Frederick Hamilton Davey

Who was Frederick Hamilton Davey?

Frederick Hamilton Davey was an amateur botanist who devoted most of his leisure time to the study of the flora of Cornwall. Born at Ponsanooth in the Kennall Vale, Cornwall to a large family of limited means, he left school aged 11 to work in the Kennall Powder Mills. Encouraged by his father and local vicar, Davey took to Nature Study as his principal recreation. Of rather a weak constitution, he suffered successive bouts of ill-health, but used his convalescence to further his studies. In 1891, aged 23, he submitted his first paper to the Cornwall Polytechnic Society, followed by several more, earning him various medals in recognition of his industry.

In 1899, Davey met ornithologist and plant collector A. O. Hume, C.B., founder of the South London Botanical Institute, who was to accompany him on tours of Devon and Cornwall. This was clearly a seminal event, which led to Davey beginning his major opus, Flora of Cornwall, for which he was to become renowned.