John Lindley
Encyclopedia
John Lindley FRS was an English
botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden. Although he had great horticultural knowledge, the undertaking was not profitable and George lived in a state of indebtedness. John assisted in the garden as a boy and also collected the wild flowers he found growing in the Norfolk countryside. He attended Norwich Grammar School
. He would have liked to go to university or to buy a commission in the army but the family could not afford either. He became Belgian
agent for a London
seed merchant in 1815.
At this time Lindley became acquainted with the botanist William Jackson Hooker
who allowed him to use his botanical library and who introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks who offered him employment as an assistant in his herbarium. His first publication, in 1819, a translation of the Analyse du fruit of L. C. M. Richard, was followed in 1820 by an original Monographia Rosarum, with descriptions of new species, and drawings executed by himself, then in 1821 by Monographia Digitalium, and "Observations on Pomaceae", which were both contributed to the Linnean Society.
“Rosa
” and “Digitalis
” and published the monograph “A Botanical History of Roses” which distinguished seventy-six species, describes thirteen new ones and was illustrated by nineteen coloured plates painted by himself. He became acquainted with Joseph Sabine
who grew a large assortment of roses and was the Secretary of the Horticultural Society of London. His employment came to an abrupt end with the death of Banks a few months later. One of Banks’ friends, a wealthy merchant called William Cattley, paid Lindley to draw and describe new plants in his garden at Barnet
. He also paid for the publication of “Digitalia Monographia”. (Later Lindley honoured him by naming the orchid genus Cattleya after him.) In 1820, at the age of twenty-one, Lindley was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
From 1821 to 1826 he published a folio work with coloured illustrations that he had painted himself, “Collectanea botanica or Figures and botanic Illustrations of rare and curious exotic Plants”. Many of these plants came from the family Orchidaceae
with which he had a lifelong fascination.
Assistant secretary to the Horticultural Society
since 1822, in 1829 Lindley was appointed to the chair
of botany at University College, London, which he retained until 1860. He also lectured on botany from 1831 at the Royal Institution
, and from 1836 at the Chelsea Physic Garden
, starting the society's flower show in the late 1830s.
Lindley described the plants collected on Thomas Livingstone Mitchell's expeditions of 1838 and wrote an Appendix to the Botanical Register of 1839, describing plants collected by James Drummond
and Georgiana Molloy
of the Swan River Colony
in Western Australia
. He also played a large part in having Charles Moore appointed as Director of the Sydney Botanical Gardens.
During his professor
ship, he wrote many scientific and popular works as well as making significant contributions to the Botanical Register, of which he was the editor for many years, and to The Gardeners' Chronicle
, where he was in charge of the horticultural department from 1841. He was a fellow of the Royal
, Linnean and Geological Societies. He received the Royal Society's royal medal in 1857, and in 1853 became a corresponding member of the Institut de France.
at a later date, asked Lindley to draw roses and in 1822 he became the Assistant Secretary of the Society’s garden. The Society’s historian, Harold R Fletcher, later described him as “ … the backbone of the Society and possibly the greatest servant it had ever had.” Now with a steady income, in 1823 he married Sarah Freestone (1797-1869). They rented a house in rural Acton Green, a location convenient for the Society’s garden at Turnham Green.
The Secretary of the Horticultural Society of London at that time was Joseph Sabine and he authorised expenditure on large projects beyond the Society’s means. Lindley could only expostulate and was unsuccessful in moderating his actions. By 1830, the Society had mounting debts and a committee of enquiry was set up. Sabine resigned as Secretary and Lindley successfully defended his own position and carried the Society forward with the new Honorary Secretary, George Bentham
.
, sought Lindley’s collaboration on his “Encyclopedia of Plants”. This covered nearly fifteen thousand species of flowering plants and ferns. It was a massive undertaking and Lindley was responsible for most of it.
During his labour on this undertaking, which was completed in 1829, and through arduous study of character patterns, he became convinced of the superiority of the "natural" classification system devised by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu
– a system that he believed reflected the great plan of nature as distinct from the "artificial" system of Linnaeus
followed in the Encyclopaedia of Plants. This conviction found expression in A Synopsis of British Flora, arranged according to the Natural Order (1829) and in An Introduction to the Natural System of Botany (1831).
In 1828 Lindley was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London and in 1833 was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Munich. Other honours came from France, the United states and Switzerland.
