Robert Uvedale facts for kids

Robert Uvedale (born 1642, died 1722) was an English church leader, teacher, and gardener. He ran a school for boys north of London. He also traded plants with other botanists and wrote about classical history.

Life Story

Robert Uvedale was born in London on May 25, 1642. He went to St. Peter's College, Westminster, a famous school. Some of his classmates might have included important people like John Locke (a philosopher) and John Dryden (a poet).

In 1658, at the funeral of Oliver Cromwell (a powerful leader in England at the time), Uvedale is said to have taken a decorative shield from the coffin. His family kept this shield for many years.

In 1659, Robert Uvedale went to Trinity College, Cambridge. He became a Fellow (a senior member of the college) in 1664.

Running a School

Between 1663 and 1665, Uvedale became the headmaster of Enfield Grammar School in Enfield, Middlesex. He also rented a large house nearby called Queen Elizabeth's Palace. He used this house to take in students who lived at the school (called boarders).

During the terrible Great Plague of 1665, many people got sick. But everyone in Uvedale's household stayed healthy! People thought it was because they breathed in the steam from vinegar poured over a hot brick.

Later, some people complained that Uvedale paid more attention to his boarders than to the grammar school students. Among his students were important young men like Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine and Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon.

Later Years

Robert Uvedale earned his master's degree in 1666 and a law degree (LL.D.) from Cambridge in 1682. In 1696, a neighbor, Archbishop John Tillotson, gave Uvedale a church job in Orpington, Kent. However, it seems he did not live there.

He passed away in Enfield on August 17, 1722, and was buried in the local church.

Plant Lover

Robert Uvedale was very good at growing plants, especially rare and unusual ones from other countries. He was one of the first people in England to have special heated greenhouses, called hothouses, to grow these plants.

He often exchanged plants and seeds with other botanists. For example, he sent many letters to Richard Richardson about trading plants between 1695 and 1721.

Writings

Uvedale was asked to help with a translation of Plutarch's Lives, a famous collection of biographies of ancient Greek and Roman figures. This project was put together by important writers like Dryden. Uvedale wrote the life story of Dion of Syracuse, which was published in 1684.

His Lasting Impact

After Robert Uvedale died, many of his special plants were sold to Sir Robert Walpole for his large garden at Houghton Hall.

Uvedale also had a huge collection of dried plants, called a herbarium. It filled fourteen thick books! This collection is now part of the Sloane collection. It contains plants from many famous botanists from England and Europe, all carefully labeled by Uvedale himself.

A plant genus (a group of related plants) was named Uvedalia in his honor by another botanist, Petiver. Later, this name was changed, but another botanist, Robert Brown, used the name Uvedalia again for a group of Australian plants.

His Family

Robert Uvedale married Mary Stephens (1656–1740). They had five daughters and three sons:

• Robert Uvedale, who also became a Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a church leader in Enfield.
• James Uvedale, who became a church leader in Gloucestershire.
• Samuel Uvedale, who was a church leader in Suffolk. His son, also named Samuel, became a famous Admiral in the navy.