William Herbert | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1778-01-12)12 January 1778 |
| Died | 28 May 1847(1847-05-28) (aged 69) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Eton College Christ Church Exeter College Merton College |
| Known for | Early taxonomy ofbulbous plants |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Herb. |
The Hon.William Herbert (12 January 1778 – 28 May 1847) was a British botanist, botanical illustrator, poet, and clergyman. He served as a member of parliament forHampshire from 1806 to 1807, and forCricklade from 1811 to 1812. His botanical writings are noted for his treatment ofAmaryllidaceae.[1]
He was the third son and fifth child ofHenry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, byLady Elizabeth Alicia Maria, eldest daughter ofCharles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont. He was born on 12 January 1778, and was educated atEton College. On 16 July 1795 Herbert matriculated atChrist Church, Oxford, but soon migrated toExeter College, where he graduated B.A. on 6 June 1798. Subsequently, moving toMerton College, he proceeded M.A. 23 November 1802, B.C.L. 27 May 1808, D.C.L. 2 June 1808, and B.D. 25 June 1840.[2]In a political career, he was elected M.P. for Hampshire in 1806, and for Cricklade in 1811, and also seems to have practised at the bar. But soon after retiring from parliament in 1812 he changed his plans. In 1814 he was ordained, and was nominated to the rectory ofSpofforth in theWest Riding of Yorkshire. He left Spofforth in 1840 on his promotion toDean of Manchester.[2]
Herbert died suddenly at his house in Hereford Street,Park Lane, London, on Friday, 28 May 1847.[2]
In 1801 he brought outOssiani Darthula, a small volume of Greek and Latin poetry. In 1804 appeared part i. of hisSelect Icelandic Poetry, translated from the originals with notes. Part ii. followed in 1806. These were early works on old Scandinavian literature in English.Lord Byron mentioned Herbert in hisEnglish Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809). Other translations were from German, Danish, and Portuguese poems, with some miscellaneous English poems (1804).[2]
He contributed articles of a non-political character to theEdinburgh Review.Helga, a poem in seven cantos, came out in 1815, with a second edition in the following year; thenHedin, or the Spectre of the Tomb, a tale in verse from Danish history. London, 1820;Pia della Pietra, 1820;Iris, a Latin ode, York, 1820; and theWizard Wanderer of Jutland in 1820–1. The epic poem entitledAttila, or the Triumph of Christianity, in twelve books, with a historical preface, was published in 1838; and a final volume of poems,The Christian, in 1846.[2]
Early interested innatural history, and a good shot, he helpedJames Rennie to editGilbert White'sThe Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in 1833, and contributed notes toEdward Turner Bennett's edition of the work in 1837. He wrote much for theBotanical Register andBotanical Magazine, particularly on the subject ofbulbous plants. He cultivated a large number of these plants at Spofforth, and atMitcham, Surrey; many of these were lost to cultivation. His standard volume on this group of plants, Amaryllidaceæ,[3] was issued in 1837. HisCrocorum Synopsis appeared in the miscellaneous portion of theBotanical Register for 1843-4-5. Contributions onhybridisation made by him to theJournal of the Horticultural Society were the outcome of observation and experiment. AHistory of the Species of Crocus was reprinted separately from that journal, edited byJohn Lindley in 1847, just after his death. The genus Herbertia of Sweet commemorated his name.[2]
His major works, including sermons, reviews, and scientific memoirs, besides his early poetical volumes, appeared in 2 volumes in 1842. He editedMusae Etonensis (1795) while still at school and, on quitting Eton, obtained a prize for a Latin poem on the subjectRhenus, which was published. A translation appeared inTranslations of Oxford Prize Poems, 1831.[2]
TheInternational Bulb Society awardsThe Herbert Medal to persons making meritorious achievement in advancing the knowledge ofbulbous plants.
Herbert married the Hon. Letitia Emily Dorothea, second daughter ofJoshua Allen, 5th Viscount Allen, on 17 May 1806, and was father ofHenry William Herbert and three other children.
Charles Darwin wrote inOn the Origin of Species (1859):
Natural Selection, as we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is as immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art. ...The elderDe Candolle andLyell have largely and philosophically shown that all organic beings are exposed to severe competition. In regard to plants, no one has treated this subject with more spirit and ability than W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, evidently the result of his great horticultural knowledge.[4]
Andrew Dickson White wrote inA History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896):
About 1820 Dean Herbert, eminent as an authority in horticulture, avowed his conviction that species are but fixed varieties.[5]
Science historianConway Zirkle has written that Herbert had recognized thestruggle for existence. According to Zirkle "he approached very closely to the natural selection hypothesis when he suggested that winter hardiness might become established in a hybrid stock through the survival of chance variations."[6]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Jackson, Benjamin Daydon (1885–1900). "Herbert, William (1778-1847)".Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
