Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org The botanic gardens, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Botanic Gardens from Albany looking towards the east, with the roof of Government House on the left, the cathedral in the centre. A view of the harbour beyond, a pathway in the foreground.

The Victorian era in Europe was obsessed by the idea of cultivating exotic plants from distant lands. In the newly found Crown Colony, the idea of a public botanic garden emerged as early as 1848, but it was only in 1871 that the Hong Kong Botanic Gardens opened to the public. The gardens were located at Mid-levels on the northern slope of Victoria Peak, and were built on the site of Ping Tao Garden, which served as a temporary home for the former Governor Sir Henry Pottinger in 1841-1842. In the early 1970s the Botanic Gardens underwent a significant expansion, and began to house rare or endangered species of animals and birds for conservation and education purposes. In 1975 they were renamed the Zoological and Botanical Gardens. The photograph shows Victoria Harbour at the time when the Gardens were first opened. In the distance in front of the harbour stood St John’s Cathedral and Headquarters House (now known as Flagstaff House). Both buildings had caused much controversy at the time for blemishing the colony’s landscape, but they have since become completely obscured within a forest of skyscrapers. Photograph ca. 1871 By: John ThomsonPublished: -