Ooty pays tribute to botanical garden’s architect

Udhagamandalam: The horticulture department on Saturday observed the 148th death anniversary of William G McIvor , the architect of the world-famous government botanical garden in Ooty . The Nilgiris collector M Aruna placed a wreath on his tomb at the cemetery of St Stephens’ church in Ooty in the presence of Sibila Mary, joint director of horticulture, and Rev Ramesh Babu. The marble tomb was erected by McIvor’s wife Anne after his demise on June 8, 1876.

McIvor was 51 when he died. In 1848, McIvor, trained in the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew, was brought to Ooty to transform the wilderness into a beautiful garden. It took nearly 20 years for him to complete the layout in 1867.

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