George Claridge Druce Correspondence

Includes correspondence from Druce in his role as Secretary of the Botanical Society and Exchange Club of the British Isles, and a letter detailing his botanical discoveries on a tour of north-west Scotland and the Isle of Skye.

George Claridge Druce (23 May 1850 - 29 February 1932) was a pharmacist and botanist. Druce grew up in Northamptonshire but moved to Oxford in 1879 to establish his own shop, Druce & Co., at 118 High Street. In 1889 he was awarded an honorary MA from the University of Oxford, and was appointed to the position of Fielding Curator in the Department of Botany at the University in 1895. He was elected Mayor of Oxford for the year 1900-1901.

Throughout his life Druce was involved in a number of societies: he helped establish the Northampton Natural History Society in 1876, and the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire in 1901 [merged from the Ashmolean Society established in 1828 and the Oxfordshire Natural History Society which Druce founded in 1880]. He also acted as Secretary of the Botanical Society and Exchange Club of the British Isles.

George Claridge Druce published his research on botany in 'The Flora of Oxfordshire' [1886], 'The Flora of Berkshire' [1887], 'The Flora of Buckinghamshire' [1926] and 'The Flora of West Ross' [1929]. Following his death in 1932 Druce's herbaria and library were bequeathed to the University of Oxford.

This collection is fully accessible and not subject to restrictions under the Data Protection Act.