Henry J. Webb

Henry J. Webb
Principal to the Aspatria Agricultural College
Born	1846
Died	1893 (aged 47)
Fields	Botany
Alma mater	University College, London

Henry John Webb (1846–1893) was an English scholar, who became a trained botanist before moving into medicine. However, it was eventually agriculture and the training of scientific, practical agriculturalists that eventually caught his imagination. In 1887 he accepted the position of Principal to the Aspatria Agricultural College, a radical institution in the North of England, which a group of enthusiastic amateurs had established in 1874, for the purpose of training the sons of tenant farmers and farm labourers. In 1891 he became sole owner of the College, which he rebuilt and under his guidance it became one of the foremost seats of agricultural learning in England. He was also a successful world record holding cyclist and tricyclist.

Webb was born at Upper Norwood in 1846, the son of a Professor of Botany and Rural Economy. He began his education at Blackheath, where he passed the Oxford and Cambridge senior examination. On leaving school he became junior English and Science master at Cranford College, Maidenhead. After three years of teaching experience he gained a First Class pass in the matriculation examination set by the University of London. He also obtained a scholarship in biology from the School of Mines, South Kensington; where he studied Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Experimental Physics and Geology. After three years study he entered University College, London. In 1884 he graduated in first place with a BSc First Class Honours degree in Botany. He also entered an examination for the Licentiate of the College of Preceptors, where he took first place and the Council Prize for natural science.