His Majesty's Botanist

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

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2012)

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]

References

^ The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, Vol. 7 "The Crown", para 846
^ "Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - the John Hope Gateway". Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ Edinburgh Gazette, 28 April 1922.
^ Edinburgh Gazette, 6 Jan 1967.
^ Edinburgh Gazette, 5 June 1987.
^ London Gazette, 10 Sep 2010.

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