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William Gardiner (1808-1852) the 'Dundee poetical botanist,' was a Scottish umbrella maker, poet, and bryologist.

Life

William Gardiner was born in Dundee, at Overgate, on 13 July 1808. According to Lawley, his mother sold pottery, while his father, William senior, was a weaver, gardener, botanist and poet. William junior's grandfather, James Gardiner, was also a weaver. He received little education as a child, but learned how to read and write.

At the age of 10, William was apprenticed to an umbrella-maker. After completing his apprenticeship, he joined the business of a Mr George Robertson, another umbrella maker and hosier. Umbrella-making became his primary source of income until the 1840s when he became a full-time plant collector.

Wanting to continue his education, he took evening classes on botany. He regularly visited natural localities around Dundee to fuel his botanical passion. This was early in the mornings or in the evening at the end of his workday.

William Gardiner junior died on the 21st of June 1852 at the age of 43 after suffering a fever.

Botany and bryology

The Botanical Society of Edinburgh employed Gardiner in 1838 to collect Alpine plants in Scotland. Around this time, the Botanical Society of London also employed him as a plant collector. In 1844 he left George Robertson's company and worked as a paid botanical collector, working for both institutions and individuals alike.

According to Leisure & Culture Dundee, Sir William J Hooker offered Gardiner a botanical appointment, which he declined due to family commitments.

In the United Kingdom, Gardiner's specimens are cared for at the Natural History Museum in London, the Kew Herbarium, the Department of Biological Sciences, Dundee University, Hull University, the Bromfield Herbarium, and the Hancock Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. Elsewhere in the world, The University and Jepson Herbaria at the University of California, Berkeley, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria also hold his specimens. Under the title Twenty lessons on British Mosses; first steps to a knowledge of that beautiful tribe of plants ... illustrated with specimens Gardiner authored books which include mounted and numbered herbarium specimens for educational purposes. They resemble exsiccata booklets.

These exsiccatae-like books have attracted renewed academic attention in the 21st century, particularly by historians and artists who have focused on these works as material culture that mixed poetry, 'botanical science and mounted local plant specimens.'

Standard author abbreviation

The standard author abbreviation Gardiner is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Further reading

By William Gardiner

• Gems of Poesy Mar. 1834-Mar. 1836 Manuscript at the Dundee District Central Library, The Wellgate, D22012, Lamb Collection.
• The Wreathe of Wild Flowers Mar. 1834-Apr. 1836. Manuscript at the Dundee District Central Library, The Wellgate, D22011.
• To the Laced-winged Fly, poem read during a lecture ‘On the Transformation of Insects,’ given on March 9, 1836.
• Twenty Lessons on British Mosses ; Or First Steps to a Knowledge of that Beautiful Tribe of Plants. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1847.
• Flora of Forfarshire. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848.
• Twenty Lessons on British Mosses: The Second Series. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1849.

By others

• Amalia Diaz, Jessica Wigley, George Yatskievych. Integrating a historical and botanical work into modern collections and public platforms: The Flora of Forfarshire. Plant Resources Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 2017.
• Jessica Wigley. Flora of Forfarshire: Table with updated plant names, localities, coordinates, and links to the pages in the main book and supplementary volume.
• Flora of Forfarshire Collections at the University of Texas Libraries.
• Leisure & Culture Dundee William Gardiner: Botanist
• William Gardiner and the Flora of Forfarshire (Video)

References

1. ^ "Mr William Gardiner Jnr (13/7/1808-21/6/1852)". Herbaria@Home. Botanical Society of the British Isles. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
2. ^ Lamarre, Nikolas (15 May 2023). "The Digital Materiality of William Gardiner's Natural Illustrations". NiCHE. Network in Canadian History & Environment / Nouvelle initiative canadienne en histoire de l’environnement. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
3. ^ Farley, Erin (3 June 2019). "The Poetry and Teachings of the Yellow Wall Lichen". British Association for Victorian Studies. Retrieved 22 February 2023. Gardiner is often referred to as the 'Dundee poetical botanist' as he could not resist adding to his didactic publications quite prosaic descriptive accounts of his collecting activities, and poetical passages which used plants as metaphors for morals, ethical values, and lessons.
4. ^ Lawley, Mark. "WILLIAM GARDINER (1808-1852)" (PDF). British Bryological Society. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
5. ^ "William Gardiner: Botanist". Leisure & Culture Dundee. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
6. "Flora of Forfarshire". University of Texas Libraries. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
7. "Botanists: William Gardiner 1809-1852". Charterhouse School Herbarium (GOD). University of California, Berkeley. 10 August 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
8. "Collector's name: Gardiner, W". Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
9. "Occurrence records". The Australasian Virtual Herbarium. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
10. "Twenty lessons on British Mosses; first steps to a knowledge of that beautiful tribe of plants ... illustrated with specimens: IndExs ExsiccataID=746541312". IndExs - Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
11. "48 right curly brackets taken from William Gardiner's Herbarium volumes". Retrieved 29 June 2024.
12. International Plant Names Index.  Gardiner.

• Scottish poets
• 19th-century Scottish poets
• 1808 births
• 1852 deaths
• 19th-century Scottish botanists
• Scottish plant collectors
• Scottish gardeners