Henry Nicholas Ridley

Who was Henry Nicholas Ridley?

Henry Nicholas Ridley CMG, MA, FRS, FLS, F.R.H.S. was an English botanist and geologist.

Born at West Harling Hall, Norfolk, England. Ridley was the first Scientific Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1888 to 1911.

Ridley spent many years promoting rubber as a commercial product, and in 1895, discovered a means of tapping which did not seriously damage the rubber trees. He was largely responsible for establishing the rubber industry on the Malay peninsula, where he resided for twenty years before publishing, in 1930, a seminal and comprehensive work on plant dispersal. This work was the culmination of his own observations over several years, and a review of widely scattered literature on the subject.

Ridley retired from Singapore in 1911 and resided in England for the remainder of his life.