Harold Drinkwater FRSE (1855 – 11 July 1925) was an English physician. He was usually referred to simply as Harry Drinkwater. He did much research into hereditary diseases but is largely remembered as an amateur botanist and exemplary artist of botanical subjects, creating over 200 exquisite plant portraits largely held by museums in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. His work is typically finely honed pastel on a plain grey background. The combination of draughtsmanship and shadowing give all his work a very strong 3-dimensional quality, whilst also being of extreme beauty.

Life

He was born in Northwich in Cheshire the son of James Frederick Drinkwater (b.1822) and his wife Hannah Mather (b.1823). Upon qualifying as a doctor in 1890 he moved to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and spent all of his working life there as a GP. In 1908 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

Daniel John Cunningham Daniel John Cunningham M.D., D.C.L., LL. D. F.R.S., F.R.S.E. F.R.A.I. (15 April 1850 – 23 July 1909) was a Scottish physician, zoologist, and anatomist, famous for ''Cunningham's Text-book of Anatomy'' and ''Cunningham's Manual of Pra ...

, James Cossar Ewart,

James Geikie James Murdoch Geikie PRSE FRS LLD (23 August 1839 – 1 March 1915) was a Scottish geologist. He was professor of geology at Edinburgh University from 1882 to 1914. Life Education He was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Stuart Geikie a ...

and

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

. Of the 500 or so plant pictures he created between 1903 and 1915, covering the majority of species in north Wales, over 200 were exhibited in the 1912 National Eisteddfod in Wrexham.Catalogue of Prints and Drawings at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales He died in Wrexham on 11 July 1925.

Family

In 1908 he married Katherine Rosebery Jay (b.1855)

References

1855 births 1925 deaths People from Northwich Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English medical doctors {{England-med-bio-stub