History and Heritage

History

Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785 - 1865)

Sir William Hooker was Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and his ambition was to become the Director of the University. Instead, he was successfully appointed as the first "official" Director at Kew in 1841.

He was constantly aware of the problem of the lack of space to house the ever-increasing collections. One solution which he found to this was the completion in 1848 of the world-renowned Palm House. He was also responsible for converting the fruit store into a museum for the Economic Botany Collection in 1848. (This building is now the School of Horticulture.)

Unfortunately, after a period of only nine years the museum was full to brimming point and so a larger home was found: Museum Number One, facing the Palm House across the Palm House Pond. In 1860, under his directorship work started on the construction of the Temperate House.

There are several portraits of Sir William Hooker in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery.