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Key facts
- Born
- 1731, Hamilton , Scotland
- Died
- 2 February 1793 (1793-02-02) (aged 61–62), Kew , England
- Resting place
- St. Anne's Church , Kew, England
- Known for
- Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Children
- William Townsend Aiton
- Fields
- Botany
- Author abbrev botany
- Aiton
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Place of birth
- Hamilton
- Place of death
- Richmond
- Employer
- Kew Gardens
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Field of work
- botany
- Image
- William Aiton.jpg
- Work location
- Scotland
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- William Aiton
- date of birth
- 1731-01-01
- date of death
- 1793-02-02
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- Commons gallery
- William Aiton
- writing language
- English language
- influenced by
- Philip Miller
- P12749
- 3106 Morabito
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Aiton (1731 – 2 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist.
The Aiton family tomb Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there. He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Aiton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.