Photograph of a double page spread of an A4 diary volume rests on foam book supports. The page on the left-hand side contains the latter half of a diary entry from August 16th, 1922. Watling writes that the family discovered two snakes and saw a grasshopper with striped legs. She also writes that the ‘Railway flower and yellow Arum Lily are out.’ Below is the first half of a diary entry from August 23rd, 1922. Watling writes about various insects the family saw and caught, including a yellow ladybird, a Sphinx Moth, a grasshopper and a beetle. On the right-hand page, Watling has painted a flowering white Spider Lily, with the upper stem, upper portion of the leaves and the flower all in view. The painting takes up the whole page, with one leaf spilling over into the bottom third of the left-hand page. Midway down the right-hand side of the page, Watling’s governess has annotated the painting with the word ‘fair’ in pencil. Watling has captioned the painting ‘Spider Lily’ in pen at the bottom-right of the page.

Another week another find shared with the team by our 'Archives Revealed' cataloguer:

Elisabeth de Gravers Watling kept this diary to document encounters with nature in India when she was 10. This Spider Lily is particularly impressive, although her governess only deemed it ‘fair’!

#KewLA

The Usk Gaol books — Explore Your Archive The Usk Gaol books document those who were arrested and serving time at Usk County Gaol, known as ‘the New House of Correction’.

🚨New blog alert: For this month's theme of #EYACrime, @gwentarchives.bsky.social were kind enough to write a (bilingual!) blog post about the Usk Gaol books and the women's stories they contain! 📜

@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

www.exploreyourarchive.org/the-usk-gaol...

🗣 Shoutout to the amazing @perthwomenonwikipedia ,who were highlighted in an article by the National on Tuesday, in which we also got a wee mention!

The work they’re doing to write women back into Perth’s mighty history – is incredible, essential and glorious. Congrats to Gill Ryan & all involved

‘Luggage’ is an everyday word I don’t really think about and then I realise it means ‘stuff I lug around’ and now I am very fond of the word luggage.

Coloured illustrations of 12 tulips on a page from Emmanuel Sweerts' 1620 work 'Florilegium'. The tulips are annotated in handwriting underneath. 16. Tulipa purpurea Candidis oris. 17. Tulipa Carmosina 18. Tulipa alba rubro purpureo 19. Tulipa purpu. lineis Violaceis. 20. Tulipa luteis floribus lineis Rubris 21. Tulipa lutea oris Rubris 22. Tulipa Rubra fundo Vario 23. Tulipa luto hilari rubro confusa 24. Tulipa Cremosina

Several pink tulips photographed up close in the sunshine, showing green stems and other plants having been potted around them.

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and share some more blossoms from the Library and Archives, both inside and outside the building💐

#KewLA

Archival collections are never straightforward in terms of holding! Especially with donations. Our ARA pals @araarchmus.bsky.social are offering an excellent session on mixed collections, and you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your (home) office

Impact seminar - community and volunteer engagement Hear how different archives have approached engaging with community groups and collaborating with volunteers.

📆 If you're free on 29 April over lunch, why not join this online impact seminar all around community and volunteer engagement? @shabnambalouch.bsky.social , Dr Anushka Tay and I will be chatting about the 'Persia Reimagined' workshops in November 🌷

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/impact-sem...

Did you know the Falklands has its own archives? They’re all ready to share for #archive30 (I hope there’s at least one penguin in the mix)

The archives of the British Trust for Ornithology — Explore Your Archive To round off this month's EYA Wildlife theme, we are highlighting the collections and work of the British Trust for Ornithology's archive

Last day of #EYAWildlife and a new blog post is up from the British Trust for Ornithology about their archives 🦤

@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social

www.exploreyourarchive.org/the-archives...

"The IOC already tried mandatory sex testing. For decades, every female Olympic athlete was screened. In all those years, it never caught a single person deliberately misrepresenting their sex. What it did was destroy the careers & lives of women with intersex conditions they didn’t know they had."

Two stacks of shelving on either side of the photograph, filled with labelled brown archive boxes.

🌸Get the opportunity to work with Archives staff and a visiting artist. Travel expenses in London (TFL Zones 1-4) will be paid.

