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(1885-02-21)21 February 1885
Marylebone, London, England
Died4 July 1939(1939-07-04) (aged 54)
FatherWilliam Legge
RelativesWilliam Legge (brother)
Humphry Legge (brother)

Early life

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Legge 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

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Tomb of Lady Joan Margaret Legge

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

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In 2010 a new species of Impatiens found near the Valley of Flowers was named Impatiens leggei as a tribute to Legge.[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Lady Joan Legge". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 7 July 1939. p. 16.
  2. ^ "Births". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 24 February 1885. p. 1.
  3. ^ National Portrait Gallery. "Group in fancy dress for the Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre Ball". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  4. ^ Butler, Richard W.; Pearce, Douglas G., eds. (1999). Tourism Development. London: Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 9780203380307.
  5. ^ "Valley of Flowers". sikhnet.com. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  6. ^ N. Ulysses and Tabish, Thingnam Girija. "Trek to Valley of Flowers". Flowers of India. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Mary Legge's Balsam". Flowers of India. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  8. ^ D.K. Singh, P.K. Pusalkar. "Three New Species of Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) from Western Himalaya, India" (PDF). Taiwania, 55(1): 13-23, 2010.