In 1829 Lindley sought to augment his income and became professor of botany at the newly established London University
while still continuing his post at the Royal Horticultural Society. He had not been to university himself but apparently was an excellent teacher, giving six hour-long lectures each week. Being dissatisfied with what was available, he wrote some botanical textbooks for his students.
After the death of Joseph Banks and the death also of their patron, King George III, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew went into a decline. The Government commissioned a report on their future to be prepared by Lindley, Joseph Paxton and John Wilson, head gardener to the Earl of Surrey. The report recommended that the Gardens be retained but the Government did not accept their findings and proposed to abolish it, distribute the plants and pull down the glasshouses. On 11 February 1840, Lindley told the Prime Minister that the matter was to be raised in Parliament. This caused an outcry. The public was indignant, the Government backed down and the Gardens were saved. William Hooker was appointed to be the new Director.
In 1845, Lindley was part of a scientific commission set up by the Government to investigate potato blight and the Irish famine. The cause of the fungal disease was not known at the time and the weather was thought to be to blame. Although the commission was powerless to solve the problem, their report brought about the repeal of the 1815 Corn Laws which had forbidden the import of cheap wheat from America. This helped to alleviate the effects of the disease on populations that had become reliant on the monoculture
of potatoes. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1859.
Lindley was very industrious and hardworking and published a number of works including ‘’The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants’’, the writing of which occupied him for ten years. He was acknowledged to be the top authority on the classification of orchids of his time. Bentham and Hooker
, writing in 1883, accepted 114 genera he had named and described, and Pfitzer, in 1889, accepted 127. Over many years, Lindley had described a large number of orchid species, and many other plants, naming them and giving each a concise description of the plant’s characteristics.
He was held in high regard by other botanists and was honoured by the creation of a large number of speces with the epithets “lindleyi”and “lindleyanus”.
. This was exhausting work and seems to have taken a toll on his health. His memory also began deteriorating. He resigned his university professorship that year and his position as Secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society two years later.
In 1863 he travelled to Vichy
, a spa
in the south of France, but his health continued to decline. He died at his home at Acton Green
, near London, aged 66. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. The daughters were accomplished artists themselves and the son, Nathaniel, became a distinguished lawyer, the Master of the Rolls
and a life peer
.
In 1841 he co-founded The Gardeners' Chronicle
alongside Joseph Paxton
, Charles Wentworth Dilke and William Bradbury
and became its first editor.
.
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...
botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden. Although he had great horticultural knowledge, the undertaking was not profitable and George lived in a state of indebtedness. John assisted in the garden as a boy and also collected the wild flowers he found growing in the Norfolk countryside. He attended Norwich Grammar School
Norwich School (educational institution)
Norwich School is an independent school located in Norwich, United Kingdom. It is one of the oldest schools in the world, with a traceable history to 1096, and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.It is a fee-paying, co-educational day school and has one of the best...
. He would have liked to go to university or to buy a commission in the army but the family could not afford either. He became Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
agent for a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
seed merchant in 1815.
At this time Lindley became acquainted with the botanist William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
who allowed him to use his botanical library and who introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks who offered him employment as an assistant in his herbarium. His first publication, in 1819, a translation of the Analyse du fruit of L. C. M. Richard, was followed in 1820 by an original Monographia Rosarum, with descriptions of new species, and drawings executed by himself, then in 1821 by Monographia Digitalium, and "Observations on Pomaceae", which were both contributed to the Linnean Society.
Career
Lindley went to work at Banks’ house in London. He concentrated on the generaGenus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
“Rosa
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
” and “Digitalis
Digitalis
Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials that are commonly called foxgloves. This genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, but recent reviews of phylogenetic research have placed it in the much enlarged family...
” and published the monograph “A Botanical History of Roses” which distinguished seventy-six species, describes thirteen new ones and was illustrated by nineteen coloured plates painted by himself. He became acquainted with Joseph Sabine
Joseph Sabine
Joseph Sabine was an English lawyer, naturalist and writer on horticulture.He was born into a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Tewin, Hertfordshire, the eldest son of Joseph Sabine. His younger brother was Sir Edward Sabine....
who grew a large assortment of roses and was the Secretary of the Horticultural Society of London. His employment came to an abrupt end with the death of Banks a few months later. One of Banks’ friends, a wealthy merchant called William Cattley, paid Lindley to draw and describe new plants in his garden at Barnet
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
. He also paid for the publication of “Digitalia Monographia”. (Later Lindley honoured him by naming the orchid genus Cattleya after him.) In 1820, at the age of twenty-one, Lindley was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
From 1821 to 1826 he published a folio work with coloured illustrations that he had painted himself, “Collectanea botanica or Figures and botanic Illustrations of rare and curious exotic Plants”. Many of these plants came from the family Orchidaceae
Orchidaceae
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
with which he had a lifelong fascination.