📆Apply by Sunday 12 April 2026
📜Microsoft Form here: forms.office.com/e/mdVXh3icAZ

2/2

Hand coloured drawing of two green mangoes hanging from a stem. The illustration is on darkened paper with a small identification written in ink in the bottom right corner, noting the location of Madras.

🚨Call for participants of Asian, African and Caribbean heritage: join free creative workshops at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where we will be critically engaging with historical botanical records about fruit, forestry and plant collection - plus opportunity to co-curate a public exhibition. 1/2

🌴Nice to see Kew Gardens represented collections elsewhere 🌷

Transgender women banned from Olympics by new IOC policy The new policy limits eligibility in women’s events to biological females based on genetic screening beginning at the 2028 Games.

The IOC has announced a trans and intersex athlete ban requiring an invasive SRY genetic test for female athletes.

In the 20+ years trans women were eligible, only one ever competed and none ever medaled. This is solving for a problem that doesn't exist.

www.nbcnews.com/sports/olymp...

A photograph of the back of Kew's Palm House with a tree of pale pink blossom in the foreground set against a sparkling blue sky.

A woodblock print of Prunus armeniaca from Honzō Zufu (illustrated manual of medicinal plants) from Kew's Library and Archives. It shows a sprig of 8 flowers in various stages of bloom rendered in graduated pinks to white. Japanese text runs down the side of the page.

I don't always get a chance to see what is flowering in the Gardens during the working week so it was nice to see some of the spectacular blossoms near the Palm House recently. Of course we are lucky to have our own blossoms in the Library and Archives, but in botanical illustration form! #KewLA

If you'd like to see a few more behind-the-scenes glimpses and collection highlights, please do follow Fiona as she'll share more from Kew Gardens' Library and Archives collections. 🌷⬇️

We are pleased to announce the latest cohort of SHAPE Involve and Engage awardees, who will be working with various partner organisations in the GLAM sector to help bring the humanities and social sciences closer to the public. Read more about the projects here: https://bit.ly/4suMO75

Four library staff members stand in front of bookshelves.

We're hiring 3 Graduate Trainees! You’ll need enthusiasm, positivity, and customer skills to deliver an exceptional service to our members.

📜 Read our Graduate Trainee blog: https://bit.ly/3Kk7QkF
📆 Deadline 15 March 2026
ℹ️ Job info and apply online: https://bit.ly/4r7WfrG

#LibraryJobs #LISJobs

Photograph of a black and white line drawing depicting two flowers, leaves and the stem of a rose plant. Illustrations of plant parts (labelled with a letter relating to a key, and their magnification) are drawn around the outer edge of the plate. In the lower left corner can be seen two drawings of the magnified leaf surface while a cross section of the flower is shown in the lower right corner. Despite being rendered in monochrome the drawing is skillfully shaded to show the shape of the plant.

Botanical illustrator Stella Ross Craig is known for her skilled line drawings such as this Rosa tomentosa from her magnum opus 'Drawings of British Plants' - a series to which she dedicated 25 years. See other examples of her work in Kew's Library display, open Tues-Wed 10.00-4.00, until 21st May.

Connecting Refugee Histories Through the Living Refugee Archive — Explore Your Archive Paul V Dudman has written about the refugee histories within their archive collections and the importance of building connections

✨New Blog✨

For our February theme #EYAConnections we have a new blog from @livingrefarchives.bsky.social, exploring the refugee histories within their archive collections and the importance of building connections.

www.exploreyourarchive.org/connecting-r...

#ExploreYourArchive

Black and white line drawing depicting two flowers, leaves and the stem of a rose plant. Illustrations of plant parts (labelled with a letter relating to a key, and their magnification) are drawn around the outer edge of the plate. In the lower left corner can be seen two drawings of the magnified leaf surface while a cross section of the flower is shown in the lower right corner. Despite being rendered in monochrome the drawing is skillfully shaded to show the shape of the plant.

Poster for the exhibition 'Flora, Dissected: The Botanical Illustrations of Stella Ross-Craig, from Britain and Beyond' at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The main focal illustration is a coloured illustration of Banksia. Below the title of the exhibition is: "Visit our display showcasing original material from Kew's Library & Archives.". The date and location info is included on the bottom right under a small map detailing the entrance: "10th February to 21st May 2026. Library & Archives Reading Room. Tuesday and Wednesday (10am-4pm). No booking required. library@kew.org."

