Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

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The Royal status of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is intrinsically linked to the issue of a Royal Warrant to the first Intendant of the Gardens in 1699. Since that date, the appointment of each new Director of RBGE has required the assent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, the appointee receiving the unique title Regius (= royal) Keeper.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh botanical garden in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore — each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE's living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species, whilst the herbarium contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens.

Monarchy of the United Kingdom Function and history of the British monarchy

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The current monarch and head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne in 1952.

Just 29 years after the original Physic Garden was founded, by Dr (later Sir) Robert Sibbald and Dr (later Sir) Andrew Balfour, their appointed Garden overseer - James Sutherland - was rewarded for his diverse contributions: to the care of the gardens, to medical and botanical teaching and perhaps crucially, to the restoration of the King’s Garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Royal Warrant was issued on 12 January 1699, at the close of the 17th century.

Robert Sibbald Scottish physician and antiquary

Sir Robert Sibbald was a Scottish physician and antiquary.

Sir Andrew Balfour was a Scottish doctor, botanist, antiquary and book collector, the youngest brother of the antiquarian Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet.

James Sutherland was the first professor of botany at the University of Edinburgh, from 1676-1705. He was intendant of the Physical Garden, and his innovative publication Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis placed Scotland at the forefront of European botany.

Until 1956 the office of Regius Keeper was combined with the office of His/Her Majesty's Botanist (also established in 1699). Since then the office of HM Botanist has been honorary and conferred on a serving or retired Regius Keeper.

His/Her Majesty's Botanist is a member of the Royal household in Scotland.

The following is a list of those who have held the office of Regius Keeper with the years in post.

William Arthur was appointed Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and King's Botanist at Edinburgh in 1715, through his political connections, despite having no botanical qualifications. Shortly afterwards he was deeply implicated in the First Jacobite rising, though there is still no agreement on whether this was fair. He fled to Italy, where he died the following year "from a surfeit of figs."

Charles Alston (botanist) Scottish botanist and physician

Charles Alston was a Scottish botanist.

John Hope (botanist) Scottish physician and botanist

Professor John Hope was a Scottish physician and botanist. Although he did enormous work on plant classification and plant physiology, due to an absence of publications, he is now best known as an early supporter of Carl Linnaeus's system of classification.

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John Hutton Balfour Scottish botanist

John Hutton Balfour was a British botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Botanist in 1845. He held these posts until his retirement in 1879. He was nicknamed Woody Fibre.

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Isaac Bayley Balfour botanist and academic

Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford from 1884 to 1888, and Professor of Botany at the University of Edinburgh from 1888 to 1922.

Robert Graham (botanist) Scottish botanist

Robert Graham was a Scottish physician and botanist.

The Wernerian Natural History Society, commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as mineralogy, plants, insects, and scholarly expeditions. The Society was an offshoot of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and from its beginnings it was a rather elite organization.

Events from the year 1699 in the Kingdom of Scotland.

Brian Burtt British botanist

Brian (Bill) Laurence Burtt FRSE FLS, was an English botanist and taxonomist who is noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation B.L.Burtt when citing a botanical name.

Sir William Wright Smith FRS FRSE FLS VMH LLD was a Scottish botanist and horticulturalist.

The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities include lectures, symposia, field excursions, field projects and an annual exhibition meeting, held jointly with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland for exchange of information between botanists working in different areas. Its publications include a twice-yearly newsletter, BSS News, and a scientific journal, Plant Ecology & Diversity. The society is closely linked to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Scottish universities.

Stephen Blackmore British botanist

Stephen Blackmore CBE FRSE FRSB FLS is a British botanist, who was educated at St. George's School, Hong Kong and the University of Reading where he completed his PhD in 1976. He then worked at the Royal Society of London’s Research Station on Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean before being appointed Lecturer in Biology and Head of the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden at the University of Malawi. In 1980, he was appointed Head of Palynology at Natural History Museum in London and from 1990 to 1999 served there as Keeper of Botany. He was the 15th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1999 until 20 December 2013, and was appointed Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 2010.

Inverleith House

Inverleith House is a historic house, now within the Royal Botanic Garden, in the suburb of Inverleith, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dr Harold Roy Fletcher FRSE (1907-1978) was an English botanist and horticulturalist. He was Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1956 to 1970 and Her Majesty's Botanist 1966 to 1978. As an author he is known as H. R. Fletcher.

Douglas Mackay Henderson CBE FRSE was a Scottish botanist, the 12th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1970 to 1987.

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