William Edward Trevithick (1899

Kells, County Meath Kells (; ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. Along with other towns in County Meath, it is within the "commuter belt" for Dublin, and had a population of 6,135 as of the 2016 ...

- 1958) was an Irish botanical illustrator who contributed some 60 botanical plates to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. Trevithick was born while his father was head gardener to Lord Headfort in his great estate near Kells. His son, also William Edward, was a gardener at

Headfort House Headfort House is a large country house on the southern outskirts of Kells in County Meath, Ireland. History The house was constructed in the 1760s for The 1st Earl of Bective to a design by the Irish architect George Semple. The interiors ...

from the age of 13, then at

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home t ...

, and finally at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, where he worked in the herbarium. Trevithick produced illustrations for Flora of West Tropical Africa and Flora Malesiana. He served in

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 ...

, later worked as a commercial artist after starting his own advertising company in the 1930s. His artwork was for

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and C.C. Wakefield and Co Ltd., the latter producing

Castrol Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...

motor oil. His work featured on the covers of Flight Magazine and Aeroplane. Being an enthusiastic aviator, he qualified as a pilot and became a member of the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

.https://auctions.roseberys.co.uk/m/search/?page=224&key=&cat=159

References

External links

Illustrations by William Edward Trevithick
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevithick, William Edward Botanical illustrators 1899 births 1958 deaths