Henry Doubleday (1810-1902)
Encyclopedia
Henry Doubleday was an English
scientist
and horticulturist
of Coggeshall
in Essex
.
Henry Doubleday was the son of William Doubleday and his wife Hannah Corder. His father was a shopkeeper in Coggeshall
; the family were all Quakers. He lived at the same time as his cousin Henry Doubleday (1808-1875)
the entomologist and ornithologist.
Doubleday had a wide range of interests, in 1851 he won a bronze medal for lace designs made in Coggeshall and shown at the Great Exhibition. He gained the contract with De La Rue
for the supply of gum arabic
for postage stamps. Gum arabic is made from imported extracts from the acacia
tree: in his efforts to find a suitable material which could be grown in England he experimented with imported varieties of comfrey
, though the gum produced proved to be unsuitable.
The value of his work was recognised and he was elected a member of the Royal Horticultural Society
, however his membership was never registered as he was unable to afford the fee. The full extent of his work may never be known, as his notes were burnt by his family after his death aged 92 in Coggeshall.
The work was also recognised by Lawrence D Hills
, a horticulturalist who named the Henry Doubleday Research Association after him. The HDRA, now called Garden Organic, has since become the largest organic gardening and horticultural organisation in Europe.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and horticulturist
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
of Coggeshall
Coggeshall
Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
Henry Doubleday was the son of William Doubleday and his wife Hannah Corder. His father was a shopkeeper in Coggeshall
Coggeshall
Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade...
; the family were all Quakers. He lived at the same time as his cousin Henry Doubleday (1808-1875)
Henry Doubleday (1808-1875)
Henry Doubleday was an English entomologist and ornithologist.Henry Doubleday was the eldest son of Quaker and grocer Benjamin Doubleday and his wife Mary of Epping, Essex. He and his brother Edward Doubleday spent their childhood collecting natural history specimens in Epping Forest...
the entomologist and ornithologist.
Doubleday had a wide range of interests, in 1851 he won a bronze medal for lace designs made in Coggeshall and shown at the Great Exhibition. He gained the contract with De La Rue
De La Rue
De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...
for the supply of gum arabic
Gum arabic
220px|thumb|right|Acacia gumGum arabic, also known as acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond, or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal...
for postage stamps. Gum arabic is made from imported extracts from the acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
tree: in his efforts to find a suitable material which could be grown in England he experimented with imported varieties of comfrey
Comfrey
Comfrey is an important herb in organic gardening. It is used as a fertilizer and also has many purported medicinal uses...
, though the gum produced proved to be unsuitable.
The value of his work was recognised and he was elected a member of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
, however his membership was never registered as he was unable to afford the fee. The full extent of his work may never be known, as his notes were burnt by his family after his death aged 92 in Coggeshall.
The work was also recognised by Lawrence D Hills
Lawrence D Hills
Lawrence D. Hills was a British horticulturalist, journalist, and writer, founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association Bocking, near Braintree, Essex in 1954, now Garden Organic...
, a horticulturalist who named the Henry Doubleday Research Association after him. The HDRA, now called Garden Organic, has since become the largest organic gardening and horticultural organisation in Europe.