William Hemsley (botanist)

{{Short description|British botanist (1843–1924)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} '''William Botting Hemsley''' (29 December 1843, in East Hoathly – 7 October 1924, in Kent) was an English botanist and 1909 Victoria Medal of Honour recipient. {{botanist|Hemsl.|inline=yes}}

He was born in East Hoathly, Sussex, and in 1860 started work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as an Improver,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hemsley|first=William|title=Early Reminiscences of Kew|journal=The Journal of the Kew Guild|year=1893|volume=1|issue=1|pages=31–38|url=http://www.kewguild.org.uk/articles/article/926/|access-date=10 August 2013|archive-date=27 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227124556/http://www.kewguild.org.uk/articles/article/926/|url-status=dead}}</ref> then Assistant for India in the Herbarium, finally Keeper of Herbarium and Library. He wrote a number of botanical works.

In 1888, a genus of flowering plants from south-east Asia, belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae was named ''Hemsleya'' in his honour.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Hemsleya'' Cogn. ex F.B.Forbes & Hemsl. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:13304-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=16 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1889.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27hemsley%27%29| title = Library and Archive Catalogue |publisher= Royal Society|access-date = 18 November 2010}}</ref>

==Publications== * {{cite book|author=William Botting Hemsley|title=Handbook of Hardy Trees, Shrubs, and Herbaceous Plants: Based on the French Work of Messrs. Decaisne and Naudin Entitled 'Manuel de L'amateur Des Jardins,' and Including the Original Woodcuts by Riocreux and Leblanc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWNJAAAAYAAJ|year=1873|publisher=Estes & Lauriat}} * ''Biologica Centrali-Americana Botany. Vol. I '', 1879–1888 * ''[https://archive.org/details/mobotbca_21_05_00 Biologica Centrali-Americana Botany. Vol. III]'', 1882–1886 * ''Botany of the Bermudas and various other Islands of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans'', 1885 * ''Botany of Juan Fernandez, South-eastern Molluccas, and the Admiralty Islands'', 1885 * ''An Enumeration of All the Plants Known from China Proper, Formosa, Hainan, Corea, the Luchu Archipelago, and the Island of Hong Kong.'' with Francis B. Forbes, 1887

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.calmview.eu/Kew/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=HEM&pos=2 William Botting Hemsley finding aid] collection held at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew archives.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemsley, William}} Category:Botanists active in China Category:1843 births Category:1924 deaths Category:People from East Hoathly Category:19th-century English people Category:19th-century English botanists Category:British fellows of the Royal Society