H. Cuming
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Name
Hugh Cuming
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Dates
1791 - 1865
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Specialities
Spermatophytes, Pteridophytes, Cryptogams, Phanerogams, Musci, Orchidaceae
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Roles
Author, Collector
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Movement Details
Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Jamaica, Philippines
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Notes
Collector Notes: South America, SE Asia; collections widely distributed
Biographical note on Hugh Cuming (from Dance, S. P . 1980. Hugh Cuming (1791-1865) Prince of Collectors J. Soc. Nat. Hist. 9: 477-501.
When Hugh Cuming turned thirteen in 1804, his father arranged work for him as a sailmaker's apprentice. Eventally, he joined a ship's crew sailing for Valparaiso, Chile.
In Chile, Cuming set up a business of sailmaking. There he met others with similar interests in natural history and began collecting shells and plants along the Pacific coast for shipment back to England. Around the mid-1820s, he sold his sailmaking business and commissioned a yacht designed for the sole purpose of collecting specimens for the British Museum and botanical gardens. In 1831, he returned to England with a shipload of animals, plants, and shells for various museums, gardens, and societies. His plant collections from Panama were probably made during this voyage.
In 1835, Cuming set sail for the Philippines which were mostly unexplored by Europeans at the time. From 1831 to his death in 1865, Cuming collected specimens from all over the South Pacific, garnering for him the reputation as a collector's collector. He died in England apparently of dropsy which he had suffered from earlier in life. -
Collections