English botanist Charles Curtis, an orchid collector for James Veitch & Co., established the Penang Botanic Gardens in 1884.

Curtis was born in Barnstaple, Devon, and began his plant collecting career in the employ of the nearby Bale's Nursery. Following further horticultural training in Chelsea (1870-1874), he joined the James Veitch & Sons nursery, which engaged him as a field collector. He thus spent 1878-1884 working in Madagascar, Mauritius, Borneo and Indonesia, before settling in Penang.

By recommendation of Kew, Curtis was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Forests and Gardens, Penang District, in 1884. He oversaw several experimental gardens, one of which would become the botanical gardens, as well as local forest reserves, until 1903, when he returned to England. He died in Barnstaple in 1928.

Curtis published A catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns found growing wild in the Island of Penang in 1894. His main achievements were in collecting, however. He continued his association with the Veitch nursery while in Penang, often forwarding living specimens.

Sources:
Anon, 1928, "Charles Curtis", Kew Bulletin Of Miscellaneous Information, 9: 383
I.H. Burkill, 1927, The Gardens Bulletin, Straits Settlements, 4(4-5): 119
H.N. Ridley, 1928, Journal of Botany, 66: 332-333.