The Clapton Nursery also known as Mackay's Clapton Nursery and later Low's Clapton Nursery was a

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

established in the early 19th century by

John Bain Mackay John Bain Mackay (5 February 1795 – 9 August 1888) was a nurseryman based in Clapton, London noted for his introductions of Australian and South American plants into cultivation. He was born in Echt in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. At his Cla ...

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and origi ...

, London, and noted for its introductions of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

n plants into cultivation. The nursery propagated plant material sent by William Baxter from Australia and

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts *James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer *James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmaker) ...

from South America. A garden library was established at the nursery in 1827. In 1831 the foreman and propagator, Hugh Low, took over the nursery. Low was a Scots

horticulturalist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

who commenced work at the nursery after arriving in London in about 1823. His son,

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

, also became involved with the nursery. The nursery corresponded with Sir William Hooker and supplied 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 1,100 ...

with seed and cuttings.

References

Plant nurseries History of the London Borough of Hackney Horticulture in the United Kingdom {{Horticulture-stub