OGifiarn. 
It is with mingled feelings of sorrow and regret that we have to announce the 
death of our beloved and venerated father, Mr. Bensgamin SAMUEL WrLLtAMs, which 
took place on the evening of the 24th of June last, after a long and painful 
ilIness, which he bore with heroic patience and characteristic tranquillity. Perhaps 
the greatest sorrow befalls our venerable grandfather, who is still living, and 
who, from his extreme age, will doubtless feel the loss of his fourth son most 
acutely. 
Mr. B. S. Williams was born at Hoddesdon, Herts, in 1822; his father, Mr. 
James Williams, being at that time gardener to John Warner, Esq., The Wood- 
lands. At the age of fourteen Mr. B. S. Williams entered upon his first gardening 
appointment under his father at The Woodlands. His first love in floriculture 
was the Pansy, of which he became an ardent, enthusiastic, and successful exhibitor 
at the age of twenty, and of which flower he was to the last passionately fond. 
-The next flower which attracted his attention, and to the cultivation of which he 
devoted much time, was the Ranunculus; from this he directed his mind to _horti- 
culture in general, and figured very prominently in the London suburban shows 
as a formidable rival in exhibiting fruits and vegetables. He afterwards sojourned 
for a short period of time in the nursery of Messrs. Adam Paul & Son, at 
Cheshunt, from whence he returned to The Woodlands, Hoddesdon, in the 
capacity of foreman to his father, under whose tuition he exerted himself with the 
greatest industry and assiduity, in order that he might master all the details of 
general gardening, and advance himself therein. He afterwards received the appoint- 
ment of Orchid grower to C. B. Warner, Esq., who was then forming a large and 
extensive collection of these beautiful plants; he soon found full scope for his 
talents and energy in his new sphere, and began to lay for himself the foundation 
of the reputation, which he ever since nobly retained, of being one of the 
foremost and most successful Orchid cultivators of his day and generation. 
