Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English
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 botanical illustrator, who became the first director of
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...
when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a
botanic garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
. At Kew he founded the
Herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
and enlarged the gardens and
arboretum
An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
.
Hooker was born and educated in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
. An inheritance gave him the means to travel and to devote himself to the study of
natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
, particularly botany. He published his account of an expedition to Iceland in 1809, even though his notes and specimens were destroyed during his voyage home. He married Maria, the eldest daughter of the
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
banker
Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner (18 October 1775 – 21 June 1858) was an English banker, botanist and antiquary. He specialized in the botany of cryptogams and was the father-in-law of the botanist William Jackson Hooker and of the historian Francis Palgr ...
, in 1815, afterwards living in
Halesworth
Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tribut ...
for 11 years, where he established a
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
that became renowned by botanists at the time.
He held the post of
Regius Professor
A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...
of Botany at
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
, where he worked with the botanist and
lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
Thomas Hopkirk and enjoyed the supportive friendship of
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...
for his exploring, collecting and organising work. In 1841 he succeeded William Townsend Aiton as Director of the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
. He expanded the gardens at Kew, building new glasshouses, and establishing an
arboretum
An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
and a museum of
economic botany
Economic botany is the study of the relationship between people (individuals and cultures) and plants. Economic botany intersects many fields including established disciplines such as agronomy, anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, economics, ethn ...
. Among his publications are ''The British Jungermanniae'' (1816), ''Flora Scotica'' (1821), and ''Species Filicum'' (184664).
He died in 1865. His son,
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...
, succeeded him as Director of Kew Gardens.
Family
Hooker's father Joseph Hooker was related to the
Baring family
The Baring family is a German and British family of merchants and bankers. In Germany, the family belongs to the '' Bildungsbürgertum'', and in England, it belongs to the aristocracy.
History
The family's earliest known ancestor is Peter Bari ...
and worked for them in
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
and
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
as a
wool-stapler, trading in
worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...
and
bombazine. He was an amateur botanist who collected
succulent plant
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...
s, and was, according to his grandson Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...
, "mainly a self-educated man and a fair German scholar". Joseph Hooker was related to the sixteenth-century historian
John Hooker, and the
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford Univer ...
.
His mother, Lydia Vincent, the daughter of James Vincent,
[ belonged to a family of Norwich worsted weavers and artists. Her cousin, William Jackson, was William Jackson Hooker's godfather. Upon his death in 1789 William Jackson bequeathed his estate in Seasalter, ]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 ...
, to his godson, who inherited it when he was 21. Lydia Vincent's nephew, George Vincent, was one of the most talented of the Norwich School of painters.
Biography
Early life and education
William Jackson Hooker was born on 6 July 1785 at 7177 Magdalen Street, Norwich. A child named William Jacson Hooker was christened by his parents Joseph and Lydia Hooker at the nonconformist Tabernacle in Norwich on 9 November 1785. He attended the Norwich Grammar School
Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private selective day school in the cathedral close, close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the List of the oldest schools in the ...
from about 1792 until his late teens, but none of the school records from the period he was there have been kept, and little is known of his schooldays. He developed an interest in entomology
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
, reading and natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
during his boyhood.
In 1805, Hooker discovered a moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
(now known as '' Buxbaumia aphylla'') when out walking on Rackheath, north of Norwich. He visited the Norwich botanist Sir James Edward Smith to consult his Linnean collections. Smith advised the young Hooker to contact the botanist Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner (18 October 1775 – 21 June 1858) was an English banker, botanist and antiquary. He specialized in the botany of cryptogams and was the father-in-law of the botanist William Jackson Hooker and of the historian Francis Palgr ...
about his discovery.
Upon reaching the age of 21 he inherited an estate in Kent from his godfather. His independent means allowed him to travel and develop his interest in natural history.
As a young man Hooker was fascinated by the endemic birds of Norfolk and spent time studying them on the Broads
The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms "Norfolk Broads" and "Suffolk Broads" are correctly used ...
and the Norfolk coast. He became skilled in drawing them and understanding their behaviour. He also studied insects and, when still at school, his skills were appreciated by the Reverend William Kirby. In 1805, Kirby dedicated the '' Omphalapion hookerorum'', a species of weevil
Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...