Assistant secretary to the Horticultural Society
Horticultural society
A horticultural society is an organization devoted to the study and culture of cultivated plants. Such organizations may be local, regional, national, or international...
since 1822, in 1829 Lindley was appointed to the chair
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of botany at University College, London, which he retained until 1860. He also lectured on botany from 1831 at the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
, and from 1836 at the Chelsea Physic Garden
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in London, England in 1673. It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621.Its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants...
, starting the society's flower show in the late 1830s.
Lindley described the plants collected on Thomas Livingstone Mitchell's expeditions of 1838 and wrote an Appendix to the Botanical Register of 1839, describing plants collected by James Drummond
James Drummond (botanist)
James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...
and Georgiana Molloy
Georgiana Molloy
Georgiana Molloy was an early settler in Western Australia, who is remembered as one of the first botanical collectors in the colony....
of the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. He also played a large part in having Charles Moore appointed as Director of the Sydney Botanical Gardens.
During his professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
ship, he wrote many scientific and popular works as well as making significant contributions to the Botanical Register, of which he was the editor for many years, and to The Gardeners' Chronicle
The Gardeners' Chronicle
The Gardeners' Chronicle was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine Horticulture Week....
, where he was in charge of the horticultural department from 1841. He was a fellow of the Royal
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, Linnean and Geological Societies. He received the Royal Society's royal medal in 1857, and in 1853 became a corresponding member of the Institut de France.
Horticultural Society of London
About this time, the Horticultural Society of London, which became the Royal Horticultural SocietyRoyal 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...
at a later date, asked Lindley to draw roses and in 1822 he became the Assistant Secretary of the Society’s garden. The Society’s historian, Harold R Fletcher, later described him as “ … the backbone of the Society and possibly the greatest servant it had ever had.” Now with a steady income, in 1823 he married Sarah Freestone (1797-1869). They rented a house in rural Acton Green, a location convenient for the Society’s garden at Turnham Green.
The Secretary of the Horticultural Society of London at that time was Joseph Sabine and he authorised expenditure on large projects beyond the Society’s means. Lindley could only expostulate and was unsuccessful in moderating his actions. By 1830, the Society had mounting debts and a committee of enquiry was set up. Sabine resigned as Secretary and Lindley successfully defended his own position and carried the Society forward with the new Honorary Secretary, George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
.
Middle years
An eminent botanist of the time, John Claudius LoudonJohn Claudius Loudon
John Claudius Loudon was a Scottish botanist, garden and cemetery designer, author and garden magazine editor.-Background:...
, sought Lindley’s collaboration on his “Encyclopedia of Plants”. This covered nearly fifteen thousand species of flowering plants and ferns. It was a massive undertaking and Lindley was responsible for most of it.
During his labour on this undertaking, which was completed in 1829, and through arduous study of character patterns, he became convinced of the superiority of the "natural" classification system devised by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu
Antoine Laurent de Jussieu
Antoine Laurent de Jussieu was a French botanist, notable as the first to propose a natural classification of flowering plants; much of his system remains in use today.-Life:...
– a system that he believed reflected the great plan of nature as distinct from the "artificial" system of Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
followed in the Encyclopaedia of Plants. This conviction found expression in A Synopsis of British Flora, arranged according to the Natural Order (1829) and in An Introduction to the Natural System of Botany (1831).
In 1828 Lindley was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London and in 1833 was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Munich. Other honours came from France, the United states and Switzerland.
In 1829 Lindley sought to augment his income and became professor of botany at the newly established London University
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
while still continuing his post at the Royal Horticultural Society. He had not been to university himself but apparently was an excellent teacher, giving six hour-long lectures each week. Being dissatisfied with what was available, he wrote some botanical textbooks for his students.
After the death of Joseph Banks and the death also of their patron, King George III, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew went into a decline. The Government commissioned a report on their future to be prepared by Lindley, Joseph Paxton and John Wilson, head gardener to the Earl of Surrey. The report recommended that the Gardens be retained but the Government did not accept their findings and proposed to abolish it, distribute the plants and pull down the glasshouses. On 11 February 1840, Lindley told the Prime Minister that the matter was to be raised in Parliament. This caused an outcry. The public was indignant, the Government backed down and the Gardens were saved. William Hooker was appointed to be the new Director.
