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GEORGE NICHOLSON 
The Seventeenth Volume of The Gardening World is dedicated. 
pOR over a quarter of a century the name, George Nicholson, F.L.S., of Kew, has been a household 
word throughout the British Isles, for enquiries concerning him have been addressed to us by all classes of 
people in the horticultural world, north and south, east and west, wherever Kew was mentioned, showing how 
closely he was in touch with horticulturists everywhere, both scientific and practical. 
Mr. George Nicholson was born at Sharow, near Ripon, Yorkshire, in December, 1847. He commenced his 
gardening career at home, and after a time entered the service of Messrs. Fisher, Holmes & Co., Handsworth 
Nurseries, near Sheffield. From thence he turned his face towards London, entering the nurseries of. Messrs. 
Hugh Low & Co., Upper Clapton. After sojourning there for a while, he went to La Muette, the horticultural 
establishment belonging to the city of Paris. Here he greatly increased his knowledge of the profession, and 
among other accomplishments acquired fluency in the French language, which he still retains, and must have 
found very serviceable, not only in an official capacity, when occasion required it, but in the numerous Continental 
journeys which he afterwards undertook, and in conversing and corresponding with the numerous Scientific friends 
and acquaintances he made on the other side of the “ Silver Streak.” 
From La Moutte he returned home. At the end of 1872 he sat in the competitive examination for a clerk to 
the Curator, Royal Gardens, Kew. Having been successful, he w T as called upon to fill the office, beginning his 
duties at Kew in February, 1873. In this capacity he continued till the resignation of his chief, the late Mr. John 
Smith, the second curator of that name in succession at Kew, in the spring of 1886. A few weeks after this event 
he was promoted to the post of curator, an office he filled with ability and acceptance till failing health compelled 
him to tender his resignation a few weeks ago, much to the great and sincere regret of his wide circle of friends’ 
everywhere, who spoke of it with bated breath wherever two or more of them were gathered together. 
Early in 1884 he became editor of a work which has since earned a world-wide reputation, not only where 
English but other languages are spoken. This was The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, in four volumes, which has 
long been familiarly spoken of as “ Nicholson’s Dictionary of Gardening.” He worked most assiduously at it, for 
to him it was chiefly a labour of love, repairing to the Herbarium, Royal Gardens, Kew, morning after morning at 
six o’clock, before the appointed hour for his official duties, in order to correct, add, and find out the recognised 
botanical names of plants, many of which were then known only under garden appellations. The style of this 
work and the amplitude of its illustrations found not only admirers but copyists in Continental Europe and in 
America. At home a second supplement to it of an extensive nature is now passing through the press. The 
dictionary will keep his name green amongst gardeners and horticulturists of all classes for many a year and day. 
After taking up his residence at Kew or its neighbourhood, Mr. Nicholson spent his holidays by travelling in 
many European countries, and visiting all the famous gardens. After that he acquired a passion for mountain 
climbing, spending his holidays in that fashion in Switzerland, Tyrol, &c., under circumstances often not devoid 
of danger. He also did some climbing in the Highlands of Scotland, collecting British alpine plants. He is an 
excellent British botanist, having collected many rare subjects, some of which had not previously been recorded in 
the annals of botany. A new Rose he picked up at St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire, was named Rosa involuta 
Nicholsonii by Crepin, in compliment to its finder. Scutellaria Nicholsonii, a hybrid between S. galericulata and 
S. minor, he discovered at Virginia Water in 1883. Many other plants also bear his name. He also has a 
splendid knowledge of trees and shrubs generally, possessing a splendid herbarium of these subjects. 
In the way of personal titles, he was elected an A.L.S. on December 16th, 1866, and F.L.S., on May 5th, 
1898. The Royal Horticultural Society added V.M.H. (Victoria Medal of Honour in Horticulture) to his name 
in 1897, a title established to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Besides being a Fellow of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, he is also a member of the Scientific and of the Floral Committee of that body, and 
is a life subscriber of the Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. He has been and is connected with various other 
societies, and has altogether had a very active life, notwithstanding his retiring and unostentatious nature. 
RC ; l 0 
