George Luxford (7 April 1807 – 12 June 1854) was an English

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Life

Luxford was born at Sutton, Surrey on 7 April 1807. At age 11 he was apprenticed to Allingham, a printer in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, with whom he remained 16 years, and where he studied. In 1834 Luxford moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. His obituary notice in ''

The Phytologist ''The Phytologist'' was a British botanical journal, appearing first as ''Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany''. It was founded in 1841 as a monthly, edited by George Luxford. Luxford died in 1854, and the title was taken over by Alexa ...

'' states he worked there in the printing and engraving business of "Mr. Allen". Under the legislation of the time, a printer had to apply for the licensing of a new press; and in April 1845 Josiah Allen of Birmingham, brother of James Baylis Allen, submitted an application witnessed by "Geo. Luxford" for a recent press. (Business partners could and did act as witnesses.) Luxford was elected an associate of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1836. Returning south in 1837, Luxford started in business as a printer in London the next year, and shortly was given a contract by

Longmans Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

, to print a magazine edited by

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...

. In 1838 he became a Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, with address on

Ratcliffe Highway The Highway, part of which was formerly known as the Ratcliffe Highway, is a road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The route dates back to Roman times. In the 19th century it had a reputation for vice and cr ...

; he was also a member of the

Botanical Society of London The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botani ...

. In 1841 he took on the editorship of ''

'' for Edward Newman, who that year bought his printing business. For some years Luxford was sub-editor of the ''

Westminster Review The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal unt ...

''. He was also associated with '' The Globe'', in 1844–5. According to

Rosemary Ashton Rosemary Doreen Ashton, (''née'' Thomson; born 11 April 1947) is a Scottish literary scholar. From 2002 to 2012, she was the Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London. Her reviews appear in the '' London Re ...

, as publisher also of the ''Westminster Review'', Luxford made false accounts to the owner,

William Edward Hickson William Edward Hickson (7 January 1803 – 22 March 1870), commonly known as Richman Hopson and W. E. Hickson, was a British educational writer. He was the author of "Time and Faith" and was the editor of ''The Westminster Review'' (1840–185 ...

, who sold out to John Chapman in 1851. From 1846 to 1851 Luxford was lecturer on botany in St. Thomas's Hospital. He worked on ''The Phytologist'', in the capacity of compositor and reader, until his death on 12 June 1854, at

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

Works

*''A Flora of the neighbourhood of Reigate, Surrey, containing the flowering plants and ferns'', 1838. Reviews by Luxford in the ''Westminster Review'', by convention unsigned, have been attributed: *''Popular Works on Natural History'' in 1845; *Of ''A History of British Ferns'', 1847; *Of ''Birds of Jamaica'' by Philip Gosse; *Of ''Illustrations of Instinct'' by

Jonathan Couch Jonathan Couch (15 March 1789 – 13 April 1870) was a British naturalist, the only child of Richard and Philippa Couch, of a family long resident at Polperro, a small fishing village between Looe and Fowey, on the south coast of Cornwall. A ...

; *Of ''Lecture on Instinct'' by Richard Whately; *Of ''

Vestiges of Creation ''Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'' is an 1844 work of speculative natural history and philosophy by Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802), Robert Chambers. Published anonymously in England, it brought together various ideas of stell ...

'', sixth edition 1847; *Of John Lindley's ''Vegetable Kingdom'' and other works, including ''Natural Systems of Botany'' by

James Lawson Drummond James Lawson Drummond (1783 – 1853) was an Irish physician, naturalist and botanist. Drummond was born in Larne, Co. Antrim and educated at the Belfast Academy. He received a surgical training at the Belfast Academical Institution and w ...

, in 1850, attacking in particular the

Linnaean system Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts: # The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his '' Systema Naturae'' (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus ...

. Drummond replied in 1851 in ''The Phytologist''.

Notes

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxford, George 1807 births 1854 deaths English printers English journalists English botanists 19th-century English businesspeople