Henry Nicholas Ridley
| Henry Nicholas Ridley | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | December 10, 1855 |
| Died | October 24, 1956 (aged 100) |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Singapore Botanic Gardens |
| Known for | Rubber industry on the Malay peninsula |
| Notable awards |
Linnean Medal (1950) Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | |
Henry Nicholas Ridley CMG (1911), MA (Oxon), FRS,[1] FLS, F.R.H.S. (10 December 1855 – 24 October 1956) was an English botanist and geologist.
Life
Born at West Harling Hall, Norfolk, England. Ridley was the first Scientific Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1888 to 1911.[3]
Ridley spent many years promoting rubber as a commercial product, which he was known for being passionate; therefore, he was nicknamed "Mad Ridley".[4] In 1895, he discovered a means of tapping which did not seriously damage the rubber trees.[3] Ridley was also largely responsible for establishing the rubber industry on the Malay peninsula,[5] where he resided for twenty years before publishing, in 1930, a seminal and comprehensive work on plant dispersal. This work was the culmination of his own observations over several years, and a review of widely scattered literature on the subject.[6]
Ridley retired from Singapore in 1911 and resided in England for the remainder of his life. On his 100th birthday in 1955 he received a visit from the High Commissioner of the soon-to-be independent Malaya.[3]
Publications
- . (1889-01-19), Botanical papers, Singapore: Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch
- . (1889), Report on the destruction of coco-nut palms by beetles, Singapore: the Government Printing Office
- . (July 1897), "Malay plant names", The Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Royal Asiatic Society) 30: 32–120 [S.l.]
- ., The story of the rubber industry, with an appendix by L. Lewton-Brain, showing the growth of the rubber industry in Malaya from 1905 to 1912, London: Waterlow
- . (1907), Materials for a flora of the Malayan Peninsula, Singapore: the Methodist Pub. House
- . (1909), The Scitamineae of the Philippine Islands, Manila: Bureau of Printing
- . (1912), Spices, London: Macmilla
- . (1922–25), Flora of the Malay Peninsula, Vols 1-5, London: L. Reeve & co.
- . (1930), The Dispersal of Plants Throughout the World, Ashford, Kent: L. Reeve & Co
See also
- All pages with titles containing Ridleyi for a list of species named for Ridley
References
- 1 2 Salisbury, E. J. (1957). "Henry Nicholas Ridley 1855-1956". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 3: 141–126. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1957.0010.
- ↑ "Author Query for 'Ridl.'". International Plant Names Index.
- 1 2 3 Cornelius-Takahama, Vernon (29 March 2001), Sir Henry Nicholas Ridley, Singapore: National Library Board Singapore
- ↑ Leng, Dr Loh Wei; Keong, Khor Jin (19 September 2011). "Mad Ridley and the rubber boom". Malaysia History. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ↑ Holttum, R.E. (January–February 1957), "Henry Nicholas Ridley, C. M. G., F. R. S. 1855-1956", Taxon (International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT)) 6 (1): 1–6, JSTOR 1217861.
- ↑ Book review (14 March 1931), "The Dispersal of Plants throughout the World", Nature 127 (3202): 399–400, doi:10.1038/127399a0
External links
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