Lady Joan Legge Explained

Lady Joan Legge
Birth Date:21 February 1885
Birth Place:Marylebone, London, England
Death Place:Valley of Flowers, India
Father:William Legge
Relatives:William Legge (brother)
Humphry Legge (brother)

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]

Early life

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

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

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

Notes and References

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