Walter Wade (botanist) facts for kids

Walter Wade (born around 1740 – died July 12, 1825) was an Irish doctor and botanist. He was the very first professor of botany at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland. Botany is the study of plants.

Walter Wade's Early Life

Walter Wade was born in Dublin, Ireland, around 1740. His father, John Wade, was a chemist and apothecary. An apothecary was like a pharmacist who prepared and sold medicines.

In 1767, Walter's father helped start the first pharmacy in Ireland. It was called the Chymical Elaboratory and Dispensary for the Poor. This pharmacy gave medicines to people who couldn't afford them.

Walter Wade likely studied at a French university, just like his uncle, who was also named Walter Wade. His uncle became a doctor and taught about childbirth in Dublin.

In 1781, Walter Wade married Mary Chambers. She was a Quaker, a member of a religious group. At that time, Quakers were sometimes asked to leave their community if they married someone who wasn't a Quaker.

Walter Wade's Medical Career

By 1776, Walter Wade had his own practice as a surgeon and a doctor who helped with childbirth. He worked from his father's pharmacy. In 1777, many important doctors in Dublin said he was very skilled. They believed he should get a special diploma to practice medicine.

Later, in 1786, he earned his degree as a doctor of medicine from the University of St Andrews. He then became a licensed doctor in Dublin.

Walter Wade's Botany Work

Walter Wade was very passionate about plants. He helped get money to start the botanic garden in Dublin. He also planned to write a book about the plants of Dublin called Flora Dublinensis. This book was never published because of money problems.

Even though his book wasn't published, Wade gave public talks about botany. In 1792, he became a lecturer on botany at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 1804, he was named the first professor of botany. He kept this job until he passed away in 1825.

Studying Irish Plants

In 1792, Walter Wade became an honorary member of the Dublin Society. This group worked to improve farming and useful arts. He presented a detailed book to them called Catalogus systematicus plantarum indigenarum in Comitatu Dublinensi inventarum.

This book was written in Latin and listed all the native plants found in Dublin. It used the Linnæan system, which is a way of classifying living things. The book also included the Latin, English, and Irish names for the plants. People said this was the first book in Ireland to list plants in such an organized way. Walter Wade is seen as the person who first made botany popular in Ireland.

Wade was also the first Irish botanist to study the native grasses of Ireland. In 1795, he showed the Dublin Society a list of 41 types of grass he had found. He even included dried samples of them. He traveled around Ireland in 1796 to find more plants.

Founding the National Botanic Gardens

Walter Wade asked the Irish government to create a botanical garden in Dublin in 1790. His idea was approved. In 1795, land was bought in Glasnevin for the Botanic Gardens. Wade became the professor and lecturer of botany there in 1796. He was also in charge of setting up the new gardens.

Wade designed the gardens and traveled to England to get plants. He also received many rare plants and seeds from all over Europe. The gardens opened in 1800. The first list of plants in the gardens was published in 1818, and it is believed Wade wrote it.

From 1802, Wade lived at the new gardens. He gave free public lectures there until 1823. Even important people, like the Duke of Bedford, who was the lord lieutenant of Ireland, came to his lectures. Wade also helped create a library at Glasnevin. This library was started 50 years before the famous library at Kew Gardens in England. In 1801, he was the first to record a plant called American pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum) in Ireland, finding it in Connemara.

Walter Wade's Later Years

In 1819, Walter Wade gave many lectures at Leinster House and the Gardens. He noted that over 2,500 people attended his summer lectures. However, he was also a bit sad that the Gardens were sometimes neglected. He felt there wasn't enough interest from the Dublin Society.

Despite some criticisms, Walter Wade was a respected scientist. He became a member of the Linnean Society of London in 1792. He also joined the Royal Irish Academy and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1811.

Walter Wade passed away on July 12, 1825, at his home in Dublin.

Walter Wade's Publications

• Syllabus . . . of lectures on botany, and its connexion with agriculture, rural economy and the useful arts (Dublin, 1802)
• Catalogus systematicus rariorum in Comitatu Gallovidiae, praecipue Cunnemara, inventarum (Dublin, 1802)
• Plantae rariores in Hibernia inventae (Dublin, 1804)
• Quercus or oaks (Dublin, 1809)
• Salices (Dublin, 1811)