fkwmenu

This page and all the rest re now being hosted on my other website which is AD-FREE.
Click here to go straight there.
Frank Kingdon-Ward
-- biography page 1 --

This page is a biography of my grandfather Frank Kingdon-Ward the botanical explorer.
I began this project because there was no detailed info. about him on the web and I thought this was wrong.
This new version is hopefully easier to follow than before. If you like the site and wish to chuck a few coppers my way, please use the Jeeves search box at the bottom of the page.

Frank Kingdon-Ward was born Francis Kingdon Ward (no hyphen) on 6th november 1885 in Manchester where his father was demonstrator and assistant lecturer of botany at Owen College.		Francis Kingdon Ward.
His middle name came from his mother's maiden name. Selina Mary Kingdon (always known as Lina) came from a moderately wealthy family. Her father was third in a line of exeter lacemakers.	Selina Mary Ward. (Lina)
The Kingdon family is very numerous in its home counties of Devon and Cornwall and has more than its fair share of Oxbridge graduates, clergy, armed services officers and government officials. For information on Kingdon genealogy please contact me by e-mail or see my genealogy page.

His father Harry MarshallWard was already a distinguished botanist in his own right. He eventually became professor of botany at Cambridge University. Despite his many achievements his son surpassed him in the same field.
Frank had a sister Winifred 13 months older they were close friends throughout their lives. As a young boy he wanted to be a cab driver, probably because in those days it would have been with a horse drawn cab so he would have been in the outdoors. I am pleased that I have acheived that ambition for him! When Frank was only four he was "expelled" from his first school. They were staying in France for the summer and Frank was given the run of the local convent school. But after invading several classrooms with creepy crawlies and finally "eloping" with his favoutite girl from assembly the mother superior was quoted as saying "Il a le Diable dans ses jambes" He has the Devil in his legs. It was "a source of great hilarity" to him.

Harry Marshall Ward

Winnifred Mary Ward.

Frank and Ken Ward.	Frank went to Colet court (prep school for St. Paul's) then on to St. Pauls itself. In 1895 Frank's father was appointed professor of botany at cambridge university and Frank made his best friend Kenneth Ward (no relation). They formed a lasting freindship and got up to many scrapes. They had a club (rather exclusively they were the only members) the object of which was to go on adventures preferably involving hardship. On one cycling trip to Oxford their bikes were both damaged so they went on by boat. After a drenching in the rain they got to their camp (they seldom used tents as these were considered cissy) They built a huge fire to dry their clothes but unfortunately slightly burned them instead. They spent a cold night huddled together in a hole in the ground and stuffed straw into the singe holes in their clothes. The next day they reached Oxford, did a bit of sightseeing then, after collecting their bikes enjoyed, on their journey home,"...a ripping ride in the moonlight".
Another of their brilliant ideas was to go to a theatre dressed as girls. This was not some latent tendency but just a jolly good wheeze. Nevertheless if caught they would have been "sent down" (expelled). They enlisted their respective sisters as dressers. The costumes left a little to be desired. Winnie's dress which came down to her ankles only reached Frank's shins and Ken could not put his gloves on at all, so having to keep his hands in a muffler the whole time. On arriving at the theatre with a fellow student as their, essential, chaperone Ken had trouble with his hat The pin nearly pulled his wig off. After a bad start things got worse. The chorus girls noticed something fishy. They were singing a song "hullo hullo a different girl again" they sang straight at the boys but changed the word 'girl' to 'man'. Some other undergrads were trying to get a closer look and our intrepid Dame Edna's had to make a run for it. Frank got up and tripped over someones shoes letting out a most unladylike curse. They made it to the exit but could not find a cab so they had to run the mile and a half home like two second rate Cinderellas.
When Frank was still young he overheard a coversation between his father and a coleague just back from the far east. While most of it was of no interest one phrase stuck out "There are places up the Brahmaputra where no white man has ever been". This one phrase may well have been the start of Frank's entire career. In 1904 he went to Christs college Cambridge. in 1906 sadly his father died aged 58. This forced Frank to cut his education short. He sat tripos and got a second. After agreeing to finish his third year later he went in search of paid work.

