William Hunt Painter
William Hunt Painter | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 12 October 1910 | (aged 75)
Nationality | English |
Employer | Church of England |
Known for | Flora of Derbyshire |
Spouse | Jane |
William Hunt Painter (16 July 1835 – 12 October 1910) was an English
Life
William Hunt Painter was born in Aston, near Birmingham, on 16 July 1835. He was the eldest of five born to William, a haberdasher, and his wife Sarah, born Hawkes. His early career was in banking before he decided to join the Church of England.[3] In 1861 he was staying in Chelsea, where he was a lay preaching assistant.[4] Painter attended the Church Missionary Society College, Islington, where he would expect to be sent abroad by the Church Mission Society, but he ended up as a curate in Barbon in Westmoreland. It was here that he met (Rev) Robert Wood, who introduced him to botany.
In 1865, Painter became curate at High Wycombe, where he met James Britten, who had already published his first paper and was working in the herbarium for Kew Gardens. Despite Britten's emerging Catholic beliefs, the two would walk and talk together whilst indulging their interest in botany.[1] Painter married Jane Stamps in 1871.[5] In 1881 he and his wife were living in Bedminster, Somerset, where he was a curate.[6]
Painter did much useful work on the flora of Derbyshire, publishing a lengthy paper in 1881, with supplementary notes in 1889. Together these formed the basis of Contributions to the Flora of Derbyshire,
In 1891, Painter was a curate at Biddulph in Staffordshire. Then in 1894, he was appointed Rector of Stirchley in Shropshire. The rectory was modernised for his arrival, but his stay there was remembered for the maintenance he undertook on the church and buildings.[9]
Whilst staying in
William Hunt Painter donated his herbarium to the
Fumaria painteri
Painter was a keen collector and a member of the Botanical Exchange Club.[1] There are few plants that are only found in Britain. One of the plants on this list is possibly Fumaria painteri or Painter's Fumitory. This flower has only been found twice, in 1905 and 1907, and in both cases it was found by Painter.[12]
Plants of this description are not rare, as they occur naturally as hybrids, but the question is whether the discovered versions are fertile or merely another sterile hybrid. A search in 2006 determined that a new specimen had been found in 2005 but the experts failed to agree on the identification.[13]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "William Hunt Painter". Herbaria@Home. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ Willmot, Alan & Moyes, Nick, The Flora of Derbyshire, Pisces Publications, (2015)
- ^ 1851 census, (Registration district: Birmingham, St Mary’s)
- ^ 1861 census, (Registration district: Chelsea NE district, 4)
- ^ Members of the Moss Exchange Club, Mark Lawley, Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh, accessed March 2011
- ^ 1881 census, Bedminster, Somerset
- ^ William Hunt Painter, A Contribution to the Flora of Derbyshire, being an account of the flowering plants, ferns, and characeae found in the county, London: Bell, 1889
- ^ Review, J.E. Bagnall, Journal of Botany, 1899, 318
- ^ A History of the Rectory of St. James' Archived 28 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 2011
- ^ English Churchman, October 20th 1910
- ^ William Hunt Painter, Botanist Archived 28 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Stirchley Church and the Rectory
- ^ Lockton, Alex; Whild, Sarah (Autumn 2004). "The Shrewsbury School Herbarium" (PDF). Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter: 10–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ "New Records" (PDF). Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter: 3. Spring 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Painter.