John Grimshaw Wilkinson

Wilkinson was born on 6 January 1856 in Leeds.[1] His father died when John was young and his mother, who was a cousin of John Atkinson Grimshaw, brought him up.[2] As a young man, he worked as a grocer and lived in Burley, Leeds; his hobby was painting.[3] He became visually impaired, due to neuralgia, at the age of 22.[3][4]

After he lost his sight, he took up the study of botany, using his sense of touch and taste, rather than sight to recognise species.[3] One of the places where he learned to distinguish between different plants was at Temple Newsam in Leeds.[4] He referred to the tip of his tongue as a microscope, as he could detect minute difference between plants with it.[1] His sense of hearing also became more pronounced, and he said he could "hear the musical notes of bats in flight".[2] He could also tell insects apart by the sounds they made.[5] In order to learn to identify them, his mother read descriptions from botanical guides to him, which he then used to familiarise himself with the physical characteristics of specimens.[6] He created his own field notebooks using braille.[6] He also had his own herbarium collection,[7] where the specimens were mounted by his mother.[6]

By 1920 he could tell over 800 species apart.[3] With his cousin Elaine Phillips, he collected a rare specimen of Potentilla verna from Ledston Park, Leeds.[8] Since his knowledge of trees and other species in Yorkshire was so extensive, he advised the Leeds Corporation on the planting and labelling of trees in its parks.[1] Wilkinson was President of the Leeds Naturalist Club and Scientific Association.[6][9] In recognition of the support that his mother provided for him, she was made an honorary member of the society.[6]

Wilkinson also claimed to be able to judge someone's character from their handshake stating that: "If I could go to Armley Gaol and shake hands with the prisoners I could at once tell which were habitual criminals and which were not."[2]

He died on 28 February 1937 in Leeds and was buried in an unconsecrated grave in Beckett Street Cemetery.[1][7][5]

In 1915 the University of Leeds conferred on him an Honorary Degree of Master of Science.[7][1] At his degree conferral it was said that it was "largely due to him that our [Leeds'] parks and gardens are adorned with so many beautiful trees and plants".[2]

Wilkinson built up an extensive herbarium collection, which includes many extinct or rare specimens. In 1982 it was transferred to Leeds Museums & Galleries.[10] Much of the collection is held at Leeds Discovery Centre.[10]

Newspaper cuttings relating to his life are part of the Helen Keller Archive.[11]