Hugh Low ( 1824 - 1905 )

Youth and the love of adventure go hand and hand , and both have appropriately found their places in various fields. Orchid discovery and cultivation ,too, have been futhered to a great extent by the courage and daring of young men who followed their dreams . Of the many renowned travelers and botanical collectors in the nineteenth century , one of the most enterprising was a young Englishman named Hugh Low.

Coming from an established horticultural family, the Lows of Clapton , Hugh Low was born on 10 May 1824. His father ,a Scot by birth ,had established a nursery business (hugh Low & Company )only four years previously eight miles from the heart of London. Choice green-house plants were grown in great profusion at the firm and a very high standard of cultivation became their hallmark.

Young Hugh was a lover of plants and a keen observer , and it is therefore not unusual that at an early age he eagerly grasped the opportunity for travel and exploration in the Far East. Numerous accounts are given concerning the circusmstances of his departure. Some state that he obtained an appointment with the East India Company in 1840, 1843, or 1845 and met Mr. (subsequently Sir) James Brooke aboard ship, then on his way to Borneo . Other sources indicate that young Low was sent out to collect flora in the East Indies and that Brooke was already engaged all the while in Borneo . To date no substantial evidence had been found to indicate precisely when they first corresponded or met. In any case ,whenever it was, Brooke was so impressed with young Low's bearing and ablilities that he convinced the youth to join him as secreatry and companion . Low subsequently spent nearly three years with Brooke in and near Borneo.

Early in 1845 Low sailed from Singapore to Sarawak . From there he returned to England where in 1848 he published his work entitled Sarawak , its Inhabitants and Productions , a compilation of notes made during his residence in that island . He remarked in his book that :"My object (the collection of plants and seeds) led me more into the country ,and amongst the tribes of Aborifines, than any other Englishman who has yet visited the shores of this island" .

The work contained a wealth of information on the natural history of the region , and his detailed descriptions of Bornean orchids gave further evidence of his abilities as an observant naturalit .The interior of Sarawak had not then previously been explored by other than the natives, and because very little of that part of the world was known botanically it was a thrill for Low to enter virgin territory and find a host of new and beautiful plants which he sent to the family firm in England . In Sarawak he discovered many rare plants. Several new species of Nepenthes were introduced as well as such distinctive orchids as Coelogyne pandurata , Coelogyne asperata , Dendrobium lowii, Paphiopedilum lowii , and Arachnanthe lowii.

Low's intellectual curiosity drew him into a study of the peoples of Sarawak as well as the country's economic potentialities and farming practices. He traveled extensively , sometimes with Brookes's officers and at other times alone, collecting plants , discoursing with the Malays and Dyaks in their remote settlements, and taking notes of everything he saw.

Brooke became acting governor of Labuan in 1848 and Hugh Low accompanied him and became colonial treausrer of the island . He also visited Lawas and Brunei and became the first climber to ascend Mt. Kinabalu ,in 1851, where he collected numerous fine plants to send to England . So esteemed was he by the natives, and so well known as a collector of plants , that the indigenous " jewel " orchids ,Hamaria and Anoectochilus ,became known to the common vernacular name for the many orchids he collected in West Borneo and the Anambas and Natoena Islands.

He had a winning personality and his knowledge of the Malay dialects was extensive .He had a keen empathy for the natives , their laws, and their customs-a faculty which was destined to build his future eminence .

In April 1876 Low was appointed chief resident of Perak following internal strife and struggle in the colonial government and the brutal murder of the previous resident . He was fifty-three years of age then , having spent nearly thirty years of his official life in the Labuan administration . He immediately introduced a reformed government -reestablishing good relations with the native chiefs, gaining their confidence , and reaffirming their functions in government policy . He also took a great interest in improving the agriculture of the colony . Among many improvements ,he introduced high-class cattle-Jerseys , Alderneys , and Nellore cattle from India -which were kept at Kaula Kangsa and on the Taiping Hills.

He was a fellow of the Linnean Society , the Zoological Society , and the Society of Antiguaries . He was created C.M.G. in 1879,K.C.M.G. in 1883 ,and G.C.M.G. in 1889. In the latter year he retired from his post after more than forty years ' s experience of colonial administration in the Eat Indies . During those years he enriched English orchidology immeasurably .A few of the orchids which commemorate his family name are Houlletia lowiana , Sobralia lowii ,Stanhopes lowii ,Cymbidium lowianum ,and the hybrid orchid genus Lowiara .

Men like Sir Hugh Low were rare and valuable assets during those times. Their interests and accomplishments were varied and fruitful ,and while orchidology may claim them for their halls of fame , their other endeavors , too, did establish the foundations of all further developments in their respective fields. Hugh Low was a pioneer of orchidology -and numerous other studies -in the Malay States.

He was married twice: in 1848 to Catherine Napier of Singapore and Labuan , who bore him a son and a daughter (Catherine died in 1851) , and in 1885 to Anne Douglas of Carr House , Monkseaton , Northumberland .

He died at Alassio , Italy , on 18 April 1905 , less than a month from his eithty - first birthday .

References

Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federaed Malay States. 1905 .Vol. 4, no.6.

Arnold , Ralph E. 1932. Sir Hugh Low in Sarawak . The Orch .Rev. 40, no. 468.

Blowers ,J. W. 1958. Messrs . Stuart Low (Benenden ) , Ltd . The Orch. Rev, 66,no. 778.

Curtis ,Charles H. 1955.Notes . The Orch. Rev. 63,no. 744.

Gardeners' Chronicle . 1905 . Sir Hugh Low .Vol. 37,no. 957.

Journal of the Malayan Branch -Royal Asiatic Society . 1954. The Journal of Sir Hugh Low , Perak , 1877. Emily Sadka ,ed. Vol. 27 ,pt . 4 .

Lemmon ,Kenneth . 1962. The Covered Garden . London . Museum Press Ltd .

Orchid Review , The . 1893 . Vol. 1 ,no. 10 .

Orchid Revies . The . 1905 . Onituary .Vol. 13. no. 150.

Van Steenis ,V.G.G. J. 1950. Cyclopedia of Collectors. Flora Malesiana .Vol. 1, ser. 1.