His Majesty's Botanist Explained

His Majesty's Botanist is a member of the Royal household in Scotland.

The office was created in 1699, and from 1768 until 1956 it was combined with the office of Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who also held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Edinburgh. Since then the office of HM Botanist has been honorary, but conferred on a serving or retired Regius Keeper.^[1]

Office holders

• 1699: James Sutherland
• 1715: Dr William Arthur
• 1716: Charles Alston
• 1761: Dr John Hope^[2]
• 1786: Daniel Rutherford MD
• 1820: Robert Graham MD
• 1845: John Hutton Balfour MD
• 1880: Alexander Dickson MD LLD
• 1888: Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour
• 1922: Prof. Sir William Wright Smith (d 1956)^[3]
• 1966: Harold Roy Fletcher (d 1978)^[4]
• 1987: Prof. Douglas Mackay Henderson^[5]
• 2010: Prof Stephen Blackmore^[6]

See also

• Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Sources

• Holders from 1703 to 1820 from "Exchequer Establishment List" c.1770 (E/229/10/1) in National Archives of Scotland
• Royal Botanic Garden: A Brief History

Further reading

• Charles Alston
• Isaac Bayley Balfour

Notes and References

1. The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, Vol. 7 "The Crown", para 846
2. Web site: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - the John Hope Gateway . 18 May 2016 . 30 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180630161814/http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/edinburgh/the-gateway . dead .
3. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13808/page/765 Edinburgh Gazette, 28 April 1922.
4. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/18525/page/7 Edinburgh Gazette, 6 Jan 1967.
5. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/22157/page/841 Edinburgh Gazette, 5 June 1987.
6. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-59541-1203137 London Gazette, 10 Sep 2010.