🎨Stella Ross-Craig (1906-2006) is known for her skilled line drawings such as this Rosa tomentosa from her work 'Drawings of British Plants' - a series to which she dedicated 25 years! Keen to see other examples of her drawings in Kew's Library display? Details on the display below 👇 #KewLA

Image showing a watercolour of the orchid Vanda concolor depicting the roots, leaves and purple brown flowers of the plant. A flower dissection is shown in the lower right hand corner of the image with its five petals spread out like an exploding star. Text along the upper left of the image reads 'Chinese Plants from the Collection of Sir W.J. Hooker' with text in Chinese characters to the lower right of the image.

This 19th Century watercolour of the Chinese orchid Vanda concolor from Kew's Library is thought to have been illustrated by an unrecorded Chinese artist.

See spectacular examples of live orchids on show as part of our Orchid Festival at Kew: 7 February - 8 March 2026 👉 www.kew.org/kew-gardens/...

Open book with a colour illustration of a bolete on the right-hand page. The description is in Polish.

Black and white illustration of various fungi

Detail of a colour illustration of various insects and cordyceps fungi growing out of them.

Here are some books we came across during a project in the mycology library last week. Our Library and Archives collections do not only cover plants, but also fungi and lichens. Some have very beautiful illustrations. Others (like the cordyceps) are rather gruesome... 🍄🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫 #KewLA

Photograph of an American bison standing beside a fence at the London Zoo in 1906.

The research guide on Environmental History that I wrote for The National Archives, UK is now live! Includes research advice and resources on colonial environments, pollution, agriculture, and animal histories.

Available here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-yo...

#envhist #envhum

A section of a notebook, rest on foam supports. The page is titled ‘7. Uninvited guests at 4 Willow Cottages, Kew, 1892-1915’. Beneath this are two columns, listing the names of plants found at the property: datura stramonium; Amaranthus retroflexus; Oxalis corniculata rubia; Oenothera lamarckiana; [?] roseum; Lychnis alba; Silene latifolia; Chenopodium rubrum; Senebiera didyma; Senebiera coronopus; Melilotus indicus (1917); Euphorbia virgata; Sisyrinchium angustifolium; Papaver somniferum; Galinsoga parviflora; Epilobium hirsutum; Ornithopus perpusillus; S.noctiflora; Althaca rosea

Amongst the notes of 19th century horticulturalist & botanist John Fraser, we spotted this list of unwelcome visitors to a property in Kew! John's ‘uninvited guests’ were botanical rather than human, including species such as thornapple and gallant soldier. How many can you recognise? #KewLA

The Senses and Medical Humanities A one-day workshop exploring sensory studies and medical humanities through short talks, creative activities, and networking.

I'm delighted to share details of the first of two workshops I'm hosting this year on The Senses and Medical Humanities. The first workshop will take place in Durham on 24 February. Spaces are limited, so reserve yours now.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-senses...

a cat wearing glasses is sitting on top of an open book on a table . ALT: a cat wearing glasses is sitting on top of an open book on a table .

I've been lazy regarding reading articles/books/etc. for keeping up with archive/records management matters the last few years.
Are anyone able to share recent reading lists from the archive courses? Or any recommendations on articles regarded as essential reading for the modern archivist?

🚨Seeking blogs for Explore Your Archive - if you or anyone you know would like to write about their collections for one of these themes, please do get in touch! We're always looking for more blogs to post: www.exploreyourarchive.org/the-stories-...

A great way to get your collections out there 📜

Four sheets of paper, roughly A6-sized, pasted onto a larger page. The individual smaller pages are handwritten and contain notes in French, Greek, and Latin. They are presumably notes or correspondence on specific specimens and plants collected by or for Gay.

🗺️What a multi-lingual collection: Jacques Gay was a botanist and collector from Switzerland and our Archives hold over 35 volumes of his manuscripts. He wrote mainly in French, although Latin and even Greek found its way into his writing as well. Any polyglots able to translate? #KewLA

Empires, Plants & Gardening: Kew in Jamaica The second talk in our series exploring the influence of political and economic power on garden-making

I'll be talking about the Hope Botanic Gardens in Jamaica on 27th Jan, using records from the colonial archives at Kew Gardens 🌴

Signup here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/empires-pl...