William Sherard (27 February 1659 – 11 August 1728) 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 ...

. Next to

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 ...

, he was considered to be one of the outstanding English botanists of his day.

Life

He is still a little-known figure of that era coming as he did from humble origins. However, he worked hard and his education allowed him to rise in society. Sherard was born in Bushby,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and studied at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, from 1677 to 1683. He studied botany from 1686 to 1688 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

under

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Li ...

and was a friend and pupil of Paul Hermann in

Leyden Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connecte ...

from 1688 to 1689 who also studied with Tournefort at this time. In 1690 he was in

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 ...

as tutor to the family of Sir Arthur Rawdon at Moira, County Down. Sherard was British Consul at

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

from 1703 to 1716, during which time he accumulated a fortune. When he returned to England he became a patron of other naturalists, including

Johann Jacob Dillenius Johann Jacob Dillen Dillenius (1684 – 2 April 1747) was a German botanist. He is known for his ''Hortus Elthamensis'' ("Eltham Garden") on the rare plants around Eltham, London, and for his ''Historia muscorum'' ("History of Mosses"), a natu ...

Pietro Antonio Micheli Pier Antonio Micheli (11 December 1679 – 1 January 1737) was a noted Italian botanist, professor of botany in Pisa, curator of the Orto Botanico di Firenze, author of ''Nova plantarum genera iuxta Tournefortii methodum disposita''. He discovere ...

Paolo Boccone Paolo Silvio Boccone (24 April 1633 – 22 December 1704) was an Italian botanist from Sicily, whose interest in plants had been sparked at a young age. Born in a rich family, he was able to dedicate most of his life to the study of botany. Life ...

and

Mark Catesby Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English natural history, naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747, Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama ...

. He was also instrumental in the publication of Sebastien Vaillant's ''Botanicon parisiense'' (1727) and Hermann's Musaeum zeylanica. With his money, he endowed the Chair 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 ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

with the stipulation that it go to Dillenius. On his death James Sherard was left in charge of executing William's will. He successfully negotiated his brother's endowment of the Sherardian Professorship of Botany at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

; following the terms of the will, Dillenius was named the first Sherardian Professor. For his work in endowing the professorship, Sherard was granted a doctorate in medicine by the university in 1731.

Works

Sherard helped shape the face of taxonomy which at the time was still in flux. His work with Ray, Tournefort, Vaillant Hermann and Dillenius helped considerably define the work of Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy. He contributed to

's ''Stirpium'' published in 1694. He co-edited Paul Hermann's ''Paradisus Batavus'' (1698) after Hermann's death in 1695. In about 1700 he embarked on a continuation of

Caspar Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin (; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to the later binomial nome ...

's ''Pinax'' which he never finished. William Sherard was the brother of

James Sherard James Sherard (1 November 1666 – 12 February 1738) was an English apothecary, botanist, and amateur musician. Career Sherard was born in Bushby, Leicestershire to George and Mary Sherwood; it is unknown why his surname was changed. His older ...

. Dillenius's famous ''Hortus Elthamensis'', which was often cited by

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 ...

was a description of the rare plants that James Sherard grew in his garden in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

in Kent (now within the confines of Greater London). As stated on the title page and in the preface of Dillenius's work, William Sherard did a great deal of the taxonomic part of the work.

Genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Sherardia ''Sherardia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, ''Sherardia arvensis'', the (blue) field madder, which is widespread across most of Europe and northern Africa as well as southw ...

was named in his honour by

Sébastien Vaillant Sébastien Vaillant (; May 26, 1669 – May 20, 1722) was a French botanist who was born at Vigny, Val-d'Oise, Vigny in present-day Val d'Oise. Early years Vaillant went to school at the age of four and by the age of five, he was collecting p ...

1718 Events January – March * January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discuss ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherard, William 1659 births 1728 deaths

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

17th-century English botanists English Anglicans Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of St John's College, Oxford 18th-century British botanists