A friend of the family arranged a post in Shanghai at a public school, a piece of the home couties in China. Frank had no wish to teach but Singapore was nearer to the Brahmaputra than London so he took the job. After two years of boredom he was offered a place on a zoological expedition led by an American and funded by the Duke of Bedford to search for new species in western China. He agonised over the decision for about a nanosecond before taking extended leave from school and joining the Bedford expedition up the Yangtze. On this trip he discovered a new species of mouse and two new shrews as well as sending back a small collection of plants to Cambridge. On one occasion he wandered off from the main party (a frequent habit of his in years to come) and took two days and nights to get back. This first taste of being lost and alone in a desolate place was good training for his later escapades.
In 1911 with his first publication "On the road to Tibet" published by Shanghai press and elected fellow of the Royal geographical society he was commissioned by A.K.Bulley of Bees seeds to collect hardy plants from Yunnan and Tibet to grow in English gardens. He had barely got back to the school when he accepted this offer and quit his teaching job once and for all. He experienced some doubt about his ability to come up with the goods on his first solo expedition (he was often racked with self doubt) but he need not have worried.
He brought back about 200 different species including 22 new to science (although later many of these introductions were unsuccessful). As well as sending back seeds for cultivation to Bees he made contributions to Kew gardens herbarium. Once again he became seperated on this expedition. He was on a hunting trip and he sent his personal boy back because he was not well. He then lost the path and spent a cold night in the open with nothing but a rain mac. The next day he survived by sucking nectar from flowers and eating a variety of plant life some of which gave him stomach cramps. Towards the end of the second day he began to halucinate. He was stepping over imaginary boulders and logs with great care but falling over every real obstacle that the path could throw at him. As well as several worthwhile plants he also collected malaria on this trip, an illness which never left him the rest of his life. The book "The land of the blue poppy" (one of his best books) was written about this trip.
It is worth noting that the blue poppy for frank was Meconopsis speciosa. Sadly this "most magnificent of flowers" did not survive in England and so was forgotten and Meconopsis betonicifolia became the blue poppy for everyone else. (Frank commissioned a painting of M.speciosa by lady Charlotte Wheeler Cuffe in 1917 it was 4 feet by 2 feet, done in watercolour. If anyone knows of this painting and if it still exists I would very much like to know, especially since I have never seen this plant which Frank enthused so much about.) At the end of this trip he spent some time with his freind Kenneth Ward who was in Rangoon, working, then he came home to Cambridge. During this brief stay he fell in love (infatuation) with a girl who not only rejected his advances but also eloped with another man. He gave a lecture in London his slides of the great mountains of the himalaya caused great awe among the audience who had of course never seen anything like it. He also took time to go climbing with freinds in the Swiss and Italian alps.	Meconopsis betonicifolia.

1913 saw the publication of his book "The land of the blue poppy" and a return to Yunnan and Tibet for Bees. This trip was racked with trouble before it's start. He had great difficulty getting permision to travel at all. Revolution in China had caused some upset to his previous efforts and was to prove more tiresome this time. On the outward voyage a storm in the mediterranean (?) nearly destroyed the ship he was on. The last time he spent mostly in the Mekong valley, this time he wanted to cross the Salween and explore further into Tibet. But Chinese red tape and soldiers and the fearful Tibetans, combined with bad weather etc. made this impossible. He wrote to his sister "If I survive another month without going dotty or white haired it will be a miracle; if my firm get any seeds at all this year it will be another." Apparently many of the seeds he brought back the year before refused to flower (including speciosa) and he was worried that another failure would make him look "pretty cheap". Despite all his best efforts the Chinese won the day on this trip and he returned frustrated. Whilst his exploration work was a disappointment to him he did succeed in returning several new species including 5 Rhododendrons; a genus with which he became closely linked. The book of this expedition was delayed because he wanted to call it "The great gutters of Kham" His publishers thought this unwise (I'll say) it ended up as "The mystery rivers of Tibet.
In 1914 Frank went to Burma on what turned out to be a nightmare trip. A 40 foot tree fell on his tent in a storm. Fortunately it was partially caught on other trees and he crawled from the wreckage unscathed, much to the amazement of his porters. During a stay at a village a storm broke. In Frank's words it, "suddenly burst on us with awful fury, simply crashing down on the village from the mountains, as though someone was tipping barrels of hot water and compressed air on top of us." Frank's hut was squashed against the next one which was almost crushed completely. These huts were not little round hovels but large long constructions of considerable weight and Frank climbed inside through a hole in the roof to search for injured people. To his relief he found none and to the villagers relief he emerged before the hut subsided further. Another time he fell off a precipice but managed to grab a tree and hang on till he could be hauled to safety still another he rolled down a short slope in pitch darkness. When a light was brought it was seen that he was on the edge of a sheer drop.
On the return leg he came across some British officers. He asked if there was any news. He had been away for several months. "You know about the war?" said one. "You mean China? Or is it civil war in Ireland?" The officers stared blankly and said "No, England France and Russia against Germany and Austria". Frank forced himself on a quick march to Fort Hertz the main British garrison to join the war effort as soon as possible. (At that time it was believed that the war would be "over by Christmas" and he wanted to get involved before it was all over.) He arrived at Fort Hertz just in time to go down with fever for six weeks! If he had been a day longer he would probably not have made it at all. From here he joined the Indian infantry as a 2nd lieutenant and made every effort to get posted to the front to "have a go at the hated Hun". Unfortunately the army kept him in India and Burma for special duties, namely censorship. He hated this work which consisted of a handful of letters a week along with inspecting the disinterested indigenous troops. He got up to a number of interesting adventures which a skilled writer might weave into a good comic novel. He filled the rest of his time collecting plants where possible, writing up his new book and planning his next expedition. After two years he was posted to Mesopotamia (Iraq) and given the rank of acting Captain. Despite all his efforts he still did not see any action for the whole war unless you count chasing elephants or escaping from crocodiles. On the subject of his wishes to fight at the front his sister Winifred wrote "...anyone old enough to remember that war -the wholesale slaughter, the gradual blackenning of the London streets as mothers, wives, daughters, sweethearts went into mourning, the long daily lists in the Times - will undestand..." that they hoped his wish would not be fulfved the cable, sent June 23rd by Winifred notifying him of the death of their mother. Frank returned to England via Rangoon.
During this visit home, he became engaged to Florinda Norman-Thompson. A stunning 23 year old of whom it was said rst time in 7 years. On his return voyage he fell in "infatuation" again. with a girl called Alice. His dance card read; Alice in wonderland, Alice through the looking glass, Alice for short, Alice, Alice where art thou, (hiding?) Alice blue gown, He wrote to her on his return but an interfering relative stopped the letter and nothing came of it. While at home he met another girl and promtly proposed to her. Incredibly she also eloped with another man. (to loose two seems like carelessness!) During this return he purchased a partnership in a nursery garden, hoping to do for himself what he was doing for Bees seeds. He left the day to day running of the business to his partner while the plan was he would go off and bring back the stock.

