George Sinclair (ca. 1787 Mellerstain - March 13, 1834 New Cross), english horticulturist, gardener to John Russell, the Duke of Bedford, from 1807-1825.
[From A History of English gardening, by George W. Johnson, 1829, p. 294:]
1. Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, or an account of the Results of Experiments ou the produce, &c. of Grasses and other plants. Instituted by John, Duke of Bedford. Folio. 2nd edition 8vo. 1825.
2. An Essay on the Weeds of Agriculture. London. 1826, 8vo.
2. Hortus Ericaeus Woburnensis. London 1826. 4to.*
These works are by Mr. GEORGE SINCLAIR, F. L. S. &c. who for many years was Gardener to the Duke of Bedford, and is now of the firm of Cormack and Sinclair, Nurserymen, Newcross, near London [Deptford]. The above are excellent works, but the first contains the result of one of the greatest efforts to place the cultivation of plants upon an enlightened basis that has ever been written. It is the detail of patient, experienced practice, guided by Science—No educated cultivator of the soil should be without it.
[From "American Railroad Journal", August 2, 1834, p. 472:]
Obituary. — G. Sinclair. — Died, at New Cross Nursery, Deptford, March 13, Mr. George Sinclair, F. L. S., H. S., &c, nurseryman, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Mr. Sinclair was many years gardener to the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey, and conducted there, under the direction of Sir Humphry Davy, an extensive series of experiments to determine the nutritive powers of the British grasses and herbage plants. It was there also that Mr. Sinclair composed the Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, a national work, which embodies the results of the experiments alluded to, and is the most important of its kind that ever was published. Mr. Sinclair was also the author of various other publications or articles, the last of which, we believe, was the Treatise on Useful and Ornamental Planting, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. In the history of| British agriculture, the name of George Sinclair will hold a conspicuous station in all future times, as the introducer of a new and improved system of laying down lands in grass. Mr. Sinclair had a considerable knowledge of chemistry, and was a good vegetable physiologist; hence all that he wrote bore a character of scientific inquiry, as well as of practical skill. As a man, few stood higher in our estimation; and it may be truly said, that he was esteemed and beloved by all who knew him. His early death, we believe, may be chiefly attributed to the profound grief which preyed on him after being suddenly bereaved of an only daughter, who died in April, 1833, about the same time that Mr. Sinclair lost his father and his uncle.—[Loudon.]
