The Hon. William Herbert (12 January 1778 – 28 May 1847) was a British botanist, botanical illustrator, poet, and clergyman. He served as a member of parliament for
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
from 1806 to 1807, and for
Cricklade
Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227.
History
Cricklade ...
from 1811 to 1812. His botanical writings are noted for his treatment of
Amaryllidaceae
The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...
.
Life
He was the third son and fifth child of
Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon
Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon PC (20 August 1741 – 3 June 1811), known as The Lord Porchester from 1780 to 1793, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as Ba ...
, by
Lady Elizabeth Alicia Maria, eldest daughter of
Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont
Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, PC (19 August 171021 August 1763), of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, Petworth House in Sussex, and of Egremont House in Mayfair, London, was a British statesman who served as Secretary of State for the Sou ...
. He was born on 12 January 1778, and was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
. On 16 July 1795 Herbert matriculated at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, but soon migrated to
Exeter College, where he graduated B.A. on 6 June 1798. Subsequently, moving to
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...
, he proceeded M.A. 23 November 1802, B.C.L. 27 May 1808, D.C.L. 2 June 1808, and B.D. 25 June 1840.
In a political career, he was elected M.P. for Hampshire in 1806, and for Cricklade in 1811, and also seems to have practised at the bar. But soon after retiring from parliament in 1812 he changed his plans. In 1814 he was ordained, and was nominated to the rectory of
Spofforth in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
. He left Spofforth in 1840 on his promotion to
Dean of Manchester.
Herbert died suddenly at his house in Hereford Street,
Park Lane
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park to ...
, London, on Friday, 28 May 1847.
Works
In 1801 he brought out ''Ossiani Darthula'', a small volume of Greek and Latin poetry. In 1804 appeared part i. of his ''Select Icelandic Poetry, translated from the originals with notes''. Part ii. followed in 1806. These were early works on old Scandinavian literature in English.
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
mentioned Herbert in his ''
English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'' (1809). Other translations were from German, Danish, and Portuguese poems, with some miscellaneous English poems (1804).
He contributed articles of a non-political character to the ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'', ...
''. ''Helga'', a poem in seven cantos, came out in 1815, with a second edition in the following year; then ''Hedin, or the Spectre of the Tomb'', a tale in verse from Danish history. London, 1820; ''Pia della Pietra'', 1820; ''Iris'', a Latin ode, York, 1820; and the ''Wizard Wanderer of Jutland'' in 1820–1. The epic poem entitled ''Attila, or the Triumph of Christianity'', in twelve books, with a historical preface, was published in 1838; and a final volume of poems, ''The Christian'', in 1846.
Early interested in
natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
, and a good shot, he helped
James Rennie to edit
Gilbert White
Gilbert White (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''.
Life
White was born on 18 Jul ...
's ''
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne
''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'', or just ''The Natural History of Selborne'' is a book by English parson-naturalist Gilbert White (1720–1793). It was first published in 1789 by his brother Benjamin. It has been continuou ...
'' in 1833, and contributed notes to
Edward Turner Bennett
Edward Turner Bennett (6 January 1797 – 21 August 1836) was an English zoologist and writer. He was the elder brother of the botanist John Joseph Bennett. 's edition of the work in 1837. He wrote much for the ''
Botanical Register'' and ''
Botanical Magazine'', particularly on the subject of
bulbous
In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...
plants. He cultivated a large number of these plants at Spofforth, and at
Mitcham
Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...
, Surrey; many of these were lost to cultivation. His standard volume on this group of plants, Amaryllidaceæ, was issued in 1837. His ''Crocorum Synopsis'' appeared in the miscellaneous portion of the ''Botanical Register'' for 1843-4-5. Contributions on
hybridisation made by him to the ''
Journal of the Horticultural Society'' were the outcome of observation and experiment. A ''History of the Species of Crocus'' was reprinted separately from that journal, edited by
John Lindley
John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
in 1847, just after his death. The genus Herbertia of Sweet commemorated his name.
His major works, including sermons, reviews, and scientific memoirs, besides his early poetical volumes, appeared in 2 volumes in 1842. He edited ''Musae Etonensis'' (1795) while still at school and, on quitting Eton, obtained a prize for a Latin poem on the subject ''Rhenus'', which was published. A translation appeared in ''Translations of Oxford Prize Poems'', 1831.
List of selected publications
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Recognition
The
International Bulb Society
The International Bulb Society was founded on May 31, 1933 and is an international society dedicated to informing the public about the science, Plant cultivation, cultivation, conservation ethic, conservation and botany of Storage organ, geophytic ...
awards
The Herbert Medal to persons making meritorious achievement in advancing the knowledge of
bulbous plants
Bulb or Bulbs may refer to:
Common uses
* Bulb, a food-storage structure within some plants
** Ornamental bulbous plant, Ornamental bulb, a kind of perennial plant
* Light bulb, an electric lamp
Maritime
* Bulb keel, a type of keel
* Bulbous b ...
.
Family
Herbert married the Hon. Letitia Emily Dorothea, second daughter of
Joshua Allen, 5th Viscount Allen
Captain Joshua Allen, 5th Viscount Allen (26 April 1728 – 1 February 1816), was an Irish peer.
Life
The son of Hon. Richard A. Allen and Dorothy Green, and grandson of John Allen, 1st Viscount Allen, he succeeded to the title of 5th Viscount ...
, on 17 May 1806, and was father of
Henry William Herbert
Henry William Herbert (7 April 1807 – 17 May 1858), pen name Frank Forester, was an English-born American novelist, poet, historian, illustrator, journalist and writer on sport. Chester Starr, Starr writes that "as a classical scholar he ...
and three other children.
Commentary on Herbert
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
wrote in ''
On the Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...
'' (1859):
Natural Selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...
, as we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is as immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art. ...The elder De Candolle and Lyell have largely and philosophically shown that all organic beings are exposed to severe competition. In regard to plants, no one has treated this subject with more spirit and ability than W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, evidently the result of his great horticultural knowledge.
Andrew Dickson White
Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who co-founded Cornell University, one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States, and served as its first president for nearly two de ...
wrote in ''
'' (1896):
About 1820 Dean Herbert, eminent as an authority in horticulture, avowed his conviction that species are but fixed varieties.
Science historian
Conway Zirkle
Conway Zirkle (October 28, 1895 – March 28, 1972) was an American botanist and historian of science.
Zirkle was professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He was highly critical of Lamarckism, Lysenkoism, and Marxian biology.Jorav ...
has written that Herbert had recognized the
struggle for existence
The concept of the struggle for existence (or struggle for life) concerns the competition or battle for resources needed to live. It can refer to human society, or to organisms in nature. The concept is ancient, and the term ''struggle for existe ...
. According to Zirkle "he
approached very closely to the natural selection hypothesis when he suggested that winter hardiness might become established in a hybrid stock through the survival of chance variations."
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Biography by F. R. Raines 1885
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, William
English botanists
English male poets
British botanical illustrators
1778 births
1847 deaths
British taxonomists
Proto-evolutionary biologists
William Herbert
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cricklade
UK MPs 1806–1807
UK MPs 1807–1812
Younger sons of earls
Deans of Manchester
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
19th-century British botanists
19th-century English poets