Paxton, Sir Joseph 1801-1865
Paxton was a remarkable individual who worked his
way up from a position of gardener to sufficient
prominence to receive a knighthood from the king.
Paxton became superintendent of the gardens of the
Duke of Devonshire who was president of the Royal
Horticultural Society at the time. He designed and
erected an extensive hothouse which set the style for
ranges erected on estates for the cultivation of
exotic plants.
With Lindley he founded the Gardeners' Chronicle in
1841, which still is a flourishing magazine and
probably the best known of all weekly horticultural
journals today. Along with Lindley he helped to revive
Kew Gardens near the middle of the 19th Century. He
became well known as the Editor of the Magazine of
Botany (begun in 1834 and continued through
sixteen editions). He also was the author of the
Horticultural Register (1831-1836) and
Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Dahlia
(1838). He helped to develop a movement which changed
the whole gardening picture in England and
consequently the world.
He was an excellent business man and for a time was
a member of Parliament. He devised plants for a
massive glass-house structure which was put into
operation with the building of Crystal Palace in the
suburbs of London. This massive glass house was razed
less than 25 years ago. He was also well known because
of his relationship with the Duke of Devonshire and
his magnificent estate at Chatsworth, still one of the
most famous if not the most famous of remaining
English royal estates.
