Samuel Doody (28 May 1656 – November 1706) was an early

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 ...

. He worked as an apothecary, corresponded with

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British ...

and helped

John Ray John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (November 29, 1627 – January 17, 1705) was a Christian England, English Natural history, naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his ...

Life

Samuel Doody was the eldest of the second family of his father, John Doody, who according to many sources was noted as an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. There is however no evidence that he was an apothecary and the confusion is due to his father John Doody (1616–1680) and his namesake grandson, John Doody (1687–1753). He inherited property in Yoxhall and purchased a malthouse and inn at Stafford and his profession at the time of death was recorded as "maltster". Samuel was born in the parish of St. Mary, Staffordshire on 28 May 1656. He apprenticed as an apothecary in 1672 and worked with maltster John Solley before going into his father's business, to which he succeeded around the year 1696. Doody also took an interest in astrology and astrological medicine. Around 1687 he had a private botanical garden. Doody undertook the care of the Apothecaries' Garden at Chelsea in 1693, at a salary of £100. It seems he continued in these duties until his death. Two years later, he was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He collaborated with Hans Sloane, Petiver, Jacob Bobart and

Tancred Robinson Sir Tancred Robinson (c.1658 – 29 March 1748) was an English physician, known also as a naturalist. Life He was born in Yorkshire, the second son of Thomas Robinson (died 1676), a Turkey merchant, and his wife Elizabeth (died 1664), daughter o ...

. He assisted John Ray with his ''Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum''. He died, after some weeks' illness, the last week in November 1706, and was buried at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

on 3 December. His

funeral sermon A Christian funeral sermon is a formal religious oration or address given at a funeral ceremony, or sometimes a short time after, which may combine elements of eulogy with biographical comments and expository preaching. To qualify as a sermon, it sh ...

was preached by his friend

Adam Buddle Adam Buddle (1662 – 15 April 1715) was an English clergyman and botanist. Born at Deeping St James, a village near Peterborough, Buddle was educated at Woodbridge School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1681, an ...

, who was also a botanist as well as a member of the clergy.

Works

Doody's sole scientific contribution, as an author, seems to be a paper in the ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

'' (1697), xix. 390, on a case of

dropsy Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...

in the breast. He had given some attention to botany before 1687, the date of a

commonplace book Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into blank books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such book ...

, but his help is first acknowledged by

in 1688 in the second volume of the ''Historia Plantarum''. He was intimate with the botanists of his time: Ray,

Leonard Plukenet Leonard Plukenet (1641–1706) was an English botanist, Royal Professor of Botany and gardener to Queen Mary. Biography Plukenet published ''Phytographia'' (London, 1691–1696) in four parts in which he described and illustrated rare exotic p ...

James Petiver James Petiver () was a London apothecary, a fellow of the Royal Society as well as London's informal Temple Coffee House Botany Club, famous for his specimen collections in which he traded and study of botany and entomology. He corresponded with ...

, and

. Doody devoted himself to

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...

s, at that time very little studied, and became an authority on them. The results of his herborisations around London were recorded in his copy of Ray's ‘Synopsis,’ 2nd edit., now in 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 ...

, and were used by Dillenius in preparing the third edition.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Doody, Samuel 1656 births 1706 deaths 17th-century English botanists Fellows of the Royal Society English apothecaries 17th-century English pharmacists