1921 saw him return to Yunnan and Szechuan financed by the Royal society and also Largely by the Percy Sladen Memorial fund. At Muli on the Litang river the "king" was ill and Frank was expected to find a cure as all westerners were believed to have healing powers. Frank administered some placebo and waited his fate while climbing and collecting near the monastery. After two weeks the "king" was on his feet and smiling. Frank knew about the people and how to deal with them. On this occasion he had bought a cheap watch, camera, gun, etc from a peddler knowing that he would be expected to give them to the king as gifts. In return he got a feast and a poodle. (lovely) He brought back two dozen or so Rhododendrons about 40 Primulas and a few Meconopsis. He was not happy with his mapping and exploration efforts but felt that it was good practise and he would do better next time.
Next time was next year. He planned an ambitious trip but was struck by fever on arrival at Lichiang in July. He went instead to Atuntzu and renewed some old freindships with the catholic missionaries and others there. As his health returned he started back on his plan to head west to the Taron river and on to Hkamti Long (I realy must get a map on to this site). This had been his aim on the unsuccessful 1913 expedition. This time he was successful reaching Hkamti Long and Fort Hertz in November. From there while waiting for permission to go on into Assam he went on a week long explore up the Mali-Hka river but he again went down with fever and had to be stretchered back. The porters, perhaps overstretched, left him lying in the sun while they went back for luggage. Frank describes waking up in the night crying for water, he had not eaten for two days. He had one raw egg on the fourth day; and the next day, a week later than planned he got back to Fort Hertz, 12th Dec. where he recuperated over Christmas. It was while staying here that he received the cable, sent June 23rd by Winifred notifying him of the death of their mother. Frank returned to England via Rangoon.
During this visit home, he became engaged to Florinda Norman-Thompson. A stunning 23 year old of whom it was said that "she did not follow fashion, she lead it".
She was blonde, but no bimbo. She had rejected his proposal earlier, when they met in 1920 but then relented in 1922. She wrote a long letter, the gist of which was, She had rejected him for reasons which were no longer in place and that if he still feels the same way that she would be happy to marry him. She refers to the reasons in the letter but does not go into the specifics. She does say that "...being married with any kind of mental reservation would be unfaithfulness, really." Sadly, despite her lack of reservations at the time, the marriage did not last, of which more later. Oddly enough my mother's recollection is that she married him partly out of pity. His doctor seemed to think he was not long for this world. He had no money to speak of at the time (or ever) so any thought of gold digging would be way off the mark. They married at Kensington register office, April 11th 1923. In June she wisked him off to Ireland, her home territory. She was a capable and ambitious businesswoman with many useful contacts. A rose hybrid created by Dickinsons of Newtownards in Ireland was named after her. I have tried several avenues to locate a picture of the rose "Florinda Norman-Thompson" or some more information but to no avail. Dicksons records were destroyed by fire some years ago and none of the family recalls this particular hybrid. Any info would be greatly appreciated. They stayed with Mr. Harry Barton,who had created a famous garden and he introduced them to Hugh Armytage Moore owner of Rowallane (My source has R.J.Moore but Rev. John Moore died in 1903 and left the garden to his nephew)

Biography page 1, Biography Page 2, Biography Page 3, Biography Page 4,
Bibliography, Species1, Species2, Species 3, Timeline, Genealogy, My homepage, Links page,

kingdon, ward, frank, francis, botany, botanical, explorer, exploration, history, biography, horticulture, herbarium, species, seeds, flower, tibet, china, yangtse, tsangpo, garden, gardening, meconopsis, rhododendron, primula, wardii, assam, burma, himalaya,