James Donn (1758–1813) was an English botanist and gardener. He was trained by

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superinten ...

, a protege of Sir Joseph Banks and was

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Cambridge University Botanic Garden The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England, associated with the university Department of Plant Sciences (formerly Botany School). It lies between Trumpington Road to the west, Bateman Street to ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, from 1790 until his death. His most important work was '' Hortus Cantabrigiensis'', first published in 1796 but with several later, much expanded, editions. It carried on past his death until 1845. A copy was given to the Library of the Gray Herbarium of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1895. He became a Fellow 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 1812. A memorial to James Donn, exists on St Edward the Martyr's church in Cambridge. A grandson was the English composer

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

.Sterndale Bennett, JR "The Life of Sterndale Bennett" pp5&46. Cambridge University Press 1907

References

Botanists with author abbreviations 18th-century British botanists 1758 births 1813 deaths English gardeners English curators 19th-century British botanists {{England-botanist-stub