Charles Alston (botanist)

The grave of Charles Alston, Canongate Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Charles Alston (1683 – 22 November 1760) was a Scottish botanist.

Career

Alston was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, and was apparently raised by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.

In 1715 he went to Leyden to study under the Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave. On his return to Scotland he became lecturer in materia medica and botany at Edinburgh and also superintendent of the botanical gardens. He was a critic of Linnaeus's system of plant classification.

He was appointed Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1716, holding the position until 1760.

Family

He married first Robina Lockhart. Issue-

Robina born 21 Jun 1731 in Canongate who married in Edinburgh on 6 Jan 1754 to Alexander Birnie, of Bromhill, b 1708 d before 1770

On 3 October 1741 he married (secondly) in Canongate Kirk Bethia Birnie (b. 1706) daughter of John Birnie, of Broomhill.

He is buried in Canongate Kirkyard on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, immediately east of the church.

Upon his death, his significant library was auctioned in Edinburgh.

Botanical Recognition

The tree genus Alstonia is named after him.

Further reading

• Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "Alston, Charles" . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 51–52 – via Wikisource.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alston, Charles" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• "Alston, Charles" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

• Alston | Charles | 1683-1760 | scientific writer, published by the University of Edinburgh NAHSTE program.
• Allen, David E. (2006) [2004]. "Alston, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/425. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Works by or about Charles Alston at Internet Archive