Abercrombie, John (1726–1806), horticulturist and writer, was born in Prestonpans, near Edinburgh, the son of a market gardener. He was educated at a grammar school, and at the age of fourteen began to work under his father. He went to London about 1751, and was employed first in the ...
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Francis Espinasse
revised by Anne Pimlott Baker
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D. J. Mabberley
Aiton, William Townsend (1766–1849), horticulturist, was born at 199 Kew Road, Kew, Surrey, on 2 February 1766, the elder son of the horticulturist William Aiton (1731–1793) and his wife, Elizabeth (c.1740–1826), whose maiden name was possibly Townsend. He was educated privately in ...
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Benjamin H. Newcomb
Allen, William (1704–1780), landowner and politician in America, was born on 5 August 1704 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to William Allen (d. c.1725), merchant, and his wife, known only by her maiden name, Budd. They were Presbyterians from Dungannon, Tyrone, to whom ...
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Alleyne, Sir John Gay, first baronet (1724–1801), planter and politician, was born in the parish of St James, Barbados, on 28 April 1724, the second (but only surviving) son of John Alleyne (1695–1730), of Four Hills, Barbados, and his wife, Mary (d...
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Rosalind Mitchison
Anderson, James (1739–1808), agriculturist and political economist, born at Hermiston, near Edinburgh, inherited the tenancy of a large farm there at the age of fifteen when his parents (whose names are unknown) died. He had already prepared himself for the position by attending ...
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Maker: Samuel Freeman
James Anderson (1739–1808) by Samuel Freeman, pubd 1809 (after J. Anderson) © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Anderson, William (1766–1846), horticulturist, was born in Easter Warrington, Edinburgh, the son of a forester and gardener to a Jacobite laird in the western highlands who had helped Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, to escape after the 1745 rising. He was known to be working in some nurseries near ...
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Robert Andrews (1725–1806) by Thomas Gainsborough, c.1750 © National Gallery, London / The Bridgeman Art Library
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Andrews, Robert (1725–1806), landowner and subject of a painting by Thomas Gainsborough, was born at Bulmer, Essex, on 10 November 1725, the son of Robert Andrews (1661–1735) and his fourth wife, Martha (d. 1749), the daughter of James Brewster (d. 1725)...
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Richard Arkwright (1755–1843) by Ramsay Richard Reinagle, 1813 Christie's Images Ltd. (2004)
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Arkwright, Richard (1755–1843), cotton manufacturer and landowner, was born on 19 December 1755 at Bolton, Lancashire, the only son of Sir Richard Arkwright (1732–1792), cotton manufacturer, and his wife, Patience (d. 1756), daughter of Robert Holt. In 1780 he married Mary (...
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John M. Grimshaw
Arnott, Samuel (1852–1930), gardener and politician, was born above his father's baker's shop at the corner of Friar's Vennel, Dumfries, on 30 September 1852, the son of John Arnott (d. 1858) and his wife, Nicholas Richardson. His father, who was descended from a line of farmers and lead miners in the parish of ...
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Joseph Ashby (1859–1919) by unknown photographer © reserved
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Ashby, Joseph (1859–1919), farmer and social reformer, was born in Tysoe in Warwickshire on 13 June 1859, the son of an unmarried servant, Elizabeth Ashby. His father was the husband of Elizabeth's mistress, yet, common as such births were, Ashby's was in some ways different. His father provided for him but his mother, a fiercely independent woman, refused to use the money. More importantly his mother's branch of the ...
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Carole Rawcliffe and Andrew Ayton
Ashton, Sir John (c. 1354–c. 1398), soldier and landowner, was the son and heir of Sir John Ashton (d. c.1360) of Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire, and of Margaret, a daughter of Robert del Leigh of Adlington, Cheshire. His mother's second marriage, to ...
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Assheton, Nicholas (1590–1625), landowner, was the second son of Richard Assheton of Downham, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, and Margaret Hilton. He belonged to a branch of the Assheton family of Middleton, in the same county. He was probably educated at Clitheroe grammar school; he married ...
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Atkinson, Sir Harry Albert (1831–1892), farmer and premier of New Zealand, was born on 1 November 1831 at Broxton, Cheshire, the fourth son and the seventh of the thirteen children of John Atkinson (1798–1856), an architect and stonemason, and his wife, Elizabeth Smith (...
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Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1831–1892) by unknown photographer, c. 1880 Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa (F-23108-1/2)
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Aucher, Sir Anthony (d. 1558), administrator and landowner, was the only surviving son and heir of James Aucher (d. 1509), gentleman, of Otterden, Kent, and his wife, Alice Hill. The father, a son and heir of John and Margaret Aucher, was the successful head of a minor gentry family who bequeathed much of his estate to the church. In his will of 1 January 1509 he entrusted his son to ...
