Abstract
In
1845, Robert Graham’s death created a vacancy for the traditionally
dual appointment to the University of Edinburgh’s chair of botany and
the Regius Keepership of the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden. John Hutton
Balfour and Joseph Hooker emerged as the leading candidates. The
contest quickly became embroiled in long running controversies over the
nature and control of Scottish university education at a time of
particular social and political tension after a recent schism in Church
of Scotland. The politics of the appointment were complicated by the
fact that the Edinburgh Town Council (which preferred Balfour) chose the
chair while the keepership was under the patronage of the Westminster
government (which preferred Hooker). Balfour eventually emerged
triumphant after a bitter campaign marked on all sides by intense
politicking. The struggle to replace Graham provides a case study in how
Victorian men of science adapted their aspirations to the practical
realities of life in industrial, reforming, imperial, multinational
Britain.
Keywords
- John Hutton Balfour;
- Joseph Hooker;
- William Hooker;
- Robert Graham;
- University of Edinburgh;
- Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden
Copyright © 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
