Victor Samuel Summerhayes (21 February 1897 – 27 December 1974) was an English botanist in charge of the orchid herbarium at

Royal Botanical 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 ...

for 39 years. Summerhayes was born on 21 February 1897 at

Street, Somerset Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. ...

and he was educated at Sexey's School, Bruton and

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. His time at University was interrupted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when he served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

including action at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. In 1920 after being awarded a first-class honours degree, he was awarded the Quain Studentship. Summerhayes started work at the Herbarium at Kew in 1924. Summerhayes retired from the Royal Botanical Gardens in 1964 and moved to Sidmouth where he lived until his death in 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerhayes, Victor Samuel 1897 births 1974 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire English botanists New Naturalist writers People from Street, Somerset British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers soldiers