George Fergusson Wilson
George Fergusson Wilson (born March 25, 1822 in Wandsworth , Surrey, † March 28, 1902 in Weybridge Heath , Weybridge ) was an English industrialist , industrial chemist and plant breeder.
Life
Wilson was the sixth of 13 children of the merchant, candle manufacturer and plantation owner William Wilson (1772-1860) and the Scottish woman Margaret Nimmo Dickson. He attended school in Wandsworth and initially worked for a notary public before joining his father's company in Battersea in 1840 . He acquired numerous patents there and worked on the chemistry of fats, which enabled him to improve the quality of the products. When he succeeded in synthesizing pure glycerine in 1854 , the family founded a new factory in Bromborough Pool near Liverpool , where the coconut fats were landed for production. Wilson got in touch with the botanist William Jackson Hooker , director of the Botanical Gardens in Kew , to identify other plants that could serve as sources of fat. In 1857, however, it was possible to make paraffin from petroleum , which is still used today in candle production, which meant that vegetable raw materials could be dispensed with.
In 1862 Wilson married Ellen Barchard, the daughter of a merchant from Wandsworth. The marriage produced three children. The following year he retired and moved to Gishurst Cottage in Weybridge, where he devoted himself primarily to gardening. However, he remained a director and scientific advisor to Price's Candles. He planted his first experimental gardens in Heatherbank on Weybridge Heath in Surrey. In 1878 he acquired the Oakwood estate near Wisley , where he planted a much larger experimental garden ( Royal Horticultural Society's Garden, Wisley ), in which he tried to make rare and exotic plants at home. He planted around 22,000 plants. He also excelled as a lily breeder, but also cultivated gentian , Japanese sword lily and primroses and was interested in aquatic plants.
Wilson's botanical abbreviation is GFWilson . He wrote a description of the small dwarf iris ( Iris histrioides ) as Iridodictyum histrioides .
Memberships and honors
- Society of Arts 1845, Treasurer 1861–1863
- 1855 Royal Society
- 1855 Chemical Society
- 1875 Linnean Society
- Royal Horticultural Society , Vice President
- 1867–1883: 25 first prices for lilies on display
- 1897 Victoria Medal from the RHS
swell
- Anita McConnell: Wilson, George Fergusson (1822-1902). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 19 April 2015
Web links
- Author entry and list of the plant names described for George Fergusson Wilson at the IPNI
Individual evidence
- ^ Carolyn Fry: A Passion for Plants. Behind the Scenes at the Royal Horticultural Society. (London, BBC Books 2007) 67
- ^ Royal Horticultural Society: History of Wisley garden
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilson, George Fergusson |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English industrialist and plant breeder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 25, 1822 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wandsworth , Surrey |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 28, 1902 |
| Place of death | Weybridge Heath , Weybridge |