Richard Anthony Salisbury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Anthony Salisbury
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Richard Anthony Salisbury portrayed by William John Burchell
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| Born | 2 May 1761 |
| Died | 23 March 1829 (aged 67) London, England
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Richard Anthony Salisbury (born Richard Anthony Markham; 2 May 1761 – 23 March 1829) was a British botanist. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. He did important work in growing plants and studying them. However, he had many disagreements with other scientists. Because of this, some people avoided working with him.
Contents
A Young Plant Enthusiast
Richard Anthony Markham was born in Leeds, England, on May 2, 1761. He was the only son of Richard Markham, a cloth merchant, and Elizabeth Laycock. He had two sisters. His family had a history of loving plants. He once wrote that he "inherited a taste for botany from very ancient blood."
He went to school near Halifax. By the age of eight, he was already very passionate about plants.
Studying Botany
In 1780, Richard went to medical school at the University of Edinburgh. There, he met James Edward Smith. Smith later started the famous Linnean Society. Richard was known as a good botanist even then. It's not clear if he finished his medical studies. Many wealthy students at that time did not need to graduate.
Around this time, Richard Markham changed his name to Richard Salisbury. He wrote to Joseph Banks, another famous botanist, about this. He said an elderly relative named Anna Salisbury gave him a lot of money. The condition was that he had to take her last name. She claimed her family was very old and important. However, some people later said he made up this story.
Life as a Country Gentleman
After his studies, Richard Salisbury lived as a wealthy country gentleman. He lived at Chapel Allerton, Leeds, on one of his father's properties. He created large gardens there. He also built a big hothouse for special plants. He became friends with other rich landowners who loved horticulture (the art of growing plants). He even helped redesign the gardens at Harewood House.
He also connected with many leading botanists. He visited plant collections, called herbaria, in Paris and London. He became good friends with Joseph Banks. In 1787, he was honored by being elected to the Royal Society and the Linnean Society.
Personal Life and Challenges
Salisbury married Caroline Staniforth in 1796. They had one child, a daughter named Eleanor, in 1797. Soon after, they separated. It seems Salisbury had not been honest about his money before they married. He had many debts when his daughter was born. He even declared bankruptcy, which means he said he couldn't pay his debts. His honesty about money was often questioned. By 1802, he seemed to have recovered financially and bought a house.
In 1809, Salisbury became the first honorary secretary of the Horticultural Society. But when his replacement, Joseph Sabine, took over, he found Salisbury had left the financial records in a mess. Around this time, Salisbury moved to London. His small garden there had many rare and exotic plants.
Disagreements and Legacy
Salisbury did not agree with Linnaeus's system for classifying plants. This was one reason why other botanists often ignored his work. Another reason was that people believed Salisbury had acted unfairly. Many leading botanists, like Robert Brown and James Edward Smith, decided to ignore his plant names and work as much as possible.
In 1818, an anonymous article criticized Robert Brown's work. Brown and others quickly figured out Salisbury wrote it. There was already a lot of bad feeling between them. Salisbury had used Brown's work without giving him credit. Smith, his old friend, even called Salisbury's writings "trash" in 1807.
Salisbury was known for being difficult to get along with. He often argued with other scientists. Many botanists avoided him. However, he was a very careful botanist and artist. He made important contributions to both plant science and gardening. For example, he sent a Corsican pine (Pinus nigra) to Kew Gardens. His collection of dried plants, called a herbarium, also went to Kew.
He died in 1829. His writings were later published by John Edward Gray. Salisbury's portrait and a plant genus named Salisburia (now known as Ginkgo) show his place in British botany history.
Salisbury's Botanical Work
Salisbury's first known book was Icones stirpium rariorum descriptionibus illustratae (1791). It had 11 hand-colored pictures. It also included the first description of Canna flaccida, a type of plant. This is why his name, Salisb., is linked to it as the official describer. In 1796, he wrote about the plants on his Chapel Allerton estate.
Salisbury was not popular because he disagreed with the Linnaen system of plant classification. This system was still supported by many, including James Edward Smith. Salisbury believed in the natural system instead.
In 1809, Salisbury published a book under the name of his friend, Joseph Knight. The book was called On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae. It had only a few pages on how to grow plants. But it had over 100 pages of new plant classifications. It turned out that Salisbury had used the work of another botanist, Robert Brown, without permission. Salisbury had memorized plant names from Brown's presentation to the Linnean Society. By publishing first, Knight and Salisbury claimed credit for names Brown had discovered.
Because of these actions, Salisbury was accused of plagiarism (using someone else's work without credit). He was avoided by many in the botanical world. His publications were largely ignored during his lifetime. One botanist, Samuel Goodenough, was shocked. He wrote about Salisbury's "secret use" of Brown's work. Robert Brown himself said he didn't know what to think of Salisbury, calling him "between a rogue and a fool."
Even though most of Salisbury's general plant names were later changed, many of the specific plant names he gave were kept. Since the book was published under Knight's name, Knight is now credited for many Proteaceae species.
