Harold Roy Fletcher

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(14 April 1907 – 27 August 1978) was an English botanist and horticulturalist. He was

Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal status of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is intrinsically linked to the issue of a Royal Warrant to the first Intendant of the Gardens in 1699. Since that date, the appointment of each new Director of RBGE has required the as ...

from 1956 to 1970 and

Her Majesty's Botanist His Majesty's Botanist is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. The office was created in 1699, and from 1768 until 1956 it was combined with the office of Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who also held the post of Reg ...

1966 to 1978. As an author he is known as H.R. Fletcher.

Life

He was born in

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

on 14 April 1907 the son of James Fletcher. He attended Glossop Grammar School. He attended the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

graduating with a BSc in 1929. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

gaining a doctorate (PhD) in 1933. In 1943 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Sir William Wright Smith, James R Matthews,

James Ritchie James Ritchie may refer to: * James Ritchie (rugby union) (1907–1942), Scottish international rugby union player * James Ritchie (naturalist) (1882–1958), President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh * James Ritchie (Massachusetts politician) (1 ...

and

James Couper Brash James Couper Brash, MC, FRCSE, FRSE (24 October 1886 in Cathcart – 19 January 1958 in Edinburgh) was a leading anatomist and embryologist in Britain. Early life and family James Couper Brash was born in Cathcart in Scotland, the son of J ...

. He served as the Society's Vice President 1962 to 1965 and won their Neill Prize for the period 1971-73. From 1951 to 1954 he was Director of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Wisley __NOTOC__ Wisley is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England between Cobham and Woking, in the Borough of Guildford. It is the home of the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Garden. The River Wey runs through the village and Ockham and ...

. In 1954 he became Assistant Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and was promoted to be the 11th Regius Keeper in 1956, holding the post until 1970. The University of Edinburgh and the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

both awarded him honorary doctorates (DSc) in 1971. He died on 27 August 1978.

Publications

*''New Species of Alpine Primula'' (1941) *''Challenges and Opportunity'' (1966) *''The Story of the Royal Horticultural Society 1804-1968'' (1969) *''Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 1670-1970'' (1970) *''Quest of Flowers'' (1975) *''The Genus Primula'' (1977)

Family

In 1941 he married Evelyn Betty Veronica Sloan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Harold Roy 1907 births 1978 deaths People from Glossop Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Aberdeen English botanists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients English horticulturists English historians