Hector Mark Wilks (1919, - 1992) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and conservationist. A retired chartered surveyor, he was chairman of the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. He was also a councillor on the Whitstable Urban District Council. He is perhaps best known for rediscovering the monkey orchid (''Orchis simia'') in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

at a site near

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...

and subsequently introducing the species to

Park Gate Down Park Gate Down or Parkgate Down is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Stelling Minnis in Kent. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust, Topography Park Gate Down is located ...

near Elham. The site near Faversham remains one of only two native sites for the monkey orchid in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

and has remained closed to the public since its discovery. On 21 May 2007, Park Gate Down was renamed "The Hector Wilks Reserve" in recognition of his involvement with the reserve from its inception. His sister was the teacher Jean Wilks.

References

1992 deaths English botanists English conservationists Members of the Order of the British Empire 1919 births {{UK-botanist-stub