XXV 



year, i\Ir. Heywood was cliosen without opposition one of the members 

 ibr the county of Lancaster to support the government measure of reform. 

 His courtesy, integrity, and determined adherence to principle, gained for 

 him general confidence, but parliamentary life did not suit his health, and 

 on the dissolution of parliament, after the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, 

 he retired from the arduous duties of a public career. 



Statistics were always an interesting science to Mr. Heyw^ood. He 

 earnestly supported the formation of the Manchester Statistical Society, 

 conducted a yaluable inquiry into the condition of the working classes in 

 jManchester, and as one of the officers of the Statistical Section, presented 

 the results of this investigation (in 1834) at the Edinburgh Meeting of the 

 British Association for the xldvancement of Science. 



In 1838, at the accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Lord Me\- 

 bourne being Prime Minister, Mr. Heywood was created a baronet. In 

 1S43 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and twice held the 

 office of a Vice-President of the British Association, on the successive 

 visits of that body to Manchester. He died on the 1 1th of August, 18G5. 



Sir William Jackson Hooker was born at Norwich on the Gth of 

 July, l/So. He was descended of a family which aforetime had given birth 

 to men of eminence, and among them the author of the * Ecclesiastical 

 Polity.^ Born to affluence, and educated at a school of reputation, he as a 

 vouug man was enabled to devote his life to science, without the need of 

 following a special calling. Circumstances brought him early into relation 

 with some distinguished naturalists, and among the rest Sir James Ed- 

 ward Smith, the most eminent British botanist of his day ; and the influ- 

 ence of this acquaintanceship combining with his own taste, no doubt, helped 

 to decide his choice of a pursuit. In 1809, through the encouragement 

 of Sir Joseph Banks, to whom he had become known, young Hooker 

 visited Iceland, which he extensively explored, making large collections in 

 all branches of Natural History ; but these, together with all his notes and 

 drawings, were totally lost on his way home, through the burning of the 

 ship in which he was returning. His escape, by the opportune arrival of 

 another vessel in mid-ocean, was almost miraculous. An account of it will 

 be found in the modest narrative called ' Recollections of Iceland.' 



In 1810-11 he made preparations for accompanying Sir Robert Brown- 

 rigg, who had been appointed Governor of Ceylon, to that island, then but 

 little known to naturalists. With this design, he disposed of his estates, 

 and invested the proceeds in securities, wdiich were unfortunately ill- 

 chosen, and afterwards much decreased in value. As an illustration of the 

 zeal with which he prepared for his enterprise, the fact is recorded that he 

 made pen-and-ink copies of the plates and descriptions of the entire manu- 

 script series of Roxburgh's Indian plants, preserved in the India House. 

 His plans, however, were frustrated by the intestine troubles in the island 

 followed by the Candian war which soon afterwards broke out. 



