Harold Drinkwater

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1855 – 11 July 1925) was an English physician. He was usually referred to simply as Harry Drinkwater. He did much research into hereditary diseases but is largely remembered as an amateur botanist and exemplary artist of botanical subjects, creating over 200 exquisite plant portraits largely held by museums in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. His work is typically finely honed pastel on a plain grey background. The combination of draughtsmanship and shadowing give all his work a very strong 3-dimensional quality, whilst also being of extreme beauty.

Life

He was born in

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

the son of James Frederick Drinkwater (b.1822) and his wife Hannah Mather (b.1823). Upon qualifying as a doctor in 1890 he moved to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

and spent all of his working life there as a GP. In 1908 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

Daniel John Cunningham Daniel John Cunningham, (15 April 1850 – 23 July 1909) was a Scottish physician, zoologist, and anatomist, famous for ''Cunningham's Text-book of Anatomy'' and ''Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy''. Biography Cunningham was born ...

James Cossar Ewart James Cossar Ewart Royal Society, FRS FRSE (26 November 1851 – 31 December 1933) was a Scottish zoologist. He performed breeding experiments with horses and zebras which disproved earlier theories of heredity. Life Ewart was born in Pe ...

James Geikie James Murdoch Geikie PRSE FRS LLD (23 August 1839 – 1 March 1915) was a Scottish geologist. He was professor of geology at the University of Edinburgh from 1882 to 1914. Early life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Stuart Geiki ...

and

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

. Of the 500 or so plant pictures he created between 1903 and 1915, covering the majority of species in north Wales, over 200 were exhibited in the 1912

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

in Wrexham.Catalogue of Prints and Drawings at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales He died in Wrexham on 11 July 1925.

Family

In 1908 he married Katherine Rosebery Jay (b.1855)

References

1855 births 1925 deaths People from Northwich Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English medical doctors {{England-med-bio-stub