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62

It ws dring isit to th Ntr Histor M

tht I first stmbd ross m rson ink thsiin nd sintist, Sir Hns Son. On b

rsrh on Son, I soon risd tht whi

mh writtn bot his oting, itt hd bbot th rson dtis of his ong if – h id

So I hos to roh m std of Son from th

sts of his if nd to ook into thos things ththim. This d m to Son’s Natural History of Jama

two oms in 1707 nd 1725.

FaMIly cONNecTIONSIn th ntr of this book I fond m of th isn

I notid m st nm – Fostr – gin to n r otrnd ot to b nttion. Its otion ws in th

hrd dsribd b m fthr nd grndfthr s th

whr m fmi hd origintd from.I hd bn tght tht I ’m dsndd from Mro

afrins who hd sd sr on th nttion

rmot otion in dfin of ooni r. Th monfirm tht stor, nd s I rd th tx t frthr I d

Son ws qintd with th ownr of th nt

broght simns to Son in london from his ftSon’s rson frind. Frthr rsrh rd t

Ian Foster is fmiir with th nd storis from Son’s Ntrof Jmi, hing id on th isnmbr of rs. Bt h ws srdisor his own onntion withnt hntr. Hr h ronts histor nd rnt disoris s hJmi, th nd of his nstors

from humble beginnings t

of the world’s greatest colle

C E L E B R A T I

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64 evolve issue 4 evolve issue 4

ws th mn dsribd b Son s th

‘ingnios Dr Brhm’ nd ws mjorontribtor to th sond om of Natural 

History of Jamaica. Son nomintd him

for tion to th Fowshi of th RoSoit nd ws his host whn h isitd

chs in 1717.

This disor ws hg xiting – ikfinding th rorbi trsr m – nd s

I bgn to ndrstnd Son nd th tim

h id in, I ws norgd to rs mrsrh in th knowdg tht this ws no

ongr sim histor… bt so m stor.

SlOaNe THe aDveNTuReRFrom hmb bginnings in Irnd, Son

ros to grt im nd ws rsonsib

for nmbr of niq himnts tht

h infnd th modrn word. yt hisnm rmins hrd known otsid chs

in london, whr mn strt nms br

witnss to his infn on th r.Now, in this 350th nnirsr r,

thr is n oortnit to xor his

himnts. Th most ffti w tohighight th rn of Son’s work

is b sing his dt nd obsrtions to

ontin his work tod on sstinbiit,oog, onsrtion, imt hng, food

nd tr nd soi domnt s

w s th rts, dsign nd sin.unik mn of his ontmorris, Son

hd jornd to nw ontris nd sn

things for himsf. a og to Jmi ws

rr nd dngros dntr from whih

mn wod not rtrn, bt Son wskn to tk th oortnit to do so, n

thogh h rd hd good rosts s bdding ong hsiin in london. Mn

of th things h dsribd nd obsrd r

sti r rnt tod nd his work is b oint of rfrn in th std

of oog nd ntr.

IN HIS FOOTSTepSI rnt rtrnd to Jmi to tr

som of Son’s momnts nd isit th

s h tkd bot in Natural History 

of Jamaica.

Th hos whr h id in Snish Town

is ong sin gon, bt th nm of his

mor is rmmbrd in Monk Strt.

I otd Sixtn Mi Wk, th rorth isitd oftn nd whih ws on known

s th finst nttion on th isnd. His

frind, th dntrr Wiim Dmir,hd bn mod thr s borr in

rir tims nd ftr Son’s mrrig to

eizbth Ros, Son bm rt-ownrof th stt, thogh nr rtrnd to s

it. It is now diidd into smr rosros

frms nd nrb I fond oo ntsgrowing ‘s if sont’ – to mn fr nd

ntitd in iing mmor ording

to os. It ws fsinting to think thsnts m b rtd to Son’s origin

300-r-od oo simn tht h

otd in th r.

I so fond th rind

Mrtr, whih ws rd

Son isitd it, hing b th rir Snish st

north of th isnd for r

rios Son ws kn of th odst xisting rm

std bidings in th am

rord of it is r indindrstnding of its hist

On m rtrn to londo

nnirsr of Son’s bSon Hrbrim. amon

simns ws rg

book with th nm Brhon th sin. Insid wr

rssd nts otd

som of whih m hnttion m nstors

I ft grtf to Dr Son

whih nbd m to som own st, n nx

stding this grt mn’s

about the  In is rrnt inoof rojts in JmiDNa nsis of oond n oriw of Jro in obortion unirsit. H is so onsrtionists to rott nim nd rfrrd to b Sonndngrd Jminow bo, both of wttmtd to bring bIn hs most omof Sir Hns Son, wbish in th nr f

Sloane in Jamaica

>> In 1687, Hns Son ws

ong mn jst bginning rr

in mdiin. H ws initd to go

to Jmi s rson dotor to

th isnd’s nw engish gornor,

th 2nd Dk of abmr.

His jorn wod h hg

infn on his if nd indd

th ntion.

>> Son std in Jmi for

15 months nd snt his fr

tim xoring th isnd oting

hndrds of simns. H

ontind oting throghothis if nd his otion formd

th bsis of th British Msm,

from whih th Ntr Histor

Msm ws tr fondd. among

th simns h otd ws

th first oo nt, Theobroma

cacao, rgrdd s th odst t

simn in xistn.

>> Bk in engnd, h md

rf ist of his nts. ltr

h wrot bot his disoris

in his book d Voyage to the

Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves,

St Christophers and Jamaica, with

the Natural History of the Herbs

and Trees, Four-footed Beasts,

Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles,

&c. Of the last of those ISLANDS,

othrwis known s Natural 

History of Jamaica.

>> Whn Son rrid inJmi, th isnd hd bn

British oon for fwr thn 20

rs. Bfor tht, it hd bn

Snish oon for mor thn 250

rs. Th Snish indd th

isnd in 1509 nd mor or ss

wid ot th isnd’s first o,

th Tinos (or arwks) who m

from Soth amri.

>> Th Snish broght o

from afri to Jmi s ss to

work on nttions of tobo,

off nd sgr n. Mn

sd whn th British rrid

nd id s fr o, bt th

British broght in thosnds mor.

>> Sgr ws in grt dmnd in

ero, bt growing nd mking it

ws r hrd work. lo o

oftn rfsd to do it, so th

British fid th bor g bontining th trd in nsd

o from Wst afri. Jmi

bm th sgr it of th

word, nd mn British o

md st fortns. Son

himsf tr mrrid th wth

widow of nttion ownr.

In the centre of this book I found a mapof the island. To my surprise I noticedmy last name, Foster …

Overleaf Th SonHrbrim in thMsm’s Drwincntr.Right Th nmJmi origints fromth ngg of thindignos Tino ond mns nd of woodnd srings. BelowTh m from Natural History of Jamaica showing In Fostr’s stnm in rd.