Lindley, JOHN

Lindley, JOHN, botanist, was born on 5th February 1799 at Catton, near Norwich. His father, the author of A Guide to Orchard and Kitchen Gardens, owned a nursery garden. Botany attracted young Lindley's attention at an early date. When little more than twenty he went to London, and wrote for the Encyclopædia of Plants. In 1822 he was appointed assistant-secretary to the Horticultural Society, and in 1829 professor of Botany in University College, London. He retired from this chair in 1860, and died at Turnham Green on 1st November 1865. His works include the Synopsis of British Flora (1829); Introduction to the Natural System of Botany (1830); Outline of the Structure and Physiology of Plants (2 vols. 1832); Flora Medica (1838); The Vegetable Kingdom (1846), a standard work on the subject of classification; and Theory and Practice of Horticulture (2d ed. 1855). Along with W. Hutton he published The Fossil Flora of Great Britain (3 vols. 1831–37).