Paul, William

• G. S. Boulger
• , revised by Peter Osborne

Paul, William (1822–1905),horticulturist, was born at Churchgate, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, on 16 June 1822, the second son ofAdam Paul (d. 1847), a nurseryman of Huguenot descent, originally from Aberdeenshire, who purchased the Cheshunt nursery in 1806. He was educated at a private school at Waltham Cross before joining his father's business. Following his father's death he and his elder brother,George, continued the business asA. Paul & Son. In 1860 this partnership was dissolved and his brother established the firm ofPaul & Son at Cheshunt, whilePaul himself concentrated on the Waltham Cross nursery,William Paul & Son, which he had founded in 1859.

Paul's earliest literary work was forJohn Claudius Loudon (1783–1843). FollowingLoudon's death he wrote articles forJohn Lindley; his series of articles entitled'Roses in pots', which appeared in 1843 in theGardeners' Chronicle, were issued separately in the same year, and reached a ninth edition in 1908.Paul's book,The Rose Garden (1848), was also immensely popular, reaching a tenth edition by 1903 and being reprinted as late as 1978. It is a practical treatise to whichPaul's wide reading gave a literary character. Coloured illustrations initially made the book expensive; later editions were issued in two forms, with and without these plates.

Paul served on the committee of theNational Floricultural Society from 1851 until it was dissolved in 1858. In July 1858 he joined the newly foundedNational Rose Society, and in 1866 he was one of the executive committee of twenty-one members for the great International Horticultural Exhibition. He also acted as a commissioner for the Paris Exhibition of 1867. He was elected a fellow of theLinnean Society in 1875, and received the Victoria medal of horticulture when it was first instituted in 1897.

Although best known as a rosarian,Paul also devoted attention to the improvement of other types of plants, such as hollyhocks, asters, hyacinths, phloxes, camellias, zonal pelargoniums, hollies, ivies, shrubs, fruit trees, and Brussels sprouts. He dealt with these subjects inAmerican Plants, their History and Culture (1858),Lecture on the Hyacinth (1864), and papers on hollyhocks (1851) and'Tree scenery' (1870–72). He contributed papers on the varieties of yew and holly to theProceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society (1861, 1863). In addition to theRose Annual, which he issued from 1858 to 1881,Paul was associated with his friendsDr Robert Hogg andThomas Moore in the editorship of theFlorist and Pomologist from 1868 to 1874. Clear and fluent as a speaker, he proved an acceptable lecturer. One of his best lectures,'Improvements in plants', at Manchester in 1869, was included in hisContributions to Horticultural Literature, 1843–1892 (1892).

Paul died at Waltham Cross of a paralytic seizure on 31 March 1905, and was buried in the family vault at Cheshunt cemetery. His wife,Amelia Jane Harding, predeceased him. His business was carried on by his son,Arthur William Paul. His rich library of old gardening books and general literature was sold atSothebys after his death, but many volumes were bought by his son.

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