George Henry Kendrick Thwaites

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
Born	1811 Bristol
Died	9 November 1882(1882-11-09) (aged 70–71) Kandy
Nationality	British
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Known for	Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniæ Lepidoptera of Ceylon
Scientific career
Fields	Botany Entomology
Institutions	Bristol School of Pharmacy Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya Hakgala Botanical Garden

George Henry Kendrick Thwaits (1811, Bristol – 11 September 1882, Kandy) was an English botanist and entomologist.

Thwaites was initially an accountant and studied botany during his spare time. He was interested particularly in the lower plants such as the algae and the cryptogams. He become a recognized botanist when he showed that the diatoms are not animals, but algae. In 1846 he was lecturer on botany at the Bristol school of pharmacy and afterwards at the medical school. In March 1849, on the death of George Gardner, Thwaites was appointed superintendent of the botanical gardens at Peradeniya, Ceylon. A position he held until he resigned in 1879.

He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society on 1 June 1865 following the publication of his ‘Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniæ,’ – (five fasciculi 1859–64). His notes form the most valuable portion of Frederic Moore's ‘Lepidoptera of Ceylon’ (3 vols 1880–9). He established the Cinehona nurseries, Hakgala, Ceylon and was in the Board of Directors of the Alfred Model Farm Experimental Station that later became the Royal Colombo Golf Course.

The genera Thwaitesia and Kendrickia are named after him.

References

• Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Thwaites, George Henry Kendrick" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Royal Society Library and Archive Catalog