The Garden History Blog

The figure of justice on the Old Bailey

It’s not everyday that plant theft gets prosecuted or even really hits the headlines. BUT in 1795 there was a fascinating case that reached the Old Bailey and pitted a leading London nurseryman who dealt in exotic new imports against a plant collector who was accused of stealing from his nursery…..and the target plants included a rare geranium!

Pelargonium mucronatum from Robert Sweet’s Geraniaciae, 1820/

The Geraniaciae, or geranium family includes several genera, notably Geranium [the cranesbills], pelargoniums [which confusingly are still commonly called geraniums], and erodiums.   Pelargoniums are indigenous to South Africa and, although a few species had reached western Europe because of the Dutch settlement at Cape Town, pelargoniums remained largely uncollected and unknown until the very late 18thc. So in 1795, despite the fact that most species propagate really easily, they were still rare and so highly prized and collectible – and  thus, of course, very expensive.

Read  the prosecution and defence evidence for yourself and decide whether the jury got the verdict right –  and in the process see what the court evidence reveals about the way that a nursery was run.

Thomas Rowlandson, The Old Bailey, from The Microcosm of London, 1808. © London Lives

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