John Rogers (naturalist)

John Rogers (1807–1867) was an English barrister, known as a naturalist particularly interested in orchids, and gardener.[1]

Life

He was the son of John Rogers of London, and was often called John Rogers, Jun. He matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford in 1826, graduating B.A. in 1830 M.A. in 1833. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1836.[2] He was from a wealthy family background, and an only son, and was able to lead a gentlemanly life.[3]

Rogers was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 5 December 1839.[4] He resided at Riverhill House near Sevenoaks, Kent, where he bought the estate in 1840.[1][5] It was in that year that his father, John Rogers "of Upper Tooting", died.[6][7]

Gardener

Rogers was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and supported plant hunting.[8] He raised plants such as Bessera elegans.[9]

Masdevallia floribunda, a Central American orchid cultivated by John Rogers

Among plants collected in the Real del Monte area of Mexico was one sent to Rogers, and initially named Hydrotaenia meleagris. An account of it was published by John Lindley in 1838, in Edwards's Botanical Register.[10] Masdevallia floribunda was in Rogers's collection by 1843.[11] Charles Darwin referenced a Myanthus collected for Rogers in Demerara, in an 1862 paper.[12]

Family

Rogers married in 1833 Harriet Thornton, daughter of John Thornton of Clapham and his wife Eliza Parry. They had five sons and four daughters.[6][13] Of those, Reginald Wellford Rogers, the second son, became vicar of Cookham;[14] and the fifth son, Walter Francis Rogers, spent a period in Canada.[15]

The eldest son John Thornton Rogers (1834–1900) married in 1862 Margaret Bagwell, daughter of John Bagwell the Member of Parliament. The male line continued with their son John Middleton Rogers (born 1864), father of John Ernest Rogers (born 1900).[6][16] Riverhill House remained in the family into the 21st century.[5]

Notes
  1. "Darwin Online, On the Three remarkable Sexual Forms of Catasetum tridentatum, an Orchid in the possession of the Linnean Society". pp. 151 note 4. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. s:Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886/Rogers, John (14)
  3. Sproule, Anna; Pollard, Michael (1988). The Country House Guide: Family Homes in the Historic Houses Association. Century. p. 220. ISBN 9780712618441.
  4. Royal Society (1840). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. W. Bowyer and J. Nichols for Lockyer Davis, printer to the Royal Society. p. 26. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  5. "Riverhill House, Seal - 1000294, Historic England". Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. Burke, Sir Bernard (1871). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. p. 1184. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  7. The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Edw. Cave, 1736-[1868]. 1840. p. 674.
  8. Russell, Tony (2016-03-15). The Finest Gardens of the South East. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 168. ISBN 9781445649795. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  9. Maund, Benjamin (1835). "The Floral register: containing figures and descriptions of nearly all tender and hardy plants, which have been lately introduced to and cultivated in Great Britain". Internet Archive. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., etc. p. 109. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  10. Edwards's Botanical Register, or ornamental flower garden and shrubbery. Ridgway. 1838. p. 67.
  11. Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist. Haymarket Publishing. 1877. p. 624.
  12. "The writings of Charles Darwin on the web, Darwin's contributions to the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society 1857-1867". Archive.is. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  13. Burke, Sir Bernard (1853). Index to Burke's dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Colburn and Company. p. 300. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  14. "Rogers, Reginald Wellford (RGRS853RW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  15. "Rogers, Walter Francis (RGRS865WF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  16. Seaver, Jesse Montgomery. "Rogers Family History". Internet Archive. Philadelphia: American Historical-Genealogical Society. p. 14. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
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