Robert Fortune

Robert Fortune – Life, Career, and Legacy

Learn about Robert Fortune (1812–1880), the Scottish botanist and plant hunter whose daring expeditions to China helped break the Chinese monopoly on tea, introduced hundreds of ornamental plants to Europe, and left a complex legacy in botany and imperial science.

Introduction

Robert Fortune (16 September 1812 – 13 April 1880) was a Scottish botanist, plant collector, and traveller.

Largely self-driven, Fortune’s work sits at the intersection of botany, imperialism, horticulture, and economic intrigue. His life offers a rich case study of how science, commerce, and empire intertwined in the 19th century.

Early Life and Background

Robert Fortune was born in Kelloe, in the parish of Edrom, Berwickshire, Scotland, on 16 September 1812.

Little is recorded about his childhood. He apprenticed as a gardener and worked in horticulture in Scotland before securing positions in formal botanical gardens.

In the gardens of Chiswick, he became Superintendent of the hothouse department, and began planning and undertaking his major expeditions.

Career and Achievements

Plant-Hunting Expeditions to China and Beyond

Following the First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking (1842), China's ports became more open (at least officially) to Westerners. The Royal Horticultural Society commissioned Fortune to travel to China to collect plant specimens.

During that journey he ventured into the interior of China (beyond treaty ports), often under disguise or subterfuge, to collect plants, seeds, cuttings, and learn cultivation practices.

On his 1848 mission, he is known to have smuggled tea plants and seeds from China to British India, along with skilled tea workers, in an attempt to break China's monopoly on tea cultivation. Wardian cases (sealed glass cases) to preserve the plants during long voyages.

The results were mixed: many of the transported plants died, but some survived and the techniques and knowledge he brought over significantly aided the nascent Indian tea industry.

Beyond tea, Fortune introduced (or was among the first to bring) hundreds of ornamental species—from China and Japan—into cultivation in Europe, Australia, and North America. Trachycarpus fortunei, Euonymus fortunei, Rosa fortuniana, and many others.

He also visited Japan and Taiwan (Formosa) in later years, documenting agriculture, silkworm cultivation, rice, and cultural practices.

Fortune published vivid travel accounts, including Three Years’ Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China (1847), A Journey to the Tea Countries of China (1852), Two Visits to the Tea Countries (1853), A Residence Among the Chinese (1857), and Yedo and Peking (1863).

Legacy, Honors, and Controversy

Fortune is credited with introducing approximately 250 new ornamental plant species to Western horticulture. Fortunearia sinensis and the genus Fortunella.

However, his role in “stealing” tea plants from China is controversial. Some view his undertakings as a kind of botanical espionage tied to imperial economic motives.

In later life, Fortune continued his botanical work, though his health declined. He died in London on 13 April 1880.

Historical Context & Milestones

• The period of Fortune's activity coincided with the Victorian era, when European nations aggressively sought economic and scientific advantage through plant exploration (tea, rubber, rubber, cinchona, etc.).

• Botanical exploration was often entangled with colonial and imperial projects: access to exotic plants was a form of economic and strategic leverage.

• China, at the time, tightly regulated foreign access, especially to its economically valuable plants like tea. Fortune’s missions thus operated in a legal and moral gray zone.

• The use of Wardian cases (a relatively new invention in the 19th century) was a key technological advance that made long-distance plant transport more feasible.

• Fortune’s efforts contributed to the shift of tea production from quasi-monopolistic Chinese control toward the British colonies in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Personality, Methods & Approach

Fortune’s personality is often described as adventurous, resourceful, determined, and at times secretive or inscrutable.

He combined scientific curiosity with commercial and imperial motives—a hybrid of botanist and agent of colonial enterprise. This complexity is part of the ongoing debate about his legacy.

He took pains to document his journeys, the plants, the cultural context, and technical methods of cultivation—thus producing botanical, ethnographic, and travel literature.

Memorable Quotes & Reflections

While Robert Fortune is not widely known for pithy aphorisms, some lines and sentiments can be drawn from his writings and legacy:

1. From his travel writings, he often expressed wonder and respect for Chinese gardens, horticulture, and natural scenery, as well as frustration about restrictions and challenges of access.

2. He noted the risks and costs he assumed, implicitly asserting that botanical knowledge and plant access were worth great personal and logistical sacrifice.

3. The naming of species after him (e.g. Rosa fortuniana, Trachycarpus fortunei) embeds in scientific memory a tacit reflection on his exploratory legacy.

4. More generally, one might paraphrase themes from explorers of his generation: that “to know plants is to open portals to new economies and new sciences,” or “the world’s flora is a treasury awaiting discovery,” ideas implicit in his work.

Lessons and Reflections

• Science, empire, and ethics are intertwined: Fortune’s career shows how botany and colonial economics often went hand in hand—and how scientific fame sometimes rode on morally ambiguous foundations.

• Innovation in method is as crucial as discovery: The use of Wardian cases, transport techniques, disguise, and local networks were as pivotal as botanical insight.

• Persistence in adversity: His missions faced risk—political, environmental, logistical—but his resolve brought enduring botanical and cultural impact.

• Bridging worlds: By engaging with local gardeners, knowledge systems, and cultural contexts, he acted as a conduit (albeit one with colonial motives) between Chinese horticultural tradition and Western botanical science.

• Legacy is double-edged: While Fortune expanded global horticulture, he also exemplifies how “discovery” narratives often mask appropriation of knowledge and resources.

Conclusion

Robert Fortune was not merely a 19th-century plant collector—he was a botanical adventurer, an agent of horticultural globalization, and a figure who complicates the narrative of science as a purely noble or neutral enterprise. His expeditions brought to Europe countless species once unknown, and his import of tea knowledge to British India arguably reshaped global economies. Yet the methods by which he accomplished these feats remind us that science does not always stand outside power, but often moves within it.