Newsletter  (1991)  Page(s) 99. Vol 12, No. 1.  
 
Hazel Le Rougetel:  ....Rivers also mentions dwarf hybrid perpetuals and says they were "little pet plants for pot culture, esteemed by lady amateurs".  And the best one of these he mentions was called Pauline Bonaparte, she was a small white. 

Book  (1991)  Page(s) 42.  
 
David Ruston. Fourth World Heritage Rose Conference. Our last port of call was the nursery garden of "Roseneath" jointly owned by Alan Sinclair and Theo Verryt.... I have been collecting tea roses for a number of years and was able to add 'Mrs. Bosanquet' to my list of "Wanted Ones".

Book  (1968)  Page(s) 76.  
 
Extracts of a talk by Mrs. Nancy Steen, New Zealand.   Some of the Loveliest of the Old-fashioned Roses.
Mrs. Bosanquet with small, flat double flowers resembling, in miniature, those of Souvenir de la Malmaison. 
 

Book  (1966)  Page(s) 68.  Includes photo(s).
 
In 1860 a Nelson nurseryman, William Hales, published a list of roses, and included in it was the name Mrs. Bosanquet.  Ellen Willmott, in The Genus Rosa, described it as a useful, sweet and free-blooming rose, having very definite characteristics of the China family.   As it was a popular and much loved plant, it would be surprising if it had disappeared from our old gardens entirely.  When we went overseas, we did endeavour to check up on this rose, with no success.  The only plant we saw of that name was in France; and it was in a dying condition, quite useless for identification purposes.  This was a big disappointment, as no one in England could help us either. However,  on  our arrival home in the spring we found the first blooms of the new season out on our little plants—the best we had seen, in spite of an abnormally wet winter. The flowers  grow  in clusters on wiry,  typically China stems; but the blooms are much  fuller than those of the China  Roses, being flat and quartered, and of a delicious shade of blush pink, deepening in the centre—in fact, they look like miniatures of the flowers of Souvenir de la Malmaison, another member of the  Bourbon family.   Remembering that there was a coloured illustration of Mrs Bosanquet in  Dr Julius Hoffman's The Amateur Gardener's Rose Book we brought some buds and fully opened blooms  indoors and placed  them alongside this reproduction—the only picture of this rose that we have seen. The two  were  so alike that we hope now that we have found the old favourite of 1832. Mrs  Bosanquet  was called after the wife of one of the finest rose  growers of that time, who owned a large private collection. We intend to send bud-wood to England later this year, and hope to get this matter finally cleared up by experts. At the present time, in the middle of an extremely dry and hot summer, the blooms are only half the size of those we saw in the spring, and are not opening so well. All are showing their China  ancestry in the deepening colour of the outer guard petals. If we had not seen those early flowers in their first spring glory, we might still have felt doubtful about this rose. When studying Mrs Gore's Rose Fancier's Manual at the Royal Horitcultural  Society's Library in London, trying to find further information regarding Mrs Bosanquet, we did come across a description of another small rose of a similar type, Pompon de Wasennes; but as no one we spoke  to in England had heard of it, either there or on the Continent, and as it was not listed in this country, we came to the conclusion that it was unlikely to have been brought out to New Zealand.  However, whether our charming  rose is correctly named or not, it is a firm favourite here. 

Photo: Plate 19.  (opposite page 81)

Book  (1965)  Page(s) 54.  
 
Mrs. Nancy Steen: A rose that has given us much thought, as well as much joy, is one we feel sure is 'Mrs. Bosanquet' - a rose that was once listed amongst the Bourbons because of its full flat flowers. Now, it would be classified as a china on account of its thin wiry stems, small leaves, and low stature. it has been lost sight of in England, so we sent it to Mr. G. S. Thomas hoping he would confirm our identification. Unfortunately it was killed in the first winter - a very severe one - and he never saw it in flower. Fortunately, other roses we sent did recover. However, from slides we sent, Mr. Thomas felt that we had found this old favourite, as it was certainly listed out here in 1860.

Book  (1962)  Page(s) 110, 112.  
 
p110  Alison Drummond, Hamilton.  A Search For Old Roses in New Zealand. 
A rose that I believe to be Mrs. Bosanquet classed as either a China or Bourbon in family and so admired by that great rosarian, Dean Hole..... I was utterly charmed by the sweet scent, the delicately pink blooms and neatly quartered array of translucent petals.  Maiden's Blush' the gardener called it, but it wasn't the Alba Rose of that name;  more like another Bourbon of much sturdier growth, 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'.  Mrs. Nancy Steen, of Auckland, reports it missing from English rose gardens, but found a plant or two in Roseraie de l'Haye les Roses, Paris.  It is, however, to be found in New Zealand, as are other interesting rarities.

p112.  Old graveyards are often planted with these roses.
We saw Mrs. Bosanquet in a tiny private burial ground and miniature pink and crimson Chinas in the Waimate churchyard.

Book  (1945)  Page(s) 20.  
 
G. M. Taylor.  Roses That are Beautiful Upon The Tree.
....What were the roses that were cultivated in gardens a century ago?   I take a catalogue of one of the leading Rose growers of the period, and it is dated 1843/44....The second list is headed Show or Prize Roses, and contains one hundred and ninety-three names, composed of French, Alba, Bourbon, China..... The whole of them are now out of commerce, with the possible exception of Cramoisie Superieure (China), Celona (Moss), French Crimson (Moss), Mrs. Bosanquet (China) and....

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 94.  
 
Bosanquet, Mrs. (bourbon) Laffay 1832; salmon-white to white-pink, edges white, medium size, semi-double, flat, globular to cupped, fragrance 5/10, floriferous, continuous bloom, autumn bloomer, light green branches, long strong stems, growth 5/10. = P. Bonaparte; [similar to]Sapho (tea).

Book  (1936)  Page(s) 90.  
 
Bonaparte, Pauline (HP) ? ca. 1850; pure white = Mrs. Bosanquet. Sangerhausen
Bonaparte, Pauline (bourbon) Laffay 1856; salmon. Identical?

Website/Catalog  (1935)  Page(s) 28.  
 
Chinese or Bengal, Bourbon and Noisette Roses
R. indica, R. indica Bourboniana, and R. Noisettiana.
Mrs. Bosanquet—F*., delicate pale flesh; large and double; free; vigorous.

*F = varieties best-suited for forcing