3 ° 
THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT. 
memorial is however in the British Museum, for he bequeathed to that institution the magnificent 
collection of ancient bronzes and coins which he had made, and which was estimated to be worth 
,£50,000 at that time. Mr. R. Payne Knight represented Leominster from 1780 to 1784, when 
he was returned for Ludlow, and sat for that borough until 1806, when he retired from Parliament. 
Thomas Andrew Knight received his early education at Ludlow, at Chiswick, and afterwards 
at Balliol College, Oxford. In his youth he was less remarkable for his industry than for his natural 
talents, the quickness of his perception, the excellence of his memory, the ease with which he 
mastered any study he attempted, and the good sense which secured his great steadiness of 
character amidst the temptations around him. There were no classes or honour lists in those days. 
Perhaps, in the case of some peculiarly constituted minds, this absence .of stimulus to exertion 
may have been favourable to the prosecution of special studies. Even then the University afforded 
some assistance to the students of natural science, though it was scanty indeed, in comparison of 
the ample stores of books, of specimens, and of help of all kinds, which are now so abundantly 
provided. Mr. Knight was not idle, but following the bent of his own mind in his studies, he 
certainly laid at Oxford the foundation of that knowledge of natural philosophy, which enabled him 
in after life to carry out his own experiments with so much success. 
On leaving the University he returned to his quiet home, amidst the fine scenery of 
northern Herefordshire. LI ere he at once began his own special work—the study of all objects of 
rural interest. He was energetic in all he did: a good sportsman, expert with rod and gun from 
boyhood, and ere long a zealous agriculturalist. Nothing escaped his notice, from the very 
implements employed upon the land, to the objects produced by it. He threw his mind into the 
work, and often with good effect. He endeavoured, so far as his means allowed, and they were not 
large at this time, to improve the breed of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs; and to the end of 
his life ever took a deep interest in the economy of the domestic animals. 
It was, however, on the study of the vegetable productions of the farm and garden, that he 
bestowed most thought and labour. The mode of growth in plants; the ascent and descent of the 
sap in trees; the phenomena of germination ; the influence of light upon foliage; the formation of 
roots, &c., were all tested by a series of original and ingenious experiments. Lastly, as the result 
of his growth of seedlings, and of his careful practice of hybridization, many new varieties of fruits : 
apples, pears, plums, nectarines, cherries, strawberries, and currants: many new vegetables: 
potatoes, cabbages, peas, onions, &c. : and many new varieties of trees and flowers were produced; 
thus often making valued and important additions to the luxuries and necessities of life. 
From his earliest youth Mr. Knight owed much to his brother, and to him he was also indebted 
for his introduction to public life. The Board of Agriculture wished at that time to obtain certain 
statistics from the different districts of the country ; and when Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the 
Royal Society, applied to Mr. R. Payne Knight, M.P. for Ludlow, he recommended his brother, Mr. 
T. Andrew Knight, as the best qualified man he knew to make the returns for Herefordshire. 
This introduction was the turning point of Mr. Knights life. Sir Joseph Banks quickly detected 
beneath a quiet reserved manner the able original mind he had to deal with. He could fully 
appreciate the practical importance of the physiological experiments Mr. Knight was carrying out, 
and gave him the warmest encouragement to persevere with them, and to make known the result. 
They thus became great friends. The evening conversaziones, in Soho Square, were thrown open 
