Hill, Arthur William   (1885 - 1941)

Born on 11 October 1875, in Watford, UK; Died on 3 November 1941, in Richmond, UK.

He attended Marlborough College where his interest in natural history was encouraged by the classical master and entomologist, Edward Meyrick. Hill went on to King's College, Cambridge, where he came under the influence of Marshall Ward and Walter Gardiner, acquiring an MA and DSc.

His numerous field trips started with the expedition of the English geographer, William Bisiker, to Iceland in 1900. This was followed by exploration of the Andes in Bolivia and Peru in 1903, (sparking an interest in cushion plants which was to last throughout his life), and the Caribbean in 1911.

In 1907 he joined Kew as assistant director, and started contributing to the floras of Africa and India. In 1922 he succeeded David Prain as Director.

With grants from the Empire Marketing Board, he was able to send botanists all over the world, himself visiting Australia and New Zealand (1927-1930), as well as Malaya, Rhodesia, East Africa, India, and the West Indies.

His interests were not confined to taxonomy, but extended to Economic Botany, of which he was an enthusiastic proponent, and all the other activities of Kew.

Some of his greatest successes were in building, renovating, and extending glasshouses, being responsible for the new Rhododendron House in 1925-26, an improved Economic House in 1930 and the South African Succulent House in 1936.

He was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of New Zealand during his 1928 visit.

He published a joint paper with Brian Laurence Burtt in 1935 on the cushion plant genera Gaultheria and Pernettya (now included in Gaultheria) from alpine habitats in Asia, North and South America, and Australasia.

He never married and died on 3 November 1941 in a riding accident.

Source: Extracted from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_William_Hill
Portrait Photo: Wikipedia, from the Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand.