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William Roxburgh
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 ...
FRCPE The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...
FLS (3/29 June 1751 – 18 February 1815) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India, describing species and working on economic botany. He is known as the founding father of Indian botany. He published numerous works on Indian botany, illustrated by careful drawings made by Indian artists and accompanied by taxonomic descriptions of many plant species. Apart from the numerous species that he named, many species were named in his honour by his collaborators.


Early life

He was born on 3 June 1751 on the Underwood estate near Craigie in
Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of ...
and christened on 29 June 1751 at the nearby church at Symington. His father may have worked in the Underwood estate or he may have been the illegitimate son of a well-connected family. His early education was at Underwood parish school perhaps also with some time at Symington parish school, and he probably also had private tutoring in Latin, as demonstrated by his letters and some descriptions. He studied medicine at
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...
and matriculated around 1771 or 1772. He lived with the well-connected family of Dr John Boswell, living at "the back of the Meadows" in south
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
during this period. He studied surgery under Dr Alexander Monro and learnt botany under John Hope. His studies included mathematics and physics, which would make him interested in precise quantification later in life in studies on hemp. He joined (as a surgeon's mate) an
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
ship '' Houghton'' in 1772 serving under surgeon Richard Ballantyne. He also served on the ''
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
'' in 1774. Several of these voyages took him to Madras and other ports in India. In 1776 he received his first doctorate (MD) from Edinburgh University. He joined the Madras Medical Service as an Assistant Surgeon on 28 May 1776 and was promoted to the rank of Surgeon in 1780. He received a second doctorate (also MD) on 12 January 1790 from
Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on lon ...
in
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
.


Career

Roxburgh began work in the
Carnatic region The Carnatic region is the peninsular South Indian region between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and in the modern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. During the British era ...
from 1781 and replaced Patrick Russell as the Company Botanist in Madras in April 1789. His early work was on
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
as superintendent in the Samalkot garden in the
Northern Circars The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pre ...
. Here he conducted
economic botany ''Economic Botany'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers all aspects of economic botany. The editor-in-chief is Robert A. Voeks (California State University, Fullerton). The journal was established in 1947 and is published by ...
experiments. He employed native artists to illustrate plants. He had 700 illustrations by 1790. He then succeeded Patrick Russell (1727–1805) as Naturalist to the Madras Government in April 1789. From 1793, he and Andrew Ross established a garden at Corcondah, where they worked on sugarcane and indigo. He also studied the prospects of introducing sago and other food crops to help alleviate the effect of famine. He was invited to fill the position of Superintendent at the Calcutta Botanical Garden where the death of Colonel Robert Kyd had created a vacancy. He made rapid progress and acquired a good reputation and was later invited by the government of
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, to take charge of the Calcutta Botanical gardens from Colonel
Robert Kyd The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
in 1793 as Superintendent of the Company garden at Sibpur near Calcutta. A catalogue of the garden was made in 1814 – ''Hortus Bengalensis''. He was succeeded by
Francis Buchanan-Hamilton Francis Buchanan (15 February 1762 – 15 June 1829), later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist whil ...
. He had sent many illustrations to Sir
Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
, who in May 1795, started publishing ''Plants of the coast of Coromandel'' in 3 volumes with over 300 drawings and descriptions of plants. The last part was published in March 1820. The names of the local artists who produced the botanical illustrations were not recorded. He meticulously collected vast amounts of meteorological data for years, and is considered as a pioneer in the collection of tropical meteorological data, to an extent unrivalled elsewhere until the 1820s. He had begun collecting detailed meteorological data as soon as he set foot in India, at
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, and is known to have taken measurements three times a day, using Ramsden barometers and Nairne
thermometers A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermomete ...
, made by then reputed scientific instrument makers,
Jesse Ramsden Jesse Ramsden FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engines which allowed high accuracy measurem ...
and Edward Nairne. He trained under John Hope, who was the curator of the Edinburgh botanical garden as well an experimental physiologist. Roxburgh's interest in systematic meteorology may have stemmed from the influence of John Hope as well as his experiences at the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
which, in the early 1770s, was greatly influenced by the climatic theories of
Stephen Hales Stephen Hales (17 September 16774 January 1761) was an English clergyman who made major contributions to a range of scientific fields including botany, pneumatic chemistry and physiology. He was the first person to measure blood pressure. He al ...
and Duhamel du Monceau. Such detailed measurements over many years led him to form an opinion on widespread famine and climate change in the
empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. He became a member of the Asiatic Society, to whose Transactions he contributed, from time to time, many valuable papers. Amongst these was one of singular interest on the lacca insect, from which the substance lac is made. In 1813, he returned to
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
due to poor health. To recuperate from his illness before continuing his voyage to Scotland, he stopped at
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...
island on 7 June 1813 and left on 1 March 1814. Despite his poor health he produced an annotated list of Saint Helena plants during his stay. This list formed the only accessible printed account of the flora until 1875. This was published as an appendix to Beatson's Tracts 1816. He appears to have lived in, or close to, his original Edinburgh lodgings, then known as 4 Park Place or Street on the Meadows. He died there on 18 February 1815 and was buried nearby in
Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...
. He was outlived by his third wife Mary.


Recognition

In 1791 he was erected 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 William Wright, Daniel Rutherford and John Walker. In 1799 he 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 1802, Roxburgh was elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
held in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. In 1805, he received the gold medal of the
Society for the Promotion of Arts A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. So ...
for a series of highly interesting and valuable communications on the subject of the productions of the East and a second gold medal in 1803 for a communication on the growth of trees in India. On 31 May 1814, he was presented, in the presence of a large assembly, a third gold medal by the Duke of Norfolk (then, the president of the Society of Arts). Soon after receiving this last honourable testimony of high respect, Roxburgh returned to Edinburgh, where he later died. He was created Keeper of the
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...
on arrival until death.


Posthumous honours

In 1820, at the Mission Press in Serampore, William Carey posthumously edited and published vol. 1 of Dr. William Roxburgh's ''Flora Indica; or Descriptions of Indian Plants''. In 1824, Carey edited and published vol. 2 of Roxburgh's ''Flora Indica'', including extensive remarks and contributions by Dr.
Nathaniel Wallich Nathaniel Wolff Wallich FRS FRSE (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the British ...
. Carey and Wallich continued to work in the field of botany and in 1834, both Carey and Wallich contributed botanical specimens to the Royal Society for Agriculture and Botany's Winter Show in
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
, Belgium. ''
Rosa roxburghii Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid * Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia ...
'' was initially named ''Rosa microphylla'' by Dr. Roxburgh in 1820, but because
René Louiche Desfontaines René Louiche Desfontaines (14 February 1750 – 16 November 1833) was a French botanist. Desfontaines was born near Tremblay in Brittany. He attended the Collège de Rennes and in 1773 went to Paris to study medicine. His interest in bo ...
had previously applied the name 'microphylla' to an unrelated European species in 1798. The name was then changed in 1823 by (Austrian botanist) Leopold Trattinnick.


Authority abbreviation


Notes


Sources

*


External links


Hortus Bengalensis (1814)

Plants of the coast of Coromandel on Botanicus

Searchable online version of ''Flora Indica''
Scanned volume

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roxburgh, William Scottish botanists British pteridologists Economic botanists Botanists with author abbreviations 1815 deaths 1751 births Botanists active in India British East India Company people Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish surgeons Scottish people of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from East Ayrshire People from South Ayrshire Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard 18th-century British botanists 18th-century Scottish medical doctors