He was significantly involved with the trade between Britain and Russia, including the importation of grain (generically called "corn") to England.
Many of Cattley's factors were members of his extended family, for example his cousin John Prescott headed up the firm's offices in St. Petersburg from which he ran the Russian side of the trade.
Prescott was an enthusiastic collector of plants, and forwarded large numbers back to England for Cattley.
[4][5] The year previously William Swainson had discovered the orchid in the wild in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco and dispatched a specimen along with other plants to Cattley via the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
[5][6] To help with his collection Cattley had hired John Lindley to draw, describe and catalog the novel plants in his garden at Barnet.