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JOHN STEVENS HENSLOW (1796-1861)

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 303 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHN See also:STEVENS See also:HENSLOW (1796-1861)  , See also:English botanist ' and geologist, was See also:born at See also:Rochester on the 6th of See also:February 1796 . From his See also:father, who was a See also:solicitor in that See also:city, he imbibed a love of natural See also:history which largely influenced his career . He was educated at St See also:John's See also:College, See also:Cambridge, where he graduated as sixteenth wrangler in 1818, the See also:year in which See also:Sedgwick became Woodwardian See also:professor of See also:geology . He accompanied Sedgwick in 1819 during a tour in the Isle of See also:Wight, and there he learned his first lessons in geology . He also studied See also:chemistry under Professor See also:James See also:Cumming and See also:mineralogy under E . D . See also:Clarke . In the autumn of 1819 he made some valuable observations on the geology of the Isle of See also:Man (Trans . Geol . See also:Soc., 1821), and in 1821 he investigated the geology of parts of See also:Anglesey, the results being printed in the first See also:volume of the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1821), the See also:foundation of which society was originated by Sedgwick and See also:Henslow . Meanwhile, Henslow had studied mineralogy with considerable zeal, so that on the See also:death of Clarke he was in 1822 appointed professor of mineralogy in the university at Cambridge . Two years later he took See also:holy orders .

See also:

Botany, how-ever, had claimed much of his See also:attention, and to this See also:science he became more and more attached, so that he gladly resigned the See also:chair of mineralogy in 1825, to succeed to that of botany . As a teacher both in the class-See also:room and in the See also:field he was eminently successful . To him See also:Darwin largely owed his See also:attachment to natural history, and also his introduction to See also:Captain See also:Fitzroy of H.M.S . " Beagle." In 1832 Henslow was appointed See also:vicar of Cholseycum-Moulsford in See also:Berkshire, and in 1837 See also:rector of Hitcham in See also:Suffolk, and at this latter See also:parish he lived and laboured, endeared to all who knew him, until the See also:close of his See also:life . His energies were devoted to the improvement of his parishioners, but his See also:influence was See also:felt far and wide . In 1843 he discovered nodules of coprolitic origin in the Red See also:Crag at See also:Felixstowe in Suffolk, and two years later he called attention to those also in the Cambridge See also:Greensand and remarked that they might be of use in See also:agriculture . Although Henslow derived no benefit, these discoveries led to the See also:establishment of the phosphate See also:industry in Suffolk and See also:Cambridgeshire; and the See also:works proved lucrative until the introduction of See also:foreign See also:phosphates . The museum at See also:Ipswich, which was established in 1847, owed much to Henslow, who was elected See also:president in 185o, and then superintended the arrangement of the collections . He died at Hitcham on the 16th of May 1861 . His publications included A See also:Catalogue of See also:British See also:Plants (1829; ed . 2, 1835); Principles of Descriptive and Physiological Botany (1835); See also:Flora of Suffolk (with E . Skepper) (186o) .

Memoir, by the Rev . Leonard See also:

Jenyns (1862) .

End of Article: JOHN STEVENS HENSLOW (1796-1861)
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Additional information and Comments

he was my great grandfather. I have the hallmark silver desk set presented to him on his retirement from the Royal Botanical Society. I also used to have (stolen) a fabulous book of drawings with his commentaries on Aesop's fables. He was an incredible artist - talents both my father and my sister inherited. I doubt anyone today would receive such a magnificent piece as the desk set that presented to him on his retirement from the Society. It had two hand cut glass inkwells and the inscription it weights about 4 lbs. I am indirectly involved with the Theosophical Society, and a close friend of mine from Vancouver that I introduced Theosophy to now publishes their monthly magazine. I have often wondered if John belonged to the Theosophical society or had some connection to some of the people. I have read that he was involved with a diverse group of interesting persons. The one part that has never made any sense to me personally is my grandfather. My father was Lt. Col. Gerald Henslow. He was born in Indian Head Saskatchewan where his father ran the grain elevator - there was not much else in Indian Head Saskatchewan. The Canadian Pacific had a station and picked up the grain. There was little else there. My grandfather died when my father was still a child, but my father gained a great wealth of understanding of the world and could do anything. His talents were recognized by a special award given to him by Queen Elizabeth. I have had the great fortune to work with many biologists that graduated from Cambridge, and I was impressed to find out students today still study his work here. e history of the Henslow family goes back the to 12th century. There are drawings of many of the family members along with the history, many were clergy, some were professors, but almost all had some high rank in British Society. Although my father never had a degree he was asked to teach business English at the University of British Columbia, in addition to many other activities.
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