, to him and his brother Joseph: "I am indebted to an excellent naturalist, Mr. W. J. Hooker, of Norwich, who first discovered it, for this species. Many other nondescripts have been taken by him and his brother, Mr. J. Hooker, and I name this insect after them, as a memorial of my sense of their ability and exertions in the service of my favourite department of natural history."
In 1805 Hooker went to be trained in estate management at Starston Hall, Norfolk, perhaps because of the need to be able to manage his own newly acquired estates. He lived there with Robert Paul, a gentleman farmer. In 1806 he was introduced to Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...
, the president of the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. He elected to the Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...
that year.
Early friends and patrons
When a young man, Hooker gained the patronage and friendship of some of most important naturalists in eastern England, including Smith, who had founded the Linnean Society of London in 1788 and owned Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
's collection of plants and books, the botanist and antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
Dawson Turner, and Joseph Banks.
In 1807, Hooker was bitten by an adder when walking near Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Burgh Castle is located south-west of Great Yarmouth and east of Norwich. The parish was part of Suffolk until 1974.
History
Burgh Castle was likely the site of a ...
and badly hurt. He was found by friends and taken to Dawson Turner's house, where he was cared for until he recovered completely from the effects of the snake's bite. Once he had fully recovered, he accompanied Turner and his wife Mary on a tour of Scotland. In 1808, he again travelled to Scotland, this time accompanied by his friend William Borrer. During this journey he discovered a new species of moss, '' Andreaea nivalis'', on Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William.
The mount ...
, which may have led to him publishing a paper ''Some Observations on the Genus Andreaea'' in 1810.
Hooker produced the illustrations for James Edward Smith's paper ''Characters of '' Hookeria'', a new Genus of Mosses, with Descriptions of Ten Species'', a genus named by Smith in honour of William and his older brother Joseph. Hooker had discovered a specimen of the moss in the countryside around Holt. From 1806 to 1809 he was a constant guest of Dawson Turner in Yarmouth, where he produced the illustrations for Turner's four-volume ''Historia Fucorum''. He also spent time in London, where he took up rooms in Frith Street, near the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.
By 1807, Hooker had begun work as a supervising manager at a brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
at Halesworth
Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tribut ...
, in partnership with Dawson Turner and Samuel Paget.[ Sharing a quarter of the company, he lived in the brewery house, which had a large garden and a greenhouse in which he grew ]orchids
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...
. The brewing venture proved to be unsuccessful, for he had no capacity for business. He remained as the manager there for ten years, living at 15 Quay Street, Halesworth.
Excursions abroad
Hooker inherited enough money to be able to travel at his own expense. His first botanical expedition abroad—at the suggestion of the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, who had made a previous visit in 1772—was to Iceland, in 1809. He sailed on the ''Margaret and Anne'', arriving at Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
in June. That month an attempt at Icelandic independence was staged by the Danish adventurer Jørgen Jørgensen
Jørgen Jørgensen (name of birth: Jürgensen, and changed to Jorgenson from 1817) (29 March 1780 – 20 January 1841) was a Danes, Danish adventurer during the Age of Revolution. During the action of 2 March 1808, his ship was captured by the ...
.
During his return voyage, the ''Margaret and Anne'', in a dead calm, was discovered to be on fire, the result of sabotage which was afterwards found to have been planned by Danish prisoners. Hooker and the ship's company were all rescued, but the fire destroyed most of his drawings and notes. Banks later offered Hooker the use of his own papers, and with these materials, along with the surviving parts of his own journal, his good memory aided him to publish an account of the island, its inhabitants and flora: his ''A Journal of a Tour in Iceland (1809)'' was privately circulated in 1811 and published two years later.
In 1810–11, he made extensive preparations, and sacrifices which proved financially serious, with a view to travelling to Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, to accompany the newly-appointed governor, Sir Robert Brownrigg
General (United Kingdom), General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born United Kingdom, British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of ...
