BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODlK/l ION* 



Sir J(MIN Bknnki' Lawks, IVvirr., IslMKoo 



The manor-house of Rothamsted, situatcil in ilic jiarisli of 

 Harpenden, Herts, was tlie birtliplace of John Bcnnct Lawes, 

 and the Rothamsted farm became, in subsequent years, tlie 

 scene of the great work of his long life. So far-reach in. l: have 

 been the results wdiich he achieved, that the name of Kotham- 

 sted is now a household word wherever the science of 

 Agriculture is studied. 



The ancestors of Sir John Lawes had occupied Rotliamsted 

 for many generations. Jaques Wittewronge came to England 

 from Flanders in 1564, owing to the religious persecution then 

 prevaihng. The manor of llothamsted was purchase<l in l»)*j:i 

 for his grandson, John Wittewronge, who was then a minor. 

 John Wittewronge was knighted by Charles I., and afterwards 

 created a baronet by Charles II. In consequence of the faihnc 

 of male heirs, the manor passed to the Bennet family by ihv 

 marriage of Elizabeth Wittewronge with Thomas Bennet, and 

 finally to the Lawes family by the marriage of Mary l^ennct 

 (great-granddaughter of James Wittewronge) with Thomas 

 Lawes. His son, John Bennet Lawes, was the father of the 

 John Bennet Lawes of whom we have to speak, who was born 

 at Itothamsted on December '2x, 1^14. 



John Bennet Lawes was an only son. He lost his father 

 when eight years old, and owed much to his nujthcr's bringing; 

 up. He seems to have led the life of a country boy, and his 



* Ueprinted from the Obituary Notirt-s of the Royal Society. 



