Sir William Hooker by Caroline

Sir William Hooker was one of the most significant English botanists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through his extensive study and countless published works on plants he made many forward strides in raising awareness and interest in botany, most notably of which being his expansion of the British Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
Born in Norwich, England on July 6th 1785, Hooker learned the study of plants from his father, Joseph Hooker. He received his early education at the grammar school in Norwich and then later went on to Starston Hall, where he studied estate management. When his godfather, William Jackson, died and left him a large inheritance, Hooker abandoned his budding career as an estate manager and put all his new wealth into his true passion, botany.
In 1806, at the age of twenty-one, he discovered a new type of moss called "Buxbaumia

Aphylia" which launched his career and sparked the interest of Sir Joseph Banks, a renowned naturalist. Banks sponsored Hooker in his fist botanical expedition, a full-expense paid trip to
Iceland in which Hooker made many notes and collected numerous plant samples. On the journey back, however, all his meticulous research was destroyed in a shipboard fire which nearly cost him his life. Once safe at home, Hooker wrote his first book, Tour of Iceland, (published in 1809) from memory, which collected much acclaim among the botanist elite.
In 1814, he spend nine months studying indigenous plant life in Switzerland and northern
Italy and, in 1815, Hooker married Maria Turner, the daughter of the botanist Dawson Turner.
Shortly thereafter, in 1820, he was appointed Regius Professor of Botany at the University of
Glasgow where he was a huge hit. He started the University's first Botanical Magazine in 1826, but eventually found that the job, although satisfying, was not making him enough money to support his new family.
When the Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, W.T. Aiton, resigned, Hooker was appointed as Kew's new director. Under his management, the gardens were expanded from 11 to 75 acres, a museum of botany was established, and a 270 acre arboretum was built. In 1836, these remarkable advances in his field generated royal interest, and Hooker was knighted. He maintained his position as director of Kew until his dying day. In 1865, after a struggle with a throat disease now thought to be cancer, Hooker died, and his son Joseph Hooker was selected to take his place.
Throughout his life, Sir William Hooker devoted himself to the study and teaching of botany. Through his hard work he inspired many young people of the time to pursue their passions, and also made sure that the Botanical Gardens at Kew remain a fascination for generations to come.

Bibliography

"Hooker, William Jackson (1785-1865)." Australian National Botanical Gardens. Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources. 10/19/07

"Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865)." Kew, History & Heritage. The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. 10/]9/07

"Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865)." The Explorers. PlantExplorers.com™ 10/19/07

"William Jackson Hooker" NNDB: Tracking the Entire World. Soy lent Communications. 10/19/07