Aiton William

Aiton, William, first director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, was born near Hamilton, in Scotland, in 1731. In 1754 he entered the Chelsea Physic Garden under Philip Miller, and in 1759, was appointed director of the newly-established Botanic Gardens at Kew, where he remained till his death, 1st February, 1793. In 1789 he published the Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue in three volumes, arranged on the Linnaean system, which was mainly the work of Dryander and Solander, two Swedes, pupils of Linnaeus, settled in England under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks. There is an oil portrait of Aiton at Kew. His son, William Townsend Aiton (1766 - 1848), succeeded him, and between 1810 and 1813 issued a second edition of the Hortus Kewensis, in which he was assisted by Robert Brown.