Monuments to three adventurers and their plants
Museum of garden history
The church yard of St-Mary-at-Lambeth is now part of the Museum of Garden History. The tomb of the Tradescants (left) stands beside the knot garden near the tomb of Captain Bligh of the Bounty (right) which is made of Coade stone.
The two John Tradescants
In the seventeenth century, the John Tradescants, father and son, travelled in Europe, north Africa and north America bringing back to this country for the first time many of the plants which are now common in gardens.
William Bligh
William Bligh is notorious for his part in the mutiny on the Bounty during its voyage from the South Seas which was intended to transport breadfruit plants as food for the slaves of the plantations in the West Indies.
Bligh was very interested in science and mathematics. He was sailing master on the Resolution when James Cook was in command on his third and last voyage to the Pacific. As sailing master Bligh had to be able to navigate by using compasses and sextants as well as by reading the stars. Working for James Cook he had to be able to use logarithms for calculations and create as well as interpret complex charts.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 20 January 2007
