraser above - 'John Fraser fl. 1884-1933'.

[oldnick]

h@h has 18 specimens
http://herbariaunited.org/specimensearch/?collector=Fraser&colid=16434&search=search
which are listed as collected by 'Dr Fraser' - they are from all parts of the 'BI' and between the years 1870-83. Presumably these could be re-edited to Dr John (Joannis) Fraser ?

[oldnick]

I think the Dr Fraser of http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/251014/ of http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/330712/ and of http://herbariaunited.org/specimen/242691/ isn't Dr John (Joannis) Fraser, who seems to have no Aberdeen shire specimens. I think the 18 specimens on http://herbariaunited.org/specimensearch/?collector=Fraser&colid=16434&search=search
still desperately need to be checked. Also I assume 'Dr John Fraser' is the same as Dr John (Joannis) Fraser, and if so I fear 'Dr John's' appearance on the pick-list will only cause confusion; 'Joannis' may sound ridiculous, but 'Dr John (Joannis) Fraser' is I think essential to distinguish him from the others.

[Chris Liffen]

John Fraser of Sandycombe Road, Kew died January 24, 1935 at Charing Cross Hospital (pneumonia, after injuries sustained in a road accident ?).
Born in Newdeer, Aberdeenshire 31st January, 1854.
He was one time gardener at the RHS gardens, Chiswick and Asst Editor / Editor of Gardening World. Described in census of 1901 / 1911 as a journalist. FLS.
Acknowledged expert on Mentha and Salix.
and more detail here
http://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000390432