Constance Georgina Adams
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Constance Georgina Adams (6 August 1883 – 21 June 1968), also known as Constance Georgina Tardrew, was a South African
housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
and collector of
botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
specimens. Known by the
nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
s Connie and Daisy, Adams was born in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
and spent her early childhood on a farm in
Tulbagh Tulbagh (), previously named Roodezand, then Land van Waveren later in 1804 named after Cape of Good Hope Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Cape Winelands ...
before moving to Warrenton. She subsequently lived in
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
before getting married, settling in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
where she became active in the Housewives League of South Africa. Inspired by her parents' interest in botany, she became a successful collector for both the Albany Museum in
Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...
and McGregor Museum in Kimberley. She also cultivated a friendship with the Director of the latter, Maria Wilman. She collected over 240 specimens, which were presented to the Albany Museum, McGregor Museum and the National Herbarium in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
.


Life

Constance Georgina Adams, known in her early life as "Connie" and later "Daisy", was born in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, Cape Colony, on 6 August 1883. Her father, John Adams, was a farmer in the district of
Tulbagh Tulbagh (), previously named Roodezand, then Land van Waveren later in 1804 named after Cape of Good Hope Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Cape Winelands ...
, and she spent the first few years of her life on the family farm, Waterfalls. At age 14, she attended Vredenburgh High School, in Cape Town where she won numerous prizes for botany, and then later trained as a teacher. In 1907, the family moved to
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
, where she lived until leaving home. In 1910 she married her cousin, Peter Tardrew, moving first to
Bloemhof Bloemhof is an agricultural town of about 2,000 inhabitants situated on the banks of the Vaal River in North West Province of South Africa. History It was founded in August 1864 when diamonds were discovered in the area. The town was establish ...
and then to
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
in 1936, where she became an active member of the Housewives League of South Africa. The group was an early example of
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
between the races at a time of expanding
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
across the country. She died on 21 June 1968.


Collecting career

Adams developed a passion for botany at an early age. Her family were keen
botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that aut ...
and took an interest in wild and cultivated flowers, and where among the founders of the first wild-flower show in the district. In 1890, the family moved to Warrenton, where Adams started school. She subsequently spent the vacations while at High School collecting specimens for the Herbarium at the Albany Museum in
Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...
.
Selmar Schonland Selmar Schonland (15 August 1860 – 22 April 1940), originally spelt ''Schönland'', the founder of the Department of Botany at Rhodes University, was a German immigrant, who came to the Eastern part of the Cape Colony in 1889 to take up an app ...
, the Director, was a friend of the family and encouraged her. This interest flourished into a substantial collection of over 240 items, which she presented to the museum on 19 September 1919 after moving to Bloemhof. In the meantime, she had become friends with Maria Wilman, Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, for whom she also collected. Her collections are currently held in three herbaria, in Grahamstown, Kimberley and Pretoria, the last in the National Herbarium at the
Pretoria National Botanical Garden The Pretoria National Botanical Garden is one of South Africa's nine National Botanical Gardens. The garden is wedged between Pretoria Road and Cussonia Avenue in Brummeria, in eastern Pretoria, Gauteng, and flanks a central rocky ridge that ru ...
. Amongst the specimens which are included are '' Convovulus boedeckeriamus'' and '' Convovulus ocelatus''. Her collections were particularly important to the identification of the plants of Griqualand.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Constance Georgina 1883 births 1968 deaths 20th-century South African women scientists South African botanical illustrators Scientists from Cape Town 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists