Thomas Taylor (1786–1848) was an Irish botanist, bryologist, and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Life

Thomas Taylor, born on a boat on the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, was the eldest son of Joseph Irwin Taylor, colonel in the East Indian army. He was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating B.A. in 1807, and M.B. and M.D. in 1814. He was afterwards elected a fellow of the

King and Queen's College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), ( ga, Coláiste Ríoga Lianna na hÉireann) is an Irish professional body dedicated to improving the practice of general medicine and related medical specialty, medical specialities, chiefly thr ...

, and during his residence in Dublin acted as physician in ordinary to Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. Geneva Sayre. Biographical sketch of Thomas Taylor. Journal of Bryology. volume 14. pages 415-427. 201

/ref> He acted as professor of botany and natural history in the Royal Cork Scientific Institution as long as that institution lasted, and then retired to Dunkerron, near

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. Location Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare ...

, co. Kerry. Here his medical knowledge and his purse were freely used for his poorer neighbours during the famine winter of 1847–8, and here he died early in February 1848. Taylor was elected 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 1814, and was also an honorary member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

. His botanical researches were mainly among the mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Besides ''Muscologia Britannica,'' which he published in conjunction with Sir

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

in 1818 (2nd ed. 1827), he wrote much

cryptogamic A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...

matter for the ''Flora Antarctica'' of

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...

, and is credited with twenty-three papers, four written in conjunction with that botanist (Roy. Soc. Cat. v. 923–4). These include an important memoir, ''De Marchanteis,'' in the ''Transactions'' of the Linnean Society, and contributions to the ''Transactions'' of the

Botanical Society of Edinburgh The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities includ ...

, ''

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 ...

,'' ''Hooker's Journal of Botany,'' and the ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History.'' His herbarium of over eight thousand sheets and his drawings were purchased at his death by

John Amory Lowell John Amory Lowell (November 11, 1798 – October 31, 1881) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Boston. He became the sole trustee of the Lowell Institute when his first cousin, John Lowell, Jr. (philanthropist), John Lowell, Jr. ( ...

of Boston, Mass., and presented by him to the

Boston Society of Natural History The Boston Society of Natural History (1830–1948) in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the s ...

. His name was commemorated by Sir William Hooker in the genus '' Tayloria'' belonging to the mosses.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Thomas 1775 births 1848 deaths 19th-century British biologists 19th-century British botanists Alumni of Trinity College Dublin British mycologists Bryologists

Life

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