Lady Joan Margaret Legge JP (21 February 1885 – 4 July 1939) was an English botanist who had a fatal accident while collecting samples in the Valley of Flowers in India.[1]
Lady Joan Legge | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 February 1885 Marylebone, London, England |
| Died | 4 July 1939 (aged 54) Valley of Flowers, India |
| Father | William Legge |
| Relatives | William Legge (brother) Humphry Legge (brother) |
Early life
editLegge was born at 55 Manchester St.[2] in Marylebone, London, to William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth, and Lady Mary Coke.[3] She held the office of Justice of Peace for Staffordshire.[1]
Death
edit
In 1939, Legge went to India to study flora in the Valley of Flowers on behalf of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[4] While traversing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped off and lost her life.[5] She died unmarried at the age of 54.
Legge's sister came in search of her and built a tomb in the Valley of Flowers.[6]
Commemoration
editIn 2010 a new species of Impatiens found near the Valley of Flowers was named Impatiens leggei as a tribute to Legge.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ a b "Obituary: Lady Joan Legge". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 7 July 1939. p. 16.
- ^ "Births". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 24 February 1885. p. 1.
- ^ National Portrait Gallery. "Group in fancy dress for the Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre Ball". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
- ^ Butler, Richard W.; Pearce, Douglas G., eds. (1999). Tourism Development. London: Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 9780203380307.
- ^ "Valley of Flowers". sikhnet.com. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ N. Ulysses and Tabish, Thingnam Girija. "Trek to Valley of Flowers". Flowers of India. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ "Mary Legge's Balsam". Flowers of India. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ D.K. Singh, P.K. Pusalkar. "Three New Species of Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) from Western Himalaya, India" (PDF). Taiwania, 55(1): 13-23, 2010.