. He sold property inherited from his godfather, William Jackson, to raise the necessary capital for the journey. Political upheaval there led to the project being abandoned. In 1812 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
.
In 1813, encouraged by Sir Joseph Banks, he considered travelling to Java, but was dissuaded from the idea by friends and family.
In 1814, he travelled in Europe for nine months, going to Paris with the Turners, then travelling alone to Switzerland, southern France, and Italy, where he studied plants and visited notable botanists. The following year he married the eldest daughter of his friend Dawson Turner. Settling at Halesworth, he devoted himself to the formation of his herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
, which became of worldwide renown among botanists. In 1815, he was made a corresponding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
.[
]
Career in Glasgow
In February 1820, Hooker was appointed as the regius professor
A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...
of botany
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 ...
in the University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, taking over from the Scottish physician and botanist Robert Graham, and inheriting a small botanic garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
that was underfunded and lacking in plants. In May he was received by the University and read his inaugural thesis
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
in Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, written by his father-in-law, Dawson Turner. Hooker was faced with the prospect of delivering lectures to students, when he had never previously taught, and was ignorant of some aspects of botany: his position within the medical faculty inspired him to study for a medical degree.
He soon became popular as a lecturer, his style being both clear and eloquent, and people such as local army officers came to attend them. For 15 years he delivered a summer course on botany, required to be studied by all medical students—for the remaining months of the year he was free to study, work on his publications and his herbarium, and correspond with other botanists.
His classroom was remarkable for having drawings of plants on display to assist the students, and their course included trips to study plants, organised by Hooker. Student numbers increased from 30 in 1820 to 130 ten years later. He earned £144 in his first year, which later increased, but still needed to supplement his income by tutoring two boys from wealthy families, who lived with the family.
His years at Glasgow were his most productive, when he was known as the most active botanist in the country.[ In 1821 he brought out the '' Flora Scotica'', written to be used by his botany students. He was awarded a ]doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
by Glasgow University in 1821. He worked with the lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
and botanist Thomas Hopkirk to establish the Royal Botanic Institution of Glasgow and to lay out and develop the Botanic Gardens. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1823.[
Under Hooker, the Botanic Gardens enjoyed remarkable success and became prominent in the botanic world. The garden was his responsibility and he set to work developing it with the help of his extensive network of friends and acquaintances. Principal among these was Sir Joseph Banks, who promised Kew's help. The botanic gardens steadily acquired new plants, often from visiting naturalists, or from students who had travelled. His work on the botanic garden resulted in experts expressing the view that "Glasgow would not suffer by comparison with any other establishment in Europe".
During his professorship at Glasgow, his numerous published works included ''Flora Londinensis'', ''British Flora'', ''Flora Boreali-Americana'', ''Icones Filicum'', ''The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage to the Bering Sea'', ''Icones Plantarum'', ''Exotic Flora'' (1823–27), 13 volumes of ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'' (from 1827), and the first seven volumes of ''Annals of Botany''. Mount Hooker, between Alberta and British Columbia, was named for him in 1827 by David Douglas.
In 1836, Hooker was made a Knight of the ]Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Kingdom of Hanover, Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House ...
and a Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
in recognition of his work at Glasgow and his services to botany. Although officially recognised in this way, he became increasingly disillusioned with how his work was viewed by the University authorities, and by 1839 was feeling as if the "dignity of the position was stripped to one of ridicule and his work was dismissed as of no account".
During his time in Glasgow, he lived, for several summers, at Invereck at the head of the Holy Loch
The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausole ...
.[''Colegate's Guide to Dunoon, Kirn, and Hunter's Quay'' (Second edition)]
– John Colegate (1868), p. 35 "He seems to have devoted special attention to the vegetation of the neighbourhood," wrote John Colegate in 1868. "The result of his inquiries were published in the Rev. Dr. McKay's ''Statistical Account of the United Parishes of Dunoon and Kilmun''."[
]
Director of Kew Gardens
The origins of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew can be traced to the merging of the royal estates of Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
and Kew in 1772, when the garden at Kew Park formed by Henry, Lord Capell of Tewkesbury was enlarged by Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales. The gardens were developed by the architect William Chambers, who built the pagoda
A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...
in 1761, and by George III, who was aided by William Aiton
William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist.
Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...
and Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...
. The Dutch House, now known as Kew Palace
Kew Palace is a British royal palace within the grounds of Kew Gardens on the banks of the River Thames. Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main surv ...
, was purchased by George III in 1781 for his children. The adjoining White House was demolished in 1802. The plant collections at Kew were first enlarged systematically by Francis Masson
Francis Masson (August 1741 – 23 December 1805) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist and gardener, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew Gardens’ first Botanical expedition, plant hunter.
Life
Masson was born in Aberdeen.
In the 1760s, he w ...
in 1771, but had since the death of George III slowly declined. In 1838, a Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
review of the nation's royal gardens recommended the development of Kew as a national botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
.
In April 1841 he was appointed as the Garden's first full time Director, on the resignation of William Townsend Aiton.[ Following his appointment as director, a position he had long wished for, he wrote "I feel as if I were to begin life over again", in a letter to Dawson Turner. He started on an annual salary of £300, with an additional allowance of £200. To Allan, who described Hooker as a man with "drive, enthusiasm and creative ability", he was eminently suited for the post, being a professional botanist, an artist, a leader with connections to others in the botanical world, who was knowledgeable about plants from Britain and those collected from around the world. The curator of Kew Gardens during Hooker's period as Director was the experienced and knowledgeable botanist John Smith (1798–1888).
Under Hooker's direction the gardens expanded considerably in size. Initially about in size, they were extended to in 1841. An arboretum of was introduced, many new glass-houses were erected, and a museum of ]economic botany
Economic botany is the study of the relationship between people (individuals and cultures) and plants. Economic botany intersects many fields including established disciplines such as agronomy, anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, economics, ethn ...
was established. In 1843 the Palm House, to a design by the architect Decimus Burton
Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...
and the iron founder Richard Turner, was constructed at Kew. The gardens and glasshouses were opened daily to the visiting public, who were allowed to wander freely there for the first time. Sir William himself wandered around during opening hours, lending his advice.
He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1862.
Hooker lived with his family at West Park, a large house in which he accommodated 13 rooms of books in his library, which was seen as a public institution by the world's botanical experts, who were never turned away. Among his visitors were Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, her husband Prince Albert
Prince Albert most commonly refers to:
*Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Alb ...
and their children; during 1865—the year Hooker died—the attendance had risen to 529,241.
Under Hooker's direction Kew became the centre of an emerging interconnected worldwide network of botanical expertise, and staff recommended by him joined expeditions or worked for botanical gardens around the world. He was invariably consulted when government questions arose about botanical matters. Newly propagated plants and sent from Kew to private and public gardens in Britain, and to botanical gardens overseas, in some cases to be developed as crops.
Marriage and family
In June 1815, he married Maria Sarah Turner,[William Jackson Hooker in "England, Norfolk, Parish Registers (County Record Office), 1510–1997 ''FamilySearch'']
William Jackson Hooker
. the eldest daughter of Dawson Turner and Mary Palgrave. Maria was an amateur artist who collected mosses, and who with her sister Elizabeth illustrated them for her husband.[ The couple toured the Lake District and across ]Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
on their honeymoon, before travelling to Scotland.
They had five children. William Dawson Hooker (born 1816) was a naturalist who trained as a doctor. He published ''Notes on Norway'' (1837 and 1839). He emigrated with his new wife to Jamaica to practise medicine, but died at Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, aged 24. Joseph Dalton Hooker (born 1817) became a botanist and was appointed the first assistant director at Kew. He served in this post for 10 years, before taking over as director from his father in 1865. The three daughters in the family were Maria (born 1819), Elizabeth (born 1820), and Mary Harriet (born 1825), who died aged sixteen.[
]
Death
He was engaged on the ''Synopsis filicum'' with the botanist John Gilbert Baker
John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an England, English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949).
Biography
Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née ...
when he contracted a throat infection then epidemic at Kew.
