William Kerr was a Scottish gardener and plant hunter, the first Western professional full-time plant collector active in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. He also collected in Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 and Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

 in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Among the plants he sent back to Kew Gardens was the vigorous shrub, at first cosseted in greenhouses, named in his honour, Kerria.

Kerr sent back to Britain examples of 238 plants new to European gardeners and to science, without, it appears, stirring far from the European trading sites of Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 and Macao

Mação

Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....

, or Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

.

A native of Hawick

Hawick

Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders of south east Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is...

 in the Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...

, he was a gardener at Kew, where he was noted by Sir Joseph Banks, and, following instruction by Banks, sent to China in 1804. He remained eight years. Kerr's finds, discovered in local Chinese gardens and plant nurseries, included Euonymus japonicus, Lilium lancifolium

Lilium lancifolium

Lilium lancifolium is a species of lily native to northern and eastern Asia, including Japan. It is one of several species of lily to which the common name Tiger lily is applied, and is the species most widely known by this name....

, Pieris japonica

Pieris japonica

Pieris japonica is a plant in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is native to eastern Asia and Japan, but widely cultivated in gardens.-Description:...

, Nandina domestica, Begonia grandis

Begonia grandis

Begonia grandis is a plant in the begonia family, Begoniaceae.-Description:Begonia grandis is a herbaceous plant with alternate, simple leaves, on arching stems. The flowers are pink or white, borne in fall. As the common name "Hardy Begonia" implies, it is one of the hardiest species or cultivars...

and the white-flowered Rosa banksiae

Rosa banksiae

Rosa banksiae, commonly referred to as the Lady Banks' Rose, is a species of Rosa native to central and western China, in the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan; it grows in mountains at altitudes of 500–2200 m....

, named for his patron's wife.

Sent to Colombo, Ceylon

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

 in 1812, to be superintendent of gardens on Slave Island and at King's House, he died there in 1814, unable "to prosecute his work in consequence of some evil habits he had contracted, as unfortunate as they were new to him," as a notice in The Chinese Repository

The Chinese Repository

The Chinese Repository was a periodical published in Canton between May 1832–1851, for the use of Protestant missionaries working in southeast Asia. The Repository was the brainchild of Elijah Coleman Bridgman, the first American Protestant missionary appointed to China. Bridgman served as...

reported some time after his premature death, apparently alluding to opium

Opium

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...

addiction.