Charles Alston (botanist)
Charles Alston (1683 – 22 November 1760) was a Scottish botanist.
Charles Alston | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1683 Hamilton, Lanarkshire |
| Died | 22 November 1760 |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
Career
Alston was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, and was apparently raised by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.[1]
In 1715 he went to Leyden to study under the Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave. On his return to Scotland he became lecturer in materia medica [2] and botany at Edinburgh and also superintendent of the botanical gardens. He was a critic of Linnaeus's system of plant classification.
He was appointed Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1716, holding the position until 1760.
Family
He married first Robina Lockhart. Issue-
Robina born 21 Jun 1731 in Canongate who married in Edinburgh on 6 Jan 1754 to Alexander Birnie, of Bromhill, b 1708 d before 1770
On 3 October 1741 he married (secondly) in Canongate Kirk Bethia Birnie (b. 1706) daughter of John Birnie, of Broomhill.
He is buried in Canongate Kirkyard on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, immediately east of the church.
Upon his death, his significant library was auctioned in Edinburgh.[3]
Botanical Recognition
The tree genus Alstonia is named after him.
References
- "Alston | Charles | 1683-1760 | scientific writer". Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2006.
- Alston, Charles (1770). Lectures on the materia medica: containing the natural history of drugs, their virtues and doses: also directions for the study of the materia medica; and an appendix on the method of prescribing. Published from the manuscript of the late Dr. Charles Alston ... by John Hope ... Baltimore Digital Archive University of Maryland. London, Edward and Charles Dilly [etc.]
- "Charles Alston 1685-1760 - Book Owners Online". www.bookowners.online. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
Further reading
- Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 51–52 – via Wikisource.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
External links
- Alston | Charles | 1683-1760 | scientific writer, published by the University of Edinburgh NAHSTE program.
- Allen, David E. (2006) [2004]. "Alston, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/425. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Works by or about Charles Alston at Internet Archive
