Benjamin Samuel Williams

Benjamin Samuel Williams ( born March 2, 1824 in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, † June 24, 1890 in Holloway ( London) ) was an English market gardener. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " BSWilliams ".

Life and work

Benjamin Samuel Williams was born on March 2, 1824, the fourth son of James Williams, who worked as a gardener at John Warner in The Woodlands. At the age of 14 years, Williams left school and began, instructed by his father to work as a gardener. At 17 he left the garden in Hoddesdon to work in another position for six years. During this time he worked with violets ( Viola ) and Buttercup ( Ranunculus ). He then worked briefly at the nursery by Adam Paul & Son in Chestnut. Then he returned to The Woodlands, where he was foreman for the fruit and vegetable gardens under his father. John Warner recognized his abilities and appointed him to the orchid grower for the extensive orchid collection on his property. Williams worked quickly recognized to be one of the best and most successful orchid grower of his generation. He worked a few more years with John Warner and received at least once a first prize for his orchids for drama competitions in London.

From 1856 to 1861 he worked as a gardener for Robert Parker in Holloway in the Seven Sisters Road. Then he turned to business to Upper Holloway; the operation Victoria and Paradise Nurseries enjoyed a worldwide reputation for its plants and seeds. Williams took continue with its orchids hard to exhibitions in London, Manchester, in continental Europe and in the United States and won numerous awards.

At the suggestion of John Lindley himself Williams 1851 operated for the first time as an author; he wrote a series of articles for the Gardeners' Chronicle, titled Orchids for the Millions. This series of articles on the cultivation of orchids formed the raw material for his work The Orchid Growers ' Manual, published in seven editions until 1894. His two- volume work Choice Stove and Greenhouse Plants on flower and foliage plants appeared in three editions. Also the work of Select Ferns and Lycopods became popular. For the 1862 began work Orchidaceous Plants by Robert Warner, he wrote the comments on the culture of the plant. In 1881 he supported Robert Warner again, this time in the publication of the monthly illustrated magazine The Orchid Album, which was very well known.

The burgeoning enthusiasm for orchids in broader layers of the population is due to a large extent Williams. He was an enthusiastic supporter of movements that promoted the garden culture. About forty years he supported the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. He worked in the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society as well as the Committee for the International Horticultural Exhibition of alignment in 1866.

In 1888, Williams suffered from a steadily deteriorating painful disease. Shortly after the death of his wife, he died on 24 June 1890.

Works

• The Orchid - grower 's manual. 1852, 7th Edition 1894.
• Together with Robert Warner: Select orchidaceous plants .... From 1862 to 1891.
• Select Ferns and Lycopods: British and exotic. 1868.

Swell

• Robert Zander, Fritz Encke, Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold (eds.): Handbook of Plant Names. 13th edition. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-5042-5.