Works
Hooker studied mosses, liverworts, and ferns, and published a monograph on a group of liverworts, ''British Jungermanniae'', in 1816. This was succeeded by a new edition of William Curtis's '' Flora Londinensis'', for which he wrote the descriptions (18171828); by a description of the ''Plantae cryptogamicae'' of Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
and Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (; 22 August 1773 – 11 May 1858) was a French List of explorers, explorer and botany, botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scie ...
; by the '' Muscologia'', a very complete account of the mosses of Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
and Ireland, prepared in conjunction with Thomas Taylor and first published in 1818;[ and by his ''Musci exotici'' (2 volumes, 18181820), devoted to new foreign mosses and other cryptogamic plants.
Hooker published more than 20 major botanical works over a period of 50 years, including ''British Jungermanniae'' (1816), ''Musci Exotici'' (18181820), ''Icones Filicum'' (18291831), '' Genera Filicum'' (1838) and ''Species Filicum'' (18461864). Other works include ''Flora Scotica'' (1821), ''The British Flora'' (1830) and ''Flora Borealis Americana; or, The Botany of the Northern Parts of British America'' (1840).
With William Wilson he edited the ]exsiccata
Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...
series ''Musci Americani; or, specimens of mosses, Jungermanniae, &c. collected by the late Thomas Drummond, in the Southern States of North America. Arranged and named by W. Wilson and Sir W. J. Hooker'' (1841).
Examples
File:William Jackson Hooker - illustration for his paper 'Some Observations on the Genus Andraea'.jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , ''Some Observations on the Genus Andraea'' (1810)
File:Hooker - Jungermannia Spinulosa.jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Jungermannia Spinulosa'', from Hooker's first scientific work, ''British Jungermanniae'' (1816)
File:Curtis's botanical magazine (Plate 3088) (8410403017).jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Xanthochymus dulcis'', from ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine
''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''.
Each of the issue ...
'' (1831)
File:Flora boreali-Americana, or, The botany of the northern parts of British America (microform) - compiled principally from the plants collected by Dr. Richardson and Mr. Drummond on the late northern (20631052015).jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Valeriana pauciflora'', from ''Flora boreali-Americana'' (1840)
File:The botany of Captain Beechey's voyage; comprising an acount of the plants collected by Messrs. Lay and Collie, and other officers of the expedition, during the voyage to the Pacific and Behring's (19784848113).jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Lewisia rediviva'', from ''The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage'' (1841)
File:Hooker - Gleichenia acutifolia.jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Gleichenia acutifolia'', from ''Species filium'' (1846)
File:Abrodictyum pluma (Hook - Icones plantarum).jpg, alt=illustration of plant species , '' Abrodictyum pluma'' from '' Icones Plantarum'' (1854)
Plants named after William Jackson Hooker
A number plants have the Latin specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
of ''hookeri'' which refers to Hooker.[Allen J. Coombes ]
Including;
* '' Allium hookeri''
* '' Alsophila hookeri''
* '' Anthurium hookeri''
* '' Arctostaphylos hookeri''
* '' Dasypogon hookeri''
* '' Drosera hookeri''
* '' Epiphyllum hookeri''
* '' Iris hookeri''
* '' Kopsiopsis hookeri''
* '' Lithops hookeri''
* '' Lysiphyllum hookeri''
* '' Ozothamnus hookeri''
* '' Notholaena hookeri''
* '' Pachyphytum hookeri''
* '' Prosartes hookeri''
* '' Pseudarthria hookeri''
* '' Townsendia hookeri''
References
Sources
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External links
Details of the books, articles, etc. written by William Jackson Hooker
from the Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...
Details of collections in the United Kingdom containing Hooker's correspondence, notes and drawings
from the National Archives
National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention.
Conceptual development
From the Middle Ages i ...
The Hookers' blue plaque
at Kew (English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
)
*
* Details of Hooker's will:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, William Jackson
English botanical illustrators
1785 births
1865 deaths
British pteridologists
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Botanists active in Kew Gardens
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Burials at St. Anne's Church, Kew
19th-century English botanists
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