In 1845, Lindley was part of a scientific commission set up by the Government to investigate potato blight and the Irish famine. The cause of the fungal disease was not known at the time and the weather was thought to be to blame. Although the commission was powerless to solve the problem, their report brought about the repeal of the 1815 Corn Laws which had forbidden the import of cheap wheat from America. This helped to alleviate the effects of the disease on populations that had become reliant on the monoculture
Monoculture
Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. It is also known as a way of farming practice of growing large stands of a single species. It is widely used in modern industrial agriculture and its implementation has allowed for large harvests from...
of potatoes. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1859.
Lindley was very industrious and hardworking and published a number of works including ‘’The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants’’, the writing of which occupied him for ten years. He was acknowledged to be the top authority on the classification of orchids of his time. Bentham and Hooker
Bentham & Hooker system
An early taxonomic system, the Bentham & Hooker system for seed plants was published in :The system recognises the following main groups:*DICOTYLEDONUM POLYPETALARUM*: Series 1. THALAMIFLORÆ*: Series 2. DISCIFLORÆ*: Series 3. CALYCIFLORÆ...
, writing in 1883, accepted 114 genera he had named and described, and Pfitzer, in 1889, accepted 127. Over many years, Lindley had described a large number of orchid species, and many other plants, naming them and giving each a concise description of the plant’s characteristics.
He was held in high regard by other botanists and was honoured by the creation of a large number of speces with the epithets “lindleyi”and “lindleyanus”.
Later years
In 1861, Lindley took charge of organising the exhibits from the British colonies for the International Exhibition at South KensingtonSouth Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
. This was exhausting work and seems to have taken a toll on his health. His memory also began deteriorating. He resigned his university professorship that year and his position as Secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society two years later.
In 1863 he travelled to Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
, a spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
in the south of France, but his health continued to decline. He died at his home at Acton Green
Acton Green, London
Acton Green is a small neighbourhood in the London Borough of Ealing, in west London, England.-Tube Stations:* Chiswick Park, District Line...
, near London, aged 66. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. The daughters were accomplished artists themselves and the son, Nathaniel, became a distinguished lawyer, the Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
and a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
.
Selected writings
Besides those already mentioned, his works include:- An Outline of the First Principles of Horticulture (1832)
- An Outline of the Structure and Physiology of Plants (1832)
- Nixus Plantarum (1833)
- The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants (1835)
- A Natural System of Botany (1836)
- The Fossil Flora of Great Britain (with William HuttonWilliam Hutton (1798–1860)-Biography:Hutton was born 26 July 1797 in Sunderland, but was settled in Newcastle-on-Tyne by 1827. He was an agent of the Norwich Fire Insurance Company. He soon acquired a reputation as a practical geologist, an authority upon the coal measures, and an ardent collector of coal-fossils...
, 1831–1837) - Flora Medica (1838)
- Theory of Horticulture (1840)
- The Vegetable Kingdom (1846)
- Folia Orchidacea (1852)
- Descriptive Botany (1858).
- Appendix to the first twenty-three volumes of Edwards's botanical register (1839)
- Collectanea botanica (1821–1826) With Richard and Arthur Taylor.
- Edwards' botanical register (1829–1847) With James Ridgway. Vol. 15-33.
- Einleitung in das natürliche System der Botanik (1833)
- The genera and species of orchidaceous plants /by John Lindley. (1830–1840)
- Medical and oeconomical botany /by John Lindley (1849)
- Monographie du genre rosier, traduit de l'anglais de J. Lindley ...par M. de Pronville (1824) With Auguste de Pronville.
- Paxton's flower garden /by Professor Lindley and Sir Joseph Paxton (1853) Et al. Three volumes.
- Sertum orchidaceum:a wreath of the most beautiful orchidaceous flowers /selected by John Lindley. (1838)
- Ladies' Botany (1834-37).
In 1841 he co-founded The Gardeners' Chronicle
The Gardeners' Chronicle
The Gardeners' Chronicle was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine Horticulture Week....
alongside Joseph Paxton
Joseph Paxton
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English gardener and architect, best known for designing The Crystal Palace.-Early life:...
, Charles Wentworth Dilke and William Bradbury
William Bradbery
William Bradbery , an entrepreneur, was the first person in England to cultivate and sell watercress on a commercial basis.-Early life:...
and became its first editor.
.
External links
- John Lindley John Lindley's work on orchids
- Books by John Lindley at the Biodiversity Heritage Library