John TradescantDied 22 Apr 1662 at age 53 (born 4 Aug 1608).English botanist and gardener who was appointed by King Charles I as Keeper of his Majesty's Gardens, Vines, and Silkworms at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, where he continued the work of his father John Tradescant the Elder (c.1570-1638). Together, they were among the earliest English botanists, who introduced to England many of the best known garden plants, fruit trees including apricots, and the horse chestnut. After his apprenticeship, John Tradescant the Younger became a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners (1634). Three years later, he went to Virginia on a botanical collection expedition (1637-38) “to gather up all raritye of flowers, plants, shells.” His father had served similarly for the king from 1630, travelling abroad several times to bring back new plant species. The son succeeded to the post at Oatland Palace upon his father's death in 1638. By 1656, his garden had over 1600 named plants in cultivation. The Tradescant curiosities - fish, weapons, birds, even a stuffed dodo passed into Elias Ashmole's collection that he contributed for the Ashmolian Museum at Oxford University (1683), the first public museum